Should I bother disavowing nofollow backlinks?

[Ryan_Phillips]

Hello!

I am about to go through the list of backlinks in our profile and sort out what we want to disavow.  A question I had is, should I both disavowing nofollow backlinks, even if they look spammy?  Or should I just focus on cleaning up the dofollow's?

Thanks!

[Valarlf]

I think this tool puts the nofollow attribute so would not need to use it in that kind of link.

[VentaMarketing]

Since the disavow tool basically tells Google to nofollow the links, I would recommend first focusing on the bad dofollow links in your back link profile.

Also, as a fist measure, I would not use the Google disavow tool. Instead, I would reach out to all of the websites containing bad dofollow links and request them to be removed. I would give each link at least three attempts before considering the disavow tool.

I suggest manual attempts before using the disavow tool because using the disavow tool is basically like telling on yourself. Your are turning your website into Google for having a spamming back link profile. I do realize that the disavow tool is a much better option then getting hit with a penalty,  but I am a fan of at least trying to take care of it yourself before turning a website over to the mercy of Google.

[RyanKent]

Both Luis and MJ are correct.

Should I bother disavowing nofollow backlinks?

No. You also do not need to disavow any links which are 302 redirected to your site.

The Disavow tool is only to be used as a very last resort. There seems to be a lot of confused webmasters who have a difficult time accepting this idea.

As MJ shared, you need to make every effort to remove the links first. Webmasters should be contacted via their WHOIS email address, any email address found on the website, and their Contact Form (if available) prior to using the Disavow tool.

[Ryan_Phillips]

Thanks for the responses guys.  I understand the disavow tool is supposed to be a last resort and I really think we're there.  We were hit with penguin and have done anything possible to date to recover our rankings and have gotten no where.

I am going to compile a list of links I think need to be removed and then I might find someone who offers a service to review them.

Thanks!

[VentaMarketing]

Great point Ryan, the WHOIS lookup is a perfect tool to start your manual removal process.

Ryan, here is a link to GoDaddy's WHOIS search:  http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx

[RyanKent]

Actually, the Rmoov tool is great for automatically pulling WHOIS data and managing the email process.

It is important to understand Rmoov is a tool for 1 part of the process. You still need to compile a comprehensive list of all your site's links, and then carefully identify those links. Rmoov is designed to automate a portion of the webmaster outreach phase, but there is still manual work to be done as well.

[PIXUS]

Some great responses here and although I agree with contacting webmasters first and requesting manual removal of links, I think its good to mention what to do if you are hit with a negative SEO blast where all the new links are from spammy blog networks and de-indexed domains etc where conveniently, there are no contact details on site or with WHOIS.

In this case, its probably better going down the disavow route using caution and common sense before submitting final disavow file.