What is a bad backlink?
Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 6:41 am
The vast majority of organic backlinks are "good backlinks" - they represent the ideal Internet that Google likes, one where good content is referenced frequently and liberally. Most of them won't actually move the needle for your site, but they slowly build your reputation as a trusted, authoritative resource.
“Bad backlinks,” on the other hand, are almost india mobile number list always inorganic (though there are exceptions). Two of the biggest culprits are links that can be bought in bulk from shady SEO sites and intentional backlinking schemes that use a private backlink network (PBN). These are Google’s guidelines on “link schemes.”
It is also possible to receive a link "organically" from one of those extremely spammy looking sites that are just product listings and links with no real content. The link was probably not placed by a human and your site is certainly not benefiting from it, so the best thing to do is to remove those links as well.
Check out this guide: Backlink Analysis: How to Spot Quality and Toxic Backlinks
Negative SEO Attack
Bad, or malicious, backlinks are also the target of a particularly unscrupulous strategy called a Negative SEO Attack. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of SEO knows not to buy hundreds or thousands of backlinks, as this will definitely result in a penalty on your site. Instead, you can attack a competitor by buying all those backlinks and pointing them to their domain, thus ensuring that they will be penalized.
The only option for a victim of a negative SEO attack is to disavow all malicious links pointing to their site.
When to disavow links?
If it isn’t already clear, disavowing backlinks isn’t something you do on a whim. It’s a pretty serious action that can significantly impact your search rankings, for better or worse.
Google considers this to be a last resort. It's in Webmaster Tools > Advanced and there are 3 warning screens you have to click through before you can upload a link disavow file.
In general, you should only disavow a link that you know is harming you. See Google’s Quality Guidelines for a more comprehensive list.
Keep in mind that a link from a low-traffic or low-domain-authority site is not a bad link. It probably won’t contribute much individually, but each link is a vote of confidence in your site that Google takes into account.
“Bad backlinks,” on the other hand, are almost india mobile number list always inorganic (though there are exceptions). Two of the biggest culprits are links that can be bought in bulk from shady SEO sites and intentional backlinking schemes that use a private backlink network (PBN). These are Google’s guidelines on “link schemes.”
It is also possible to receive a link "organically" from one of those extremely spammy looking sites that are just product listings and links with no real content. The link was probably not placed by a human and your site is certainly not benefiting from it, so the best thing to do is to remove those links as well.
Check out this guide: Backlink Analysis: How to Spot Quality and Toxic Backlinks
Negative SEO Attack
Bad, or malicious, backlinks are also the target of a particularly unscrupulous strategy called a Negative SEO Attack. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of SEO knows not to buy hundreds or thousands of backlinks, as this will definitely result in a penalty on your site. Instead, you can attack a competitor by buying all those backlinks and pointing them to their domain, thus ensuring that they will be penalized.
The only option for a victim of a negative SEO attack is to disavow all malicious links pointing to their site.
When to disavow links?
If it isn’t already clear, disavowing backlinks isn’t something you do on a whim. It’s a pretty serious action that can significantly impact your search rankings, for better or worse.
Google considers this to be a last resort. It's in Webmaster Tools > Advanced and there are 3 warning screens you have to click through before you can upload a link disavow file.
In general, you should only disavow a link that you know is harming you. See Google’s Quality Guidelines for a more comprehensive list.
Keep in mind that a link from a low-traffic or low-domain-authority site is not a bad link. It probably won’t contribute much individually, but each link is a vote of confidence in your site that Google takes into account.