Backlinks that we have if they are 404?

[mtthompsons]

Hi All,

Backlinks that we have if they are 404?

Open site explorer shows 1,000 of links and when I check many are 404 and those are spammy links which we had but now the sites are 404

I am doing a link profile check which is cleaning up all spammy links

Should i take any action on them? As open site explorer or Google still shows these links on the searches.

Should we mention these URL's in disallow in Google webmaster.

Thanks

[Chris.Menke]

If the links are coming from URLs that no longer exist, then think  of them kind of like ghosts.  Their likenesses are still showing up on reports to give you a scare but their bodies aren't around and can't do you any harm.  Eventually they'll fade away from the reports any they'll be nothing more a distant memory. So, no, non-existent links don't need to be disallowed.

Sorry, I was watching a ghost movie last night.

[MarieHaynes]

Your question is a little unclear but I think you're saying that you have backlinks that point to certain pages and now you have 404'd those pages.  If this is the case then Google treats those links as dead.  According to John Mueller of Google, links going to 404'd pages don't count towards PageRank.

[mtthompsons]

Thanks

To be more clear here is the details

1. We have spammers who first post irrelevant content on our site

2. We delete them in 1 or 2 hrs and within this time

3. They spam many other sites with the post link of our on those sites

Now the link they posted is deleted and 404.

i have 4 questions

a. Many of these links that are on spam sites are 404. Should i take any action

b. All these pages are 100% made just to spam or even the sites are made to spam. Should i take any action

c. Some sites itself are down and guess they are shutdown as they were made just to spam. Should i take any action

d. Should i disallow all such links

I havent received any penalty notice but my traffic has dropped by 70%

[Chris.Menke]

If you delete the page (URL) with the link (clickable words that takes the visitor to another URL), Google will eventually recognize that the URL no longer exists and drop it from the index. That may take anywhere from a few days to a month or more.

Once the URL is out of the index, whatever links were on that URL won't count against you.

You may use the URL removal tool in Google webmaster tools to try to speed up the process of removing the URL from the index.  There is no need to use the disavow tool for a URL that resolves to a 404 page.