In the latest Google Webmaster Help video, Matt Cutts confirms that you don’t have to wait until you receive a manual action to start disavowing bad links. He says that while the primary purpose of the disavow tool is to clean up the links a link building company may have built for you, you can also use it when:
- The webmaster linking to you won’t remove the links
- You think someone’s doing negative SEO on your site
- You see links to your website on another website that you don’t want to be associated with
- You think there’s a “weird bot building a bunch of links to your site and you have no idea where it came from”
Auditing your backlinks regularly can help you identify links that you may need to disavow, but it’s usually best to leave it to the experts. Google Webmaster Tools still warns users that using the tool incorrectly can affect the site’s performance in search results:
Google’s current algorithm makes it even more important to keep your link profile clean. If you want to start assessing and improving your backlinks, check out Clayton’s post on cleaning up your backlink profile, or Itamar’s post on how to prune pages to remove unnatural links.
Even though there are things you can do on your own to improve your link profile, it’s always better to call on the experts. Our teams have continued to stay on top of the latest algorithm updates, and adapted our methodology to keep our clients at the top of search engine results. Talk to us about our link building and link clean-up services today!
Jobelle Omang is the Marketing Specialist for TrueLogic Online Solutions, Inc. Part of her job is to deliver tactical online marketing strategies, campaigns and content programs for TrueLogic and other internal brands. When not working, you can see her either reading, writing, painting, drawing, or teaching kids.
May or may not be obsessed with Doctor Who.
