Quality backlinks serve as the cornerstone of any link-building strategy. Securing just one DoFollow link from a well-known publication already spikes your traffic, authority, and Google search engine results page (SERP) ranking. However, what would happen with bad backlinks? Unnatural links from shady websites can instantly tank website traffic. Avoid them at all costs.
If the author linking to your website refuses to remove your backlink, manually resolve the issue with the Google backlink disavow tool. This system requests Google to “ignore” certain links. If utilized correctly, this SEO tool can effectively eliminate any links hampering your site traffic and site ranking.
A few years back, backlinks guaranteed good site ranking. Whether the backlinks came from a major publication or some shady, spammy website, they would have helped your website rank, nonetheless. Unfortunately, black-hat SEO strategists took advantage of this setup by spamming their sites with fake backlinks.
As a result, Google changed its backlinking rules. They update their algorithm 500 to 600 times per annum, so they have come a long way from accepting random backlinks. Nowadays, fake backlinks hurt website ratings and authority as Google filters spammy sites.
However, bad backlinks don’t necessarily have to be intentional. Google will also categorize you as spam if a low-authority website links to your pages — even if the links were unsolicited.
Fortunately, you can now eliminate bad links through Google’s backlink disavow tool. As the name suggests, this tool enables website administrators to remove unsolicited backlinks from suspicious websites manually.
Several variables affect a “bad backlink.” With Google’s ever-changing algorithm and the rise of various website audit tools, there are now hundreds of ways to define backlinks.
Unfortunately, link disavowal leaves no room for subjectivity. Unless you want your website rating to tank, you have to disavow backlinks prudently. Use universally accepted standards.
Most website administrators typically define bad backlinks as irrelevant, unsolicited links from shady websites. Think about it — how would you benefit from being mentioned by some random blog that isn’t even related to your website in any way?
Use a reliable website auditing tool to crawl all your backlinks leading to your pages, then run each website through your preferred domain authority checker. Generally, avoid the following:
The disavow backlink tool does not technically eliminate bad links. Instead, each submission counts as a formal request to ignore the links stated. Denying any relationship between your website and the specified backlinks informs Google that these links were unsolicited, thus absolving you of any adverse SEO effects.
Note that Google does not automatically approve all disavowal links. However, they’re also not very stringent when processing submissions and reviewing requests to disavow certain bad backlinks. On the contrary, manual disavowal helps them improve their search engine’s credibility and accuracy.
If you find yourself struggling with Google’s backlink disavow tool, don’t worry. We can help! Use the straightforward, step-by-step guide below as a starting point in removing unsolicited bad backlinks.
As we mentioned above, disavow backlinks prudently. Use a reliable website auditing tool to assess all the backlinks leading to your pages, study the findings, then analyze whether they add value to your website or not. Collect all the URLs in your notepad app.
After collecting the links, format them accordingly. Add a “domain:” prefix before each URL, then check if no URL exceeds 2,048 characters. Your list of links should be in a .txt file, contain no more than 100,000 lines, and have a maximum file size of 2MB.
Go to the Google backlink disavow tool, click on the property you wish to modify, then upload your list of links. Note that uploading a new list replaces the existing one on your property.
Toxic backlinks are either ones that display signs of low quality or are blatant attempts to manipulate search rankings. This means that toxic backlinks may be coming from sites that have been set up for the purpose of linking out, sites that are not topically relevant, or sites that aren’t indexed by Google.
NoFollow links that look spammy should be removed as these pose a high risk for your backlink profile.
The Penguin penalty was set up to locate and penalize poor-quality websites based on their backlink profile. This algorithm works under the assumption that poor sites will generally link out to other poor sites.
Generally speaking, there is no such thing as too many backlinks. However, having too many negative backlinks can get your site penalized by Google.
Google sees backlinks as a kind of “vote of confidence” from one site to another. This process of vouching can greatly affect your site’s search visibility and ranking position, as long as your backlinks are coming from reputable sources.
To maximize the efficacy of Google’s backlink disavow tool, pair it with a reliable website crawler like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz. Remember: backlink disavowal leaves a significant impact on your website. Removing anything other than bad backlinks compromises your overall website health and performance. In the worst case, your rating might even tank.
Review your Google analytics before and after the disavowal of any set of links. That way, if you remove a quality backlink by accident, you can mitigate the damage by requesting to reverse the disavowal. Google allows reversals, but don’t expect your performance to normalize immediately.
Executing a solid link-building strategy goes beyond disavowing backlinks — and Automatic Growth can guide you through the process! Check out our piece on backlink analysis for more information.
