Toxic Link Removal

[Kingalan1]

Greetings Moz Community:

Recently I received an site audit from a MOZ certified SEO firm.

The audit concluded that technically the site did not have major problems (unique content, good architecture). But the audit identified a high number of toxic links. Out of 1,300 links approximately 40% were classified as suspicious, 55% as toxic and 5% as healthy.

After identifying the specific toxic links, the SEO firm wants to make a Google disavow request, then manually request that the links be removed, and then make final disavow request of Google for the removal of remaining bad links. They believe that they can get about 60% of the bad links removed.

Only after the removal process is complete do they think it would be appropriate to start building new links.

Is there a risk that this strategy will result in a drop of traffic with so many links removed (even if they are bad)?

For me (and I am a novice) it would seem more prudent to build links at the same time that toxic links are being removed. According to the SEO firm, the value of the new links in the eyes of Google would be reduced if there were many toxic links to the site; that this approach would be a waste of resources.

While I want to move forward efficiently I absolutely want to avoid a risk of a drop of traffic.

I might add that I have not received any messages from Google regarding bad links. But my firm did engage in link building in several instances and our traffic did drop after the Penguin update of April 2012.

Also, is there value in having a professional SEO firm remove the links and build new ones? Or is this something I can do on my own? I like the idea of having a pro take care of this, but the costs (Audit, coding, design, content strategy, local SEO, link removal, link building, copywriting) are really adding up.

Any thoughts???

THANKS,
Alan

[Kingalan1]

Hi Jen:

That is very helpful, thanks!!

The one point I did not understand is the last one one regarding checking to see if the c-blocks are varied. Could you please elaborate.

Also, do you think it would be risky for me as an amateur to do this on my own, that link removal would be better left in the hands of a professional? I am working with a reputable SEO firm, but they are requesting almost $3,800 to identify and remove approximately 225 domains that have toxic links to my site. If I use a professional SEO firm I would probably want to conserve my resources for link building ($2,500/month). But I don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish. So do you think I could disavow bad links on my own?

Also, would you suggest any software of tools for doing so?

Thanks so much.
Alan

[Chris661]

I think Jen gave a great response and you should read it twice!.

A couple of things you might consider if you want to do this on your own, RMOOV.com is an amazing tool for contacting webmasters and asking/tracking link removal. Link Detox is another great affordable tool to evaluate links. If you still have a relationship with the firm you used to buy links, you might see if they can remove those links for you. The reality is that most webmasters won't respond to your requests to remove links. So if you can get the ones who created them to remove them, you will have more success.

I don't see why it would be bad to build good, real links in the mean time or at any time! Hard to believe that would be the advice a MOZ  recommended firm gave you. Maybe they were trying to explain that great content is what matters?

Good luck!

[AngelDigital]

Hi Alan,

Hmm I don't see their logic in saying the value of good links would be reduced.  It's true that the toxic links may be harming your rankings (even if you don't have a manual penalty) and so you might not see the effect of the good links straight away. But once the bad links are sorted, then you will.

You could do the disavows yourself as long as you're confident as to what makes a good / bad link.  When we're cleaning links up, we:

• Check to see if the linking domain is listed in Google – if not, we disavow;
• Check what the website actually is – if it is low quality, a spam directory, adult-themed, sites with viruses, gambling, etc, we disavow (this is to protect your brand as well as to clean up your link profile);
• Check and see if there are a huge number of links from a single website – in some cases we disavow; and finally,
• We check to ensure the link is within Google’s webmaster guidelines – for example, genuine recommendations in forums, genuine blog comment links that are on a relevant article, or genuine reviews are fine.
• We also look at links for c-blocks before the process begins and then check after disavow to see if they are varied or if anything’s been missed.

Hope that helps.

Jen