Are backlinks to your website hurting your search engine performance? Do you want to restore your rankings and get rid of malicious or low-quality links pointing to your site? If so, link disavowal is the answer. Link disavowal is a powerful tool that helps webmasters remove toxic links from their websites, ensuring improved website ranking.
In this blog post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about link disavowal – what it is, how it works, and how to submit a successful disavow request. So let’s dive in and learn about all aspects of link disavowals!
What we cover in this article:
How to check for toxic backlinks?
How to discover bad backlinks in Google Search Console
Should I Disavow Bad Backlinks?
How to Disvow (Remove) Backlinks in Google Search Console
How to Disavow Backlinks in SEMrush
How to Disavow Backlinks in Ahrefs
How to Disavow Backlinks in Moz
How to manually inspect your backlinks to check for any that look spammy or low-quality
What is a toxic backlink?
A toxic backlink refers to a hyperlink from one website to another that can actually harm the search engine rankings of the linked website. Such links are usually created with malicious or spammy intent and are often obtained through unethical practices. They can also be the result of hacking or negative SEO attacks. Toxic backlinks can lead search engines to penalize the linked website for violating their guidelines, which may ultimately result in lower rankings or even being removed from search engine results pages (SERPs) altogether. It’s important to regularly monitor your website’s backlinks and disavow any toxic ones through Google’s disavow tool to protect your rankings.
How to check for toxic backlinks?
Checking for toxic backlinks is an important part of any SEO strategy. Here are some tools and methods you can use to do so:
- Google Search Console – This is a free tool provided by Google that helps you monitor and maintain your website’s presence in Google search results. You can use it to check for any toxic backlinks that may be pointing to your site.
- Ahrefs – This is a paid backlink checker tool that allows you to easily monitor your website’s backlinks and identify any toxic ones.
- SEMrush – Like Ahrefs, SEMrush is a paid tool for monitoring backlinks that can help you identify and disavow any toxic backlinks.
- Moz – This is another paid tool that allows you to track your website’s backlinks and identify any toxic ones. It also provides a user-friendly interface for creating and submitting a disavow file to Google.
- Manual inspection – You can manually inspect your backlinks to check for any that look spammy or low-quality. This can be time-consuming, but it can provide more detailed information about the source of each backlink.
Once you have identified toxic backlinks, you can disavow them using Google’s Disavow Tool or by reaching out to the webmasters of the linking sites and requesting that they remove the links.
How to discover bad backlinks in Google Search Console
Here are the steps to run a backlink report using Google Search Console:
- Log in to your Google Search Console account and select the website for which you want to run the backlink report.
- Click on “Links” in the left-hand menu.
- You will now see a list of your website’s backlinks. You can filter these links by internal, external, or top linked pages.
- To view more information about a specific link, click on its URL in the list. This will show you details like the linking page’s URL, anchor text, and the date the link was first discovered by Google.
- To further investigate a specific link and determine if it is toxic, you can click on the “More” option next to the link and select “Open in New Tab”. This will take you to the linking page where you can evaluate its quality and relevance to your website.
By regularly monitoring your website’s backlinks through Google Search Console and paying attention to any toxic backlinks, you can help protect your website’s search engine rankings and overall performance.
Should I Disavow Bad Backlinks?
Yes, you should disavow bad backlinks to safeguard your website’s search engine rankings and prevent any negative impact on its overall performance. Disavowing is a process of telling Google to ignore certain backlinks that are deemed harmful or spammy to your site. Removing them is the best option, but if it is not possible, then using Google’s Disavow Tool is the safest bet.
Toxic or bad backlinks can send negative signals to search engines, which can affect your site’s ranking and performance. In some cases, having too many low-quality or spammy links can result in a Google penalty, causing your website to drop significantly in search engine rankings.
Therefore, it’s crucial that you regularly monitor your website’s backlink profile and disavow any toxic backlinks using Google Search Console’s Disavow Tool. It’s important to note that disavowing should only be done as a last resort and after careful consideration. You should still try to remove the toxic backlinks manually by contacting the webmasters of the linking sites and requesting them to remove the links.
How to Disvow (Remove) Backlinks in Google Search Console
Here are the steps to use Google Search Console to disavow backlinks:
- Log in to your Google Search Console account and select the website for which you want to disavow backlinks.
- Go to the Disavow Links page: https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links
- On the next screen, click on the “Choose File” button to upload a list of the backlinks you want to disavow. Make sure to include only the URLs of the toxic backlinks, one URL per line. You can also add comments or explanations to help Google understand why these links are harmful.
- Click on the “Submit” button to submit the disavowal file.
- Once your disavowal file has been submitted, Google will review the file and take action accordingly. Note that it may take several weeks before you see any results.
It’s important to note that disavowing should only be done as a last resort and after careful consideration. You should still try to remove the toxic backlinks manually by contacting the webmasters of the linking sites and requesting them to remove the links. By regularly monitoring your website’s backlink profile and taking action to disavow or remove toxic backlinks, you can protect your website’s search engine ranking from harm.
How to Disavow Backlinks in SEMrush
Here are the steps to disavow backlinks using SEMrush:
- Log in to your SEMrush account and select the “Backlink Audit” tool.
- Make sure that your website is already set up in the Backlink Audit tool. You can add it if it’s not already there.
- Once you’re in the Backlink Audit tool, click on “Audit” and wait for the tool to generate your backlink audit report.
- After the audit report appears, click on the “Toxic Score” tab to see all of the bad backlinks that SEMrush has identified for your site.
- Review the list of toxic backlinks and select the ones you want to disavow. SEMrush provides a detailed analysis of each link, which can help you decide which links to disavow.
- After you have selected the links you want to disavow, click on the “Export” button. Choose the format you want to export your data in, for the Google Disavowal Tool, you can select the TXT format.
- Go to Google’s Disavow Tool and select the add property link. Choose the specific property of your website you want to disavow backlinks for.
- Upload the exported TXT file from SEMrush into the Disavow Tool.
- After you’ve uploaded the file, click on “Submit” to submit your disavowal request to Google.
- Once your disavowal request has been submitted, Google will review the file and take action accordingly. Note that it may take several weeks before you see any results.
By using SEMrush’s Backlink Audit tool to identify toxic backlinks and then disavowing them via Google’s Disavow Tool, you can protect your website’s search engine ranking and ensure that it remains free of harmful links.
How to Disavow Backlinks in Ahrefs
Here are the steps to disavow backlinks using Ahrefs:
- Log in to your Ahrefs account and select “Site Explorer” from the main menu.
- Enter your website’s URL in the search bar and click on the “Search” button.
- In the left-hand menu, click on “Backlink Profile” and then select “Backlinks”.
- This will show you a list of all backlinks pointing to your website. Use Ahrefs’ filters to sort the backlinks by their toxic score or other factors.
- Review the list of backlinks and select the toxic ones you want to disavow.
- Once you’ve selected the toxic backlinks, click on the “Export” button.
- Choose “Google Disavow” as the export format.
- Save the exported file in your computer.
- Go to Google’s Disavow Tool and select the add property link. Choose the specific property of your website you want to disavow backlinks for.
- Upload the exported file from Ahrefs into the Disavow Tool.
- After you’ve uploaded the file, click on “Submit” to submit your disavowal request to Google.
- Once your disavowal request has been submitted, Google will review the file and take action accordingly. Note that it may take several weeks before you see any results.
By using Ahrefs’ Backlink Profile tool to identify toxic backlinks and then disavowing them via Google’s Disavow Tool, you can protect your website’s search engine ranking and ensure that it remains free of harmful links.
How to Disavow Backlinks in Moz
Here are the steps to disavow backlinks in Moz:
- Log in to your Moz account and select “Link Explorer.”
- Enter your website’s URL in the search bar and click on the “Search” button.
- In the left-hand menu, click on “Spam Analysis” and then select “Backlinks”.
- This will show you a list of all backlinks pointing to your website. Use Moz’s filters to sort the backlinks by spam score or other factors.
- Review the list of backlinks and select the toxic ones you want to disavow.
- Once you’ve selected the toxic backlinks, click on the “Export” button.
- Choose “Google Disavow” as the export format.
- Save the exported file in your computer.
- Go to Google’s Disavow Tool and select the add property link. Choose the specific property of your website you want to disavow backlinks for.
- Upload the exported file from Moz into the Disavow Tool.
- After you’ve uploaded the file, click on “Submit” to submit your disavowal request to Google.
- Once your disavowal request has been submitted, Google will review the file and take action accordingly. Note that it may take several weeks before you see any results.
By using Moz’s Spam Analysis tool to identify toxic backlinks and then disavowing them via Google’s Disavow Tool, you can protect your website’s search engine ranking and ensure that it remains free of harmful links.
How to manually inspect your backlinks to check for any that look spammy or low-quality
Manually inspecting your backlinks can be a time-consuming process, but it can provide more detailed information about the source of each backlink. Here are some steps you can take to manually inspect your backlinks for spammy or low-quality links:
- Start by opening a spreadsheet or document where you can keep track of your backlinks.
- Review each link one by one and consider the following factors:
- The relevance of the linking site: Is the site related to your niche or industry? Does the content of the linking page relate to your content?
- The quality of the linking site: Is the site reputable and trustworthy? Does it have a good reputation online?
- The value of the link: Is the link providing value to visitors or is it just included for SEO purposes?
- The anchor text of the link: Is the anchor text relevant and natural sounding, or does it seem overly optimized for SEO purposes?
- The overall appearance of the linking site: Does the site look spammy or low-quality?
- As you review each link, note down any that you suspect may be spammy or low-quality.
- Once you have reviewed all of your backlinks, prioritize the ones that you suspect are toxic or harmful to your SEO efforts.
- Take action to disavow these toxic backlinks using Google’s Disavow Tool or by reaching out to the webmasters of the linking sites and requesting that they remove the links.
By manually inspecting your backlinks, you can gain a deeper understanding of the quality of your link profile and take action to protect your website’s ranking in search engine results pages.
Bad Backlink FAQs
Does Google ignore toxic backlinks?
Google’s goal is to deliver relevant and useful search results to its users. As part of this effort, the company uses sophisticated algorithms to analyze various factors that influence search engine rankings. One of these factors is website backlinks, and Google has a specific set of guidelines that webmasters should follow when building their backlink profile.
When Google detects toxic backlinks pointing to a website, it may choose to ignore those links or penalize the website that those links are pointing to. Ignoring those links usually means that Google’s algorithm would discount those links’ value when assessing the website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
In some cases, toxic backlinks can lead to a Google penalty, causing the website to lose rankings entirely in the SERPs. However, Google typically gives webmasters a chance to disavow toxic backlinks and submit a disavowal request, which can help to mitigate the impact of these links.
It’s important to note that Google has a complicated algorithm that evaluates many factors, and backlinks are just one of them. While avoiding toxic backlinks is crucial, it’s also essential to have a well-rounded SEO strategy that focuses on producing high-quality content, improving website usability, and following other best practices.
How long does it take Google to disavow links?
The amount of time it takes Google to process a disavowal request varies significantly. Generally speaking, you should expect the whole process to take around two weeks or longer.
The exact timeline for disavowals depends on several factors, such as the size and complexity of your request file, Google’s server load at the moment, and whether there is a manual review involved.
It’s also important to keep in mind that after submitting a disavowal request, it may take some time before you start seeing any changes in your website’s search engine rankings. This typically happens when Google has processed the file and taken action on all links mentioned in it.
Need Help? Get Our Toxic Backlink Audit for $20
Get a backlink audit of your website to see if you have toxic backlinks.
With this $20 audit, you will get a list of all toxic backlinks and we will create a disavow file for you that you can use to disavow these backlinks in Google Search Console.