Disavowing Backlinks

In the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) there are many factors that can affect a website’s ranking. One important factor is how many backlinks the site has and if those backlinks are considered trustworthy. First, it is vital to understand what a backlink is. Simply explained, it is a link that is on another website that directs back to your website. Every website needs to have backlinks in order to gain ranking according to Google. It is a way to show that your website is important and relevant.

While it is important to have backlinks, they should be from trusted sources. If a backlink connect to a spam-type website, it can hurt your ranking. This means that you should always be monitoring your backlinks. So, what can be done if there are backlinks that are hurting you? First, you should try to contact the Webmaster for that particular page and ask to have the link removed. If that does not work, or if you are unable to find contact information, Google has the Disavow Tool. This allow you to enter the domain that you wish Google to ignore while ranking your website.

Matt Cutts, Google’s Distinguished Engineer explained the functions of the disavow tool when asked if it should be used before receiving a penalty for bad backlinks from Google. He explained that the tool should be used after trying to remove the links manually first, whether or not you have received a penalty from Google. He also stated that a Webmaster should use the tool if he or she is ever concerned with a link that looks suspicious or spam-like. The Disavow tool is useful to ensure that your backlinks are helping your website, not hurting it.

Our Main Focus

At Law Firm Sites, one of our main focus for SEO is monitoring and disavowing bad backlinks. We will audit your backlinks, contact the sites to ask for the links to be removed, and finally submit the links to the Google Disavow tool if we were unable to manually remove the bad link. If you have questions about your websites backlinks and SEO, contact us now.