How to analyse a big drop in external links
-
Hi!
Can someone tell me the best way to determine what caused a big drop in External Followed Links? I have used tools like remove em in the past to try and get rid of exact match keyword links but I'm unsure if this was the root cause.
Our rankings went up the 3 months after this period, but this year they have dropped back to levels from 2015. I'm wondering if this drop has anything to do with this decline.
See attached.
-
Another good practice to take into effect is to start going to Google Webmaster Tools and going to:
Search Traffic > Links to your siteGoto full view and download / export a copy to cvs, open in either google sheets or excel and date it, next time you have an issue, you can repeat the above process and then using a compare feature ( plugin / extension ) in google sheets ( not sure if there is one for excel ) and figure out what links were removed much faster.
Ahrefs can do a good job, but since it doesn't have all your backlinks, can also be just as much frustrating.
-
As Andy mentioned, Ahrefs is a very good tool to use here. I don't know if you can do it in OSE, but in Ahrefs you can see lost domains and the last date that it was seen in their index.
I looked at your screenshots and I don't know if this is a coincidence - but if it's not the links, then it might be the Phantom 3 update, that there was a lot of chatter about (e.g. http://searchengineland.com/evidence-of-an-unconfirmed-google-update-happening-on-november-19th-237452). The fall in the curve does seem to match the date of this update - but again it's hard to know without looking at it any further. But it might be a plausible explanation as well.
-
Hi,
Really you want to be looking at something like Ahrefs where it will show you lost and found links. I don't know offhand if OSE has that facility.
You might find that your drop is because of sitewide links that have been removed, but without thorough investigation, I could just be guessing. It could be a coincidence that the drop is related to the removal of the links.
Has anything else been done to the site that could account for this? Do any date drops coincide with a Google algorithm tweak?
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can i get a list of internal and external links from moz?
My issue is that i have 133k external links and 730k total links. And from what i've read on the forums this means that we have about 597k internal links (730k total links minus 133k external links). And this seems like HUGE number of internal links. I somehow think it might be affecting our seo rankings as it might look like some "fishy" practice to Google. So in the graphs i can see that this number of total links has actually risen from 400k to 700k in the past months.. And since our external link count hasn't changed that much it means the number of internal links has grown a lot. So my idea is to check what are these internal links so I can better understand where they come from. Can anyone explain how come we have such a HUGE number of internal links? And more importnantly how can we see a list of these internal links so we could possibly rectify this and check if all is in order? I am adding a screnshot to give better insight jiDONUw
Link Building | | urkeman0 -
If i get link pointing to a specific page , will that link add up to the count of linking root domains too ?
If I create a fresh link pointing to specific page on my site, apart from adding a number to "page linking root domains" does it also add up to root domain linking ?
Link Building | | Techbate1 -
What is a good ratio of total links to linking root domains?
Is 100 total links for every linking domain too high? I suppose I could also look at ratios of sites that are doing well in the rankings.
Link Building | | ProjectLabs0 -
Link removel
When removing links should I be worried about bad links from websites that have already been deindexd from Google or should I think that since it is not in these index any more it cant do harm?
Link Building | | Joseph-Green-SEO0 -
Google Link Disavow and sites with extremely heavy but poor link metrics
Need help/opinions from the SEO's out there. I am working with a site that in the past hired an SEO company out of India. Over the course of their time together, this company submitted the clients url to tens of thousands of link exchanges and directories. Around the time of Penguin, the owners told me their inquiries dried up. Literally that same week they had a new website launched (designed by a local competitor) that really butchered the site. They were convinced the reduction in traffic/inquiries was due to the new site but I am convinced otherwise (suspect Penguin). Not only does the site need to be re-structured but their link portfolio needs to be diversified. Now on the plus side, the company caters and sponsors a number of events that earns them organic, relevant links. These are overshadowed by the tons of poor, irrelevant ones though. I read a few posts recently on the Google Link Disavow tool and to proceed slowly due to the unknown nature surrounding it. I have a good idea of what links are problematic and which ones are well served. However, the number of problematic links in my estimation is quite high (thousands). I am very hesitant to dive into Google Disavow and submit such a large number of requests. What are your thoughts? How would you proceed?
Link Building | | mattylac1 -
Resource linking
Is a resource linking page a good way to build backlinks? Do I need to ask permission of the site I am linking? & If do build a resource page do I have to keep in mind keyword density rule, not to stuff too many links on page? I see one of my competitors using a "resource page" and linking to some high athority sites, (which I know they have not asked permission) b/c they are big name site, NFL, NHL, ESPN etc. Any suggestions much appreciated! Thank you!!!
Link Building | | TP_Marketing0 -
How to beat This with Links?
Hello, So i am trying to beat this website gujratdetectives.com/ with a new website which has no backlinks as of now.
Link Building | | hardik_hrc
Now, I checked in open explorer that this site has many moderate level links. No high authority links but the problem is these links they all have title as the search keyword "detective in Gujarat" so maybe this is why this site rests on the top of this search keyword. So if building authority links into a different domain(Not detective related) with very high PR but WITHOUT title of relevancy. Anchor text would be the keyword but not the title of page. So the question is will those authority sites beat this gujratdetectives.com/ ???0 -
Outsource Link Building?
Currently we are in the process of creating a new ecommerce website. The site is not live yet, but we have done all of the planning and brainstorming and now are just doing all of the dirty work to get things ready to go live. We are devoting a lot of time on merchandising and developing the site, but currently do not have the resources to put together a good link building campaign in house. Does anyone have any recommendations for outsourcing the link building? The last thing we want is to hire someone that submits to bad neighborhoods and only directories. Is there a good, better, best scenario we should be looking at for pricing, ect? Obviously, like most who are starting a new site, cost is an issue at least until the site gives some sort of sign of life. Also, we are in the Pittsburgh area. We don't need to go local with this, but if there is someone particularly good in the area it would be nice. Thanks in advance.
Link Building | | ClaytonKendall0