What is really a bad link in 2017?

[vtmoz]

Hi,

Routine answer is: A link which doesn't provides any value. Tired of listening to this statement where we can see number of back-links been generated with different scenarios. There are still many low DA websites which speaks exactly about a brand and link a brand naturally. So, is this a bad link or good link? Let's be honest here. No one gonna visit such pages and browse through our website; it's all about what it's been doing in-terms of SEO.

Do these websites to be in disavow list?

Beside the context how a brand been mentioned, what are the other metrics to disavow a domain?

Expecting some real answers for this straight question.

If it's a low DA site and speaking about exactly our website- Good or bad? Vice-versa...high DA website mentioned website with less matching content. What is the proportion of website authority and content context?

Can we keep a medium DA backlinks with some Moz spam score?

[Hurf]

All this ^ and that ^^

[Andy.Drinkwater]

All of this ^^

-Andy

[MarieHaynes]

When sites get in trouble for having spammy links it's never because of one or two links. It's always because of a widespread pattern of self-made links that were made with intention to manipulate Google.

When I'm looking at link quality I really don't care what the DA is. I've seen good links from low DA sites and I've seen super spammy links from high DA sites.

I hear what you're saying though...We keep saying that a link is a good link if it's one that has a purpose outside of SEO. And sure, in many cases that is true. For example, when I did the Whiteboard Friday that Andy linked to above (thanks Andy!), that post linked back to my website. That link brings me traffic and has made me some money. It's a great link for reasons that go beyond SEO. But, there are also times where I get links that probably don't have a lot of value outside of SEO and still help me.

For example, for some of my clients we do a lot of HARO responses. If a dentist client of mine takes part in an interview about teeth whitening and he gets quoted along with a link, I suppose there is some value outside of SEO such as branding and good PR, but really...that interview wouldn't have happened if there was no link involved. I'm ok with that though.

So now that Penguin is simply devaluing spammy links rather than penalizing sites, when do I disavow?

1. If a site has a crazy pattern of ultra spammy links I'll disavow.

2. If there is negative SEO, I'm usually not worried but it doesn't hurt to disavow.

3. If a site has a manual penalty (as seen in Google Search Console --> Search Traffic -> Manual Actions) I'll try to remove unnatural links and then I'll disavow.

I'm not going to disavow the odd potentially unnatural link though.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

I don't think there is as much of a need to worry about disavowing as there was before the update from Google, but it is still something that you need to look at on a case by case basis. I don't think you could classify a particular set of criteria to disavow against or ones to ignore.

-Andy

[vtmoz]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for the reply. So you meant you say that Google will take care of all spammy links and we really must not be using Disavow? Then what is the tool about? We can see many cases where SEO experts removing penalty of websites by using disavow tool by devaluing some bad links. (I am not speaking about paid links). How much Google can be accurate in devaluing all spammy links and not hurting any websites? Many SEO experts insists that Disavow must be used. I am really confused about newly generating backlinks and what to do with them?

[vtmoz]

How can you say if a link is a spammy? Any recent example? So as per your opinion we must use disavow.

So what happens when you keep on receiving backlinks from low DA websites? Does such activity improve ranking?

[ViviCa1]

I would only disavow genuinely spammy links or links from spammy websites. If it's a genuine website and the link was placed natural and it is on topic to my product I would not disavow purely because it is a small website with a low DA.

[Andy.Drinkwater]

HI,

First of all, have a watch / read of this Whiteboard Friday where Marie talks all about links and what can work for you.

https://moz.com/blog/what-links-comply-googles-guidelines-whiteboard-friday

In my view, if someone has linked to your site without you asking, then there is never usually a problem, but it depends on the the type of links / quantity of links.

There is too much at play to give a generic answer that will fit everything you ask here. You should look at each site on its own merits, but with the introduction of Penguin into the main algorithm and this now running in real time, there is less of a need to be worried about these kinds of things. There is less of a need to disavow links because Google has improved how it scores these and if it spots a spammy link, is more likely to just devalue it.

-Andy