Disavowing Links
-
I need some advice... I've noticed our link profile has increased with many comments links --- something I certainly have not pursued manually.
I'm new to disavowing links. However, before I go ahead and disavow them, I'd like to ask how harmful these links are and would you recommend this is something I can do myself (relatively novice SEO) or if you'd recommend someone who could do this for a reasonable cost.
In one instance, the link from this comment thread is with the anchor text, "porn"... Certainly not something we want to rank for, haha!
I look forward to your advice
-
I recently had the experience of manually looking at over 3,000 domains. I am a programmer and so I made utility that will scan each domain in a MOZ Linking Domains csv file and search for specified text. It can pick out every Globe.com domain and other spam sites from a list in a number of minutes. I would love the feedback, and so I would share this utility.
I found that in my case using the keywords below got 95% or better of my bad links. It can also use the Spam and DA values etc..
keyword research,See related links to what you are looking for,popstripeRs,Search_Engine_Optimization_Services,Keyword Suggestions,This domain may be for sale,data-adblockkey,List website,complete online resource for web host providers,URLs categories for query and submission,Estadísticas web y datos de valoración simplificados,Ashibka.ru,Check Website IP on Server,Recently Analyzed Sites,research and analysis,Tools check keyword with Search Engines,1000 domain,the_worlds_most_visited
If you would like to give it a try please see https://dynamic.domains/disavow-utility.zip
This is not a commercial application, and although I am working on it to release the same, it just does the one thing right now. It does do it quite well though. It is an .exe in a zip file. I know there are trust issues, but at the same time you cant get a MOZ pro account without CC, and dynamic.domains is mine. I am the author of MintDNS. This app is 100% clean and in no way malicious etc..
Right now it only works with MOZ Linking Domains CSV files. If you have a sample Aherfs file I would love to add support.
If you try it out and find it handy please give me your feedback and suggestions etc..
-
I use the MOZ link explorer to get a report a backlink profile, then I create a shortlist us isolating High SPAM domains, low DA domains.
Then check I check all of these domains & create a Disavow file based on all the domains that are obviously poor quality, rinse & repeat every 3-4 months.
As always the MOZ team have an excellent article on this topic - https://moz.com/blog/links-to-target-with-disavow.
-
effectdigital Nailed it. I couldn't explain it better. One thing I can point out is, once you create the disavow file, update that file and upload. If you have lost your disavow file, download from Google webmaster account and update it, re-upload it.
-
That sounds like a negative SEO attack, let me explain that for you. In the past, the volume of backlinks mattered more than their quality (before PageRank was refined more, before Google's Penguin algorithm updates)
As you can imagine, this was heavily abused so Google took measures to counteract the worst of the SEO industry. They created clever algorithms which attempted to determine, whether links had been built 'just for SEO' or whether the links in question were truly relevant. For sites attempting to manipulate Google's rankings, they de-valued the linking sites or in the worst cases, applied manual penalties - nullifying all their rankings
Again the industry adapted to Google's changes. People learned that if they created links which 'looked like' they had been manufactured to raise Google rankings, they could penalise the site they were pointing to (enter: Negative SEO)
Google's algorithms have come on since then but IMO still take a harsh line and have a very difficult time distinguishing between manipulative links and negative SEO links
As such, it's wise to take action on this kind of stuff. Whilst a disavow project may slightly lower rankings a small amount (as an SEOs view of what's a bad link, is never 'perfectly' aligned to Google's view) - it's still worth doing. If you ignore such things for too long and they mount up, instead of seeing a small dip - you can lose ALL your rankings (when Google's algorithms fail to evaluate the links correctly)
Personally I'd take action, especially as some links are porn related ('bad neighbourhood' links)
The best thing to do is download all links from all the main backlink sources (Ahrefs, Moz, SEMRush, Majestic SEO). Once this is done you can use something like URL profiler to set metrics against each link (adding of course, your referral traffic data from GA). You can weight or balance these metrics in a new column in Excel, and then evaluate which links are good or spammy
At the end of the process, you have a list of domains to disavow. At Effect, we've got really good at this actually. Even though we always tell clients they could see a small dip in results, in many cases they don't even see that. Then they can have peace of mind ,that their backlink profile (at least for a few months, or couple of years) is 'insulated'
Email address is on our Moz community profile if interested
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
-
Backlink Disavow strategy
Hi, I would like to know what are the things to check when Disavow backlinks? Should we disavow all the low PR and DA backlinks ex: disavow all the backlinks under 4PR? Thanks alot !
Link Building | | bigrat950 -
Should I Disavow a Link Like This?
I just saw this link appear for my website (www.webhostinghero.com) in ahrefs.com this morning: http://freedatingsiteregistry.com/tag/website-template/ (search for text anchor "hosting reseller") Obviously it's a scraper site. Other than that, my link profile is clean. Should I disavow this?
Link Building | | sbrault740 -
Around 10% of our backlink profile is made up of branded links from one Japanese site, do we disavow?
We have recently changed domain names and all the links are going to the old domain. We are wondering whether we should disavow them all as they are the majority of our backlink profile at the moment.
Link Building | | cttgroup0 -
Are Directory Links a Good Source of Branded Links?
I am trying to increase the number of branded links for a few of my sites since the links are too heavily weighted on anchor text. If so, would you recommend a service like Directory Maximizer?
Link Building | | rise10 -
How to detect which is a bad link ?
Hi.. Our Link Builders at office collects the lists for directories, social bookmarking websites and press releases, article directories. But Im not sure, which all are good links, etc, since I dont get time to check. Is there a way, I can train them to know, which is a bad link, so they can just ignore that link ?
Link Building | | qubesys0 -
How many links per week is too fast in link building?
For a new website/blog how many links per week looks suspicious or hurt the rankings?
Link Building | | aaran1 -
Link building
I have two separate websites on different servers and was wondering that since reciprocal links effectively eliminate each other, I'm curious if this link strategy will keep the links counting. Here's the strategy: I will have someone link to my site A and if i link to their site from my site B in a three way link strategy, will the links count even though both my site A and B have me listed as the Whois so Google knows that both sites are owned by me? Or will the links be discounted as reciprocal? Thanks in advance for your feedback! Take care, Ron
Link Building | | Ron100 -
The Value Of A Link
Hi There, Let's say I am able to get a link from a very well trust worthy blog that writes abot things related to my business. Now my question is how much value does another link with the same anchor text, from the same blog has compared to the first link, or compared to a new link from a slightly less powerfull blog? Or in another words, if I got 1 link from this great website should I invest my time to find another website where I can get a link from or should I invest it in getting another link from the website I already got a link from ( which might be easier)?
Link Building | | liors0