The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Technical SEO Issues
    4. How reliable / current is Moz spam score at should I disavow?

    How reliable / current is Moz spam score at should I disavow?

    Technical SEO Issues
    3 3 410
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • A_Q
      A_Q last edited by

      Hey Mozzers,

      I'm just analysing a website's back link profile, and there are around 15 sites that link with a Moz spam score of 8 and above. I'm inclined to just go straight in and disavow these websites, even though some are industry relevant.

      But before I do, what are your thoughts around the reliability of Moz's spam score, and disavowing a site if above a particular score (8 and above).

      Thanks!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • seanginnaw
        seanginnaw last edited by

        Hey there,

        I wouldn't just take the export and put it in - Moz's spam score metric isn't 100% accurate as it's looking at site metrics, rather than looking at individual sites manually.

        Moz have said:

        **"WARNING: **Please do not export this file and simply upload it to Google! You can really, really hurt your site's ranking and there may be no way to recover. Instead, carefully sort through the links therein and make sure you really do want to disavow what's in there. You can easily remove/edit the file to take out links you feel are not spam"

        You can read the full article on this here.

        They've also said only anything with a spam score of 14 or higher is definitely spa****m. Anything with a lower score could be valuable links.

        In short, go through each domain you want to disavow with a fine tooth comb as there's always a chance that there could be some really valuable ones in there.

        All the best,

        Sean

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • Maayboli
          Maayboli last edited by

          Moz spam score should be looked as guidance and not a last word. I had some legitimate sites directories shown as spam as directories tend to have lot more outgoing links then the content on the page. And I would have lost , lots of traffic and link juice I would be getting if I consider spam. And some of the sites are high domain authority and really good research resources.

          I do not agree anything above score 14 is "definitely" spam. But it is "likely" spam

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • 1 / 1
          • First post
            Last post
          • Spam score
            RossKernez
            RossKernez
            0
            2
            54

          • 'domain:example.com/' is this line with a '/' at the end of the domain valid in a disavow report file ?
            LabeliumUSA
            LabeliumUSA
            0
            3
            42

          • Spam Score 8/17 with no inbound links. Any hints ?
            ChrisAshton
            ChrisAshton
            0
            3
            241

          • URL Structure On Site - Currently it's domain/product-name NOT domain/category/product name is this bad?
            RuthBurrReedy
            RuthBurrReedy
            0
            4
            196

          • Redirect of https:// to http:// without SSL. Possible or not?!
            LesleyPaone
            LesleyPaone
            0
            5
            336

          • WordPress - How to stop both http:// and https:// pages being indexed?
            Dr-Pete
            Dr-Pete
            0
            4
            1.9k

          • Getting multiple errors for domain.com/xxxx/xxxx/feed/feed/feed/feed...
            Brandtailers
            Brandtailers
            0
            5
            1.4k

          • Follow up from http://www.seomoz.org/qa/discuss/52837/google-analytics
            KeriMorgret
            KeriMorgret
            0
            8
            1.1k

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Digital Marketers
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy