Easiest way to disavow single links on an on-going basis?
-
We frequently get random super-sketchy looking blogs linking to us with no author or contact information. I believe we are being targeted by a competitor setting up garbage links to us. I am hoping to use the Google disavow links tool to deal with this but is it:
-
Safe to use or does it flag us as link spammers by using it
-
Possible to use on an on-going basis for single links (as them come in, as opposed to a bunch of backlogged links)
Thanks!
-
-
Thanks. I submitted some links but then deleted the file. Hopefully I didn't do any harm . . .
Our average link quality is artificially low because of these garbage sites linking to us. That's why I thought it might be a problem.
-
As another user (Crusader) said, the disavow tool was kind of built as a last step, and usually for penalties. I wouldn't use it just because someone has a lot of bad links pointing to your site.
Really, Google is quite good at figuring out the difference between a negative SEO attempt and an attempt to manipulate rankings. It shouldn't be your job to police your links like this, and I sincerely doubt you need to. I've fielded a lot of questions and concerns about negative SEO, and I can say it's usually not worth the time spent worrying about it.
It's also worth noting that disavow seems to work as a single-use filter rather than a growing database, though we're still running tests on that. What I mean is that disavowing 10 links may overwrite the previous links you've submitted.
-
That warning message is certainly spooky. The thing is I don't see why you wouldn't want to use it if a bunch of sketchy sites are linking to you. Certainly those sites can't be helping with their abysmal quality scores and they are likely hurting. Anyways, I gave it a shot. Worst case scenario, I think I can just delete the file and Google will recognize the links again. At least, I hope so . . .
-
I believe this is what is being referred to as negative SEO and what many fear will be the result of the latest updates. Do you know if these links are in articles that contain any of your content? Could these be scrapers?
Are you experiencing negative effects as a result of these links?
I can't say for sure as to whether it's safe to use or not. Are you asking if you can use it over and over again, or to have some sort of automated process for adding links to the tool? I'm fairly certain you can use it more than once. And, if you were planning on automating, how would you know which links are good and which are bad?
Here is some text directly from Google regarding the disavow tool:
"This is an advanced feature and should only be used with caution. If used incorrectly, this feature can potentially harm your site’s performance in Google’s search results. We recommend that you disavow backlinks only if you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you. In most cases, Google can assess which links to trust without additional guidance, so most normal or typical sites will not need to use this tool."
So, if you are not experiencing negative effects, I would just keep an eye on it in case something happens. If you still want to use the tool, Google also recommends that you do your best to get the links removed from the sites. The author info might not be available, but you could possibly reach out to the site owner.
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
-
What is future of Link building ? Any link building experts Here ?
Hey Everyone, its Muhammad Umair Ghufran I have one question about Link Building ? As my Knowledge Google Love the Quality content but Link building rank some low quality website Right ? So, what is the future of link building ; please explain indeep with complete reference for better understanding Thanks Regards: Muhammad Umair Ghufran
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | muhammadumairghufran0 -
More bad links
Hi, After a recent disastrous dalliance with a rogue SEO company I disavowed quite a few domains (links he had gained) which I was receiving a penalty of about 23 places. I cleaned up the site and added meta descriptions where missing, and deleted duplicate titles and pages. This gained me another 5 places. In the meantime I have been getting a few links from wedding blogs, adobe forums and other relevant sites so was expecting an upward momentum. Since the high point of bottom of page 1 I have slowly slid back down to near the bottom of page two for my main keywords. Just checked my webmaster tools latest links and another 4 domains have appeared (gained by the dodgy SEO) : domain:erwinskee.blog.co.uk domain:grencholerz.blog.co.uk domain:valeriiees.blog.co.uk domain:gb.bizin.eu They all look bad so I am going to disavow. I expect to find an improvement when I disavow these new domains. As I have said, have started using the open site explorer tool to check my competitors backlinks and getting some low level links(I'm a wedding photographer) like forum comments and blog comments and good directories. I know there is much more than this to SEO and plan on raising my game as time progresses. I have also gained more links from the domains I disavowed on the 8th January mostly from www.friendfeed.com. will webmaster tools ignore any new links from previously disavowed domains? Like I have said I know there are better ways to get links, but are these links (forum comments, blog comments and respectable directories) one way of raising my rankings? To be honest that is all my competitors have got other than some of the top boys might have a photograph or two on another site with a link. No-one has a decent article or review anywhere (which is my next stage of getting links). Thanks! David.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | WallerD0 -
Linking and non-linking root domains
Hi, Is there any affect on SEO based on the ratio of linking root domains to non-linking root domains and if so what is the affect? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | halloranc0 -
I want to Disavow some more links - but I'm only allowed one .txt file?
Hey guys, Wondering if you good people could help me out on this one? A few months back (June 19) I disavowed some links for a client having uploaded a .txt file with the offending domains attached. However, recently I've noticed some more dodgy-looking domains being indexed to my client's site so went about creating a new "Disavow List". When I went to upload this new list I was informed that I would be replacing the existing file. So, my question is, what do I do here? Make a new list with both old and new domains that I plan on disavowing and replace the existing one? Or; Just replace the existing .txt file with the new file because Google has recognised I've already disavowed those older links?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Webrevolve0 -
Can you recover from "Unnatural links to your site—impacts links" if you remove them or have they already been discounted?
If Google has already discounted the value of the links and my rankings dropped because in the past these links passed value and now they don't. Is there any reason to remove them? If I do remove them, is there a chance of "recovery" or should I just move forward with my 8 month old blogging/content marketing campaign.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Beastrip0 -
Is this link being indexed?
link text Deadline: Monday, Sep 30, 2013 link text I appreciate the help guys!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | jameswalkerson0 -
Bad links
Well just set up SEO Moz to find out someone thought it funny to build a load of links to our site http://bluetea.com.au/ with the anchor txt "Buy Cocks" .... PLEASE PLEASE let me know how much I should worry about this and how can I get rid of it?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Intrested0 -
Has anyone found a way to get site links in the SERPs?
I am wanting to get some site links in the serps to increase the size of my "space", has anyone found a way of getting them? I know google says that its automatic and only generated if they feel it would benifit browsers but there must be a rule of thumb to follow. I was thinking down the line of a tight catagorical system that is implimented throughout the site that is clearly related to the content (how it should be I guess)... Any comments, suggestions welcome
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | CraigAddyman0