How To Perfom A Link Audit

[MirageTrailer]

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[gowebsol]

Hi John. This is one of my least favorite tasks, but there are some easier ways to tackle it.

First of course I'd use the Spam Analysis feature of Open Site Explorer to do a comprehensive audit and identify the bad links.

Next, I suggest a service like rmoove purely as a time saving measure to get rid of the links the right way. It will help you identify contacts, send emails, and manage the process. https://www.rmoov.com/index.php

Finally, for links you can't get removed, I'd certainly use the Google disavow tool tool. Here is the guide Moz refers to from Open Site Explorer to help you get started: http://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2273639/how-to-use-googles-disavow-links-tool-the-right-way

Good luck.

[GPainter]

BEHOLD! https://moz.com/blog/guide-to-googles-disavow-tool

Marie Haynes has a great guide to help you disavow (remove so to say) the "bad" links. Well worth a read. I'm also sure if I need to do Graphics design i would only be a lowly seo'er

[MirageTrailer]

Thanks for the quick responses. I read through most of the suggested material and I ran Moz's spam analysis. Turns out that the link situation wasn't as bad as I had initially perceived. I've got roughly 50 links in the orange range and 7 in the red range. The rest are in the green. Ironically, many of these orange and red links are backlinks from our own authorized dealers (nice job, fellas). So, my next question is where my removal threshold should be. Remove anything orange and above and keep only greens? Only get rid of reds?

[MirageTrailer]

Thank you.

[MirageTrailer]

Thank you.

[Toddfoster]

Hi John,

Sorry to jump in halfway through the discussion, but I think I can be of some help here.

First and foremost, Google knows that link profiles are never going to be perfect. They expect every website to attract spam from time to time, so they don't typically assess penalties for this (i.e. Penguin). In other words, I have seen websites with astoundingly good link profiles go downhill because Google thinks they are trying to "game the system" by using tactics such as PBN's (Private Blog Networks) to generate decent links and gain rankings.

If your link profile is made up of 100 links, and 20 of them are of poor quality, that is not the end of the world. For some time, my job at my current agency was to conduct link audits, and my threshold for removal was between 10-20%. In other words, if more than 20% of a link profile was spam, it needed action. If less, then the most likely road to success was simply to build better links moving forward.

If you are set on removing these links, the best way to proceed is not to use a tool at all, but conduct a manual link audit. I used to go through sites with link profiles in the tens of thousands in about an hour using a system I created myself. I used Ahrefs or Majestic to find the links, and my own system to brand which ones needed removal. Then it is a matter of outreach, which is best done through a tool like rmoov (as Joey suggested).

Once you have performed outreach, contact Google for a disavow, and send any documentation of your outreach efforts so they know you are completely dedicated to cleaning up your link profile and have taken the necessary steps before running straight to them. That always seemed to go over well when I did it.

I would be hesitant to use a tool to determine which links should disappear - every time one was suggested to me, I found that a manual system worked much better. It took a bit more time, but at the end of the day, an extra hour or two means a better result which is what optimization is all about.

If you like, I would be happy to take a look at what you have and see how I can help. Feel free to reach out!

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Rob

[MirageTrailer]

So, if I'm understanding you correctly, I shouldn't be overly concerned with this given that less than 2% of the links that Moz scanned are being flagged as potential spam (in the orange/red range) on my site. I should keep that number under 20% and continue with building more quality links, rather than cull the few spammy links I might have currently.

[Toddfoster]

That's correct. If your link profile is showing a 2% spam rate, you are easily in the 99th percentile of all sites I have ever audited. Most "at risk" sites show a 10-50% spam rate. Any higher and you are looking at an inevitable penalty without immediate action.

This is a bit of red herring, however, as you want to make sure that your link profile shows strong relevancy and authority.

In order of priority:

1. Strong links
2. Relevant links
3. Remove bad links

If your link profile is good to begin with, there's no need to remove anything. In other words, if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

[MirageTrailer]

Thanks to all.