Are you using the Google Disavow Tool the right way? is a post from the best Link Building Tools available worldwide.
Learn how to use the Google Disavow Tool
The Google Disavow Tool has been out for years. And while it was rarely used in the beginning, today nearly every SEO has used it at some point already.
However, we see common mistakes that SEOs make every day, not knowing that disavowing the wrong links can cause severe damage to the rankings.
Read this article and learn:
When and how should you use the Google Disavow Tool?
The required format of the Disavow file
Extra tips about disavows
The introduction of the Google Disavow Tool
On October 16, 2012 –only a few months after the first Google Penguin update was released- Matt Cutts from Google proudly announced the release of a new tool, “the Google Disavow Links Tool”.
Its introduction has led to heated debates among SEOs around the world and many preferred not to use it in the beginning, since Google stated that the “vast, vast majority of sites do not need to use this tool in any way.”
The release of the Google Disavow Tool generated controversial reactions in the SEO world.
Many SEOs were scared of using the tool, since Google made clear that using it can really do you harm if used incorrectly –which is actually true. We will discuss the importance of the correct use later on.
But people were not only scared, there were some that criticized Google’s Disavow tool, saying that it only proved the fact that Google had failed completely in judging the quality of backlinks. They couldn’t deal with it themselves, so they needed help from the webmasters to actually judge the Web. Some believed it was one sly, clever move from Google to have others do their work –masked in polite terms. We offer a new “service” for you, you can now do the work yourself.
All of a sudden, it was on YOU to judge the quality of links and YOU were responsible for telling Google which links they mustn’t count. But how are normal webmasters supposed to know which links present a risk and which don’t?
By introducing the Disavow Tool along with harsher Penalites, Google practically managed to shirk responsibility, dumping it onto webmasters. And in the light of the rising trend in negative SEO, every webmaster is, sooner or later, likely to get to a point where there is just no way around using the Google Disavow Tool.
But as mentioned above, you could cause severe damage to your rankings if you don’t know what you’re doing so you have to make sure you use it carefully. We often come across cases where webmasters tell us they “started disavowing something here and there”. This is certainly not the right approach.
There are common mistakes, sometimes even as simple as the wrong file format, that will make Google ignore your Disavow file completely, turning all your work to dust. To prevent that from happening, we prepared a safe step-by-step guide for you.
Read on and learn how to disavow links properly.
Google ranking factors
Your ranking in Google depends on many things, but one of the main ranking factors is certainly your backlink profile. Google tries to rank their search results according to quality and relevancy of the websites. This relevancy, in turn, is based on the popularity of the content. The more visitors you have and the more people refer to your content by sharing or linking to it, the higher the chance that Google will assess your website as relevant. And thus, you ranking will move to the top. Google puts it as follows:
In general, a link from a site is regarded as a vote for the quality of your site.
The more “votes” (meaning backlinks) your site gets, the better your ranking. But this can also work the other way around.
If you have links from bad sites with poor content, Google might associate your website with such sites, and thus classify you as spam too. This is why you need to analyze your backlinks and get rid of unwanted ones, either by having them removed or by disavowing.
Download some great Google spam examples
When and how should you use the Google Disavow Tool?
Some people claim that using the Google Disavow Tool should only be considered when you file a Reconsideration Request after a Manual Action.
Well, this cannot be true: we have seen thousands of proven examples where disavowing risky links has led to a recovery from an algorithmic Penguin Penalty –where you don’t even have the option to file a Reconsideration Request. Therefore, we are convinced that you can use the Google Disavow Tool in both cases, a Manual Action and/or an algorithmic Google Penguin Penalty.
Another question we often hear is whether you can use the Google Disavow Tool straight away or whether you should contact the webmasters first.
Google officially stated that you should use the disavow tool after trying to reach out to the webmasters, specifically asking for the links to be removed.
1. Identify the right links to disavow
The only way to get a full understanding of your backlink profile is a thorough analysis of your links. You can compare it to a medical check. Unless you get a careful check-up done by a doctor, you have no idea about your condition. The same goes for your backlink profile.
In your first step, you should gather as many of your backlinks as you can. You can check out some of your backlinks using Google Webmaster Tools, but you will surely need to see more than what Google shows you. This is why you need professional off-page SEO tools. Link Detox will aggregate data from 24 different data sources. In addition, it allows you to upload your own backlink lists, if available. By connecting your Link Detox account with your Google Webmaster Tools, you will add yet another data source to your report. Read here how you profit from the GWT integration.
Download free white paper here
The Link Audit is certainly the most difficult part of the disavow process. It is also the most time-consuming task as you will have to review your links carefully and in detail. However, the Link Detox Screener will speed up your manual review considerably. You can browse page after page from within the toolkit, and set important actions on-the-fly. Watch a short video of how the Screener will simplify the Link Audit.
But before you start your manual review, it’s recommend to start off by cross-sorting the backlinks according to a combination of relevant metrics. Grouping your backlinks in clusters will give you a better overview and allow you to work more efficiently.
You could, for instance, first review all backlinks that derive from pages with a high DTOXRISK, low Power*Trust value and a negative link growth. If all of these metrics apply, chances are it’s not exactly a top-quality link. Of course, you can combine other metrics to filter only those backlinks that you care about most.
Backlink classification is a complex process that would go beyond the scope of this article. But we offer a full step-by-step guide and a summary of best practices and Must Do Steps.
2. Create your Disavow file
After you completed the backlink audit and identified the backlinks you wish to disavow, the actual disavow process can start.
2.1 Required format
First of all, let’s take a look at the format requirements by Google.
File type must be .txt
We see people, often Mac users, having problems with their submission because they don’t create files in the correct formats. Don’t use .docx, .xlsx, .rtf, or the like. Google will not accept such files. Also some text editors cannot display the Disavow file correctly. We see Notepad sometimes has difficulties opening the file correctly. You could use other text editors like Wordpad or Sublime instead.
The file must be encoded in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII.
The file size mustn’t exceed 2 MB.
Make sure you list one URL/ domain per line.
You can disavow a particular URL or an entire domain. If you have many unwanted backlinks from a particularly spammy sites, for instance, it might be better to disavow the entire domain. Matt Cutts confirms this mistake where “people are trying to take a scalpel and pick out individual bad links in a very granular way”, while “rather than a scalpel you might be thinking of a machete” (~min. 01:00). If you wish to disavow at domain level, add “domain:” in front of the domain name: so to disavow example.com add the line domain:example.com.
It’s recommended to disavow sub-domains separately.
Last but not least: obviously, you have to make sure you added all the backlinks you wish to disavow. You should neither miss any of the links you identified as risky before, nor should you add a full list of your backlinks.
Make sure you comply with the format requirements because your Disavow file will not be counted otherwise.
If you want to make your life easier, avoid potential mistakes and focus on more important things than file formats, you should use professional tools to create the Google Disavow file automatically for you.
With just one click, Link Detox will export each and every link you identified as “Disavow” during your Link Audit in exact format required by Google.
2.2. Example of a Disavow file
This is how a Disavow file would look. Lines beginning with a # character indicate a comment. We will speak about comments in the Disavow file later.
2.3. Naming conventions
Google doesn’t require any particular naming conventions, but for your own sake, we strongly recommend you give your Disavow file a meaningful name. This is important because you need to keep track of your disavow files in case you want to edit previous versions. In Link Detox, your Disavow file will be created automatically under a meaningful name, namely:
project-dtox-domain-date.txt
Upload your Disavow file
As soon as you prepared your Disavow file, you will have to upload it to the Google Disavow Tool.
If you use Link Detox to create your Disavow file, you will be forwarded from within the toolkit to the correct log in page by simply clicking on “Google Disavow Links”.
If you don’t use Link Detox, log in to Google Webmaster Tools account and got to the Disavow Tool with this link: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main
Please note that at this point you will be overwhelmed with warning messages by Google. However, this shouldn’t irritate you. If you went through a thorough Link Audit before, there is nothing to be scared of.
Select the domain you want to upload a disavow file for.
Click on “DISAVOW LINKS”.
Confirm the warning message that the Disavow Links Tool is a tool that can cause serious damage if used incorrectly (see screenshot). To confirm click again on “Disavow Links”.
Once you passed that hurdle too, the Disavow Tool will confirm your upload immediately. You should see a screenshot similar to the one below, confirming the upload and showing you your submission results:
“Results for the submission on (exact date)”
Please note that the result submission will state the exact file name of the submitted file. This is why Link Detox generates meaningful file names automatically for your Disavow files.
After completing this step, you uploaded the Disavow file successfully.
Click the “Download” button to download the most recent Google Disavow file again.
Select “CSV” as format and download
You will receive a file with a file name DIFFERENT to the one you saw, containing only the domain name and some numbers. We highly recommend you rename that file BACK to what it was called. This will help you maintain your project’s consistency when doing round-trip disavows.
Upload that Disavow file to you next Link Detox report (along with other custom link data files).
Here is an example of how the file should look:
Google Webmaster Tools: google-example.csv
After you uploaded your Disavow file to Google, you should wait 48 hours and then run Link Detox Boost. It usually takes weeks or even months before Google even sees you uploaded a Disavow file. Every day of a Penalty will cost you money, so we strongly recommend you don’t waste time. Using Boost will make Google really take the Disavow file into account. This will speed up the recovery considerably. We have even seen cases where Boost helped to do so within only 3 days!
You can start Boost directly in Link Detox. Running the tool is simple and will only take you a minute. Read here how to run Boost in only 4 steps.
After running Boost, you will see a table with the last Google Crawl Date of each backlink.
As soon as all links have been crawled, you can go ahead and submit a Reconsideration Request in case of a Manual Action.
If you do that before, Google will not see that you disavowed the link already, and your request is likely to be declined.
6 extra tips about disavows
Comments in Disavow files: Nobody ever looks at the comments in a Disavow file because it never gets to the hands of a member of the Google spam team. In this Google Hangout, John Muller confirmed that these files are “processed completely automatically”. Nevertheless, some webmasters like to include comments. This is why Link Detox supports a comment function within the toolkit. In case you want to include comments to your Disavow file manually, make sure you begin each comment line with a # character.
One file only: Google accepts one Disavow file only! Uploading a new Disavow file will overwrite all previously uploaded ones. If you want to add links to your Disavow file, you have to make sure that you don’t overwrite previous versions by mistake. If you create your disavow lists manually, you should keep track of all your files by giving them meaningful file names!
If you forget to include a previously disavowed link to the latest version of your Disavow file, Google will count this link again, which could once again cause a Penalty.
Link Detox maintains your disavow lists automatically for you. It combines all previous versions into one. This way, you can always make sure you work with the latest version.
Disavowing is not removing: If you disavow a link, it does not mean the link is gone. It only means you ask Google “not to take certain links into account when assessing your site
Disavow file is not binding: Also keep in mind that Google considers your Disavow file as a recommendation to not count particular links, not instructions. It does not mean that Google is obliged to ignore these links. If Google’s evaluation differs from yours, they might still count. This is why removing a backlink is surely the safest option. What is gone, is gone.
Disavowed links remain visible: If you disavow a backlink, it will still appear in your Google Webmaster Tools. So don’t get scared if you still see them. It will only be removed if the link is actually deleted. Link Detox works the same way. You will be able to see the disavowed links in your report, but they will be marked as such, highlighted in blue and have assigned a DTOXRISK of 0.
Disavowing NoFollow links: Google regards disavowed links as kind of NoFollow links. But this, in turn, does not necessarily mean that NoFollows don’t need to be disavowed. To the contrary: one of the two schools on NoFollow links believe that they actually can –under certain circumstances– impact your rankings. Either way, a risky link remains a risky link –whether it’s a NoFollow or not.
Conclusion
Today, probably everyone will at some point be required to submit a disavow file. No matter whether you have bad backlinks from the past or new risky links due to negative SEO attacks: if you cannot remove your risky backlinks, you need to disavow them BEFORE Google finds out.
But we see one common mistake:
Many SEOs panic and start disavowing anything, just because they are trying to diminish the DTOX risk as fast as possible. We have even seen cases where all links with medium DTOXRISK were simply disavowed in bulk like crazy –without even being reviewed manually.
Well, if this sounds familiar, disavowing the wrong links can and will harm your rankings just as well. A good ranking requires good backlinks. If you go ahead and carelessly disavow all links with medium DTOXRISK, for instance, your backlink profile will not look natural. And this can easily be the reason for a Penalty.
Reviewing your backlinks individually before actually disavowing them, is just indispensable. But luckily, there are tools out there that make your work much easier.
A little secret: we will very soon launch a new feature that will help you even more with your disavow file… Stay tuned!