Removal of dodgy links
-
Examining the backlink profile of a new client I can see a large number of links developed by an offshore agency they used for link-building. The client is a reputable, professional company but some of the links are on very low-quality sites in-between viagra, online pharmacies, cosmetic surgery etc. It is unclear whether some of the links are paid or not.
There is no indication that they have been penalised for these links but they are obviously unhelpful. Can I use GWT to request Google ignore them or should I just leave them and move on with more appropriate link building techniques?
-
Ryan - thanks for your advice.
-
Can I use GWT to request Google ignore them or should I just leave them and move on with more appropriate link building techniques?
As long as none of the links are paid or otherwise violate Google's terms, you can disregard the dodgy links. The more quality links you build, the more diluted the "bad" links will become and your link profile will appear cleaner.
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
-
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Link Building | | Stongex0 -
About Link Earning?
I own an e-commerce store and I am get started with my SEO strategy. I know content is extremely important when it comes to link building, however for an e-commerce store what can I do as far as content. So far my only idea is blog posts. It's a furniture store so videos are really hard to do. The blog posts relate to home decor and interior design. My question is if people are going to be linking to my blog, will this help my website rank for product terms? The blog is part of the website, websitename.com/blog.
Link Building | | The_Kiwi_Man0 -
Is providing a paid scholarship to schools and receiving a back link, classed as a paid link scheme?
I've always wondered if it is classed as paid links in Google's eyes?
Link Building | | ResumeGenius0 -
Removing links from rubbishy 'blog' sites
I need to remove around 800 bad links, probably about 500 domains as a very rough estimate. These were built by a previous link building company. Here some example domains: http://globalweddingblog.com
Link Building | | Coraltoes77
http://theweddinginsider.net
http://www.couturefashionissues.com
http://www.topfashionlabels.com
http://weddingworldnews.com
http://www.savingsdistrict.com
http://bestfemalesblog.com
http://mylatestfashion.com
http://lastfashion.net
http://womansonlineblog.org I have already tried emailing a hundred or so with a manual link request - with zero outcome. Hardly surprising when you consider the types of sites they are. I've had a quote for a link removal service, but I'm not sure if it's wise to pay someone to do this work - not sure what resources/tools they would have above and beyond what I can access and there could be increased risk. Any advice?0 -
Spammy Links in MOZ but when I go to the external link I can't find a link to us
I was going to try to contact webmasters to see if they would remove some of our spammy links. I see alot of them in MOZ but when you go to the site our anchor text is not there. Is this good? How often does MOZ refresh external links. Please see: http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/anchors?site=www.totalvac.com None of the links for the anchor text <a class="clickable title link-pivot" title="See top linking pages that use this anchor text." data-text="vacuum cleaner parts vacuum parts vacuum bags vacuum cleaner bags" data-id="46391436859">vacuum cleaner parts vacuum part...</a> in MOZ exist? We got hit extremely hard by Penguin in May
Link Building | | totalvac0 -
To Remove or not to Remove?
Howdy! In the midst of communicating with Google because of a robots.txt issue, we had a bit of a backfire of sorts and received a notice of unnatural links. It's not a horror story or anything. It's seems more like, "Hey, before we address your other issues, here is something you should clean up" although I don't dare put words in Google's mouth. A few years ago we hired an SEO company which shall remain nameless who did some anchor text blog posts for us which at the time, we had no idea was an issue. There aren't an enormous number of these links hanging around, but checking our anchor text, in OSE, we saw that there are around 50 or so. We decided to use removeem.com as an easy way to request removal of these links. However, on first run, removeem returned a large number of anchor text links beyond just these obvious ones that are actually natural links from users, fans or those that sell their goods on our website. Examples of these anchor text links would be: "DEMO" or "Find My Products Here" or "Home Page" http://www.mysite.com/goodstuff/foryoutubuy/html We are a media selling site and we do have a lot of download sites that attempt to "share" content and link back to us via a DEMO link, etc. While these aren't the greatest sites in the world, they are nevertheless natural links. Heck, they are pirating our goods, shouldn't we at least garner the link juice from them?!!? 😉 So, questions: Should we remove all of these links as removem.com suggests or only remove the ones that are unnatural and clarify with google that these other links are natural? Thanks for your help! Craig
Link Building | | TheCraig0 -
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 -
Changing links
Hi guys i wanted you views on changing the anchor text of links. I have quality links coming in but with year terms such as 2012 in there, if i want to change them all to 2013 for example would it be badly seen by Google? I cant say i feel comfortable about doing it but they are my links and are related to our products. Any advice much appreciated.
Link Building | | pauledwards0
