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What is disavowing a link in SEO?
You’ve probably heard the term before, but what does it actually mean? And more importantly, should you be doing it to your website?
In this post, we’ll explore what disavowing a link is, why you might want to do it, and how to go about doing it.
So read on for all the details!
What is disavowing a link in SEO?
In SEO terms, disavowing a link means telling Google that you don’t want a particular link to be counted as part of your website’s link profile.
This is usually done when you have a link from an spammy or low-quality website, and you don’t want that link to negatively impact your rankings.
Why disavow links?
There are two main reasons why you might want to disavow links:
1. To avoid being penalized by Google
If you have a lot of low-quality or spammy links pointing to your website, Google may penalize your site by lowering your rankings in the search results.
This is because Google interprets these links as an indication that your site is also low-quality or spammy.
2. To improve your link profile
Even if you’re not at risk of being penalized, you may still want to disavow links to improve the overall quality of your link profile.
This can help your website rank higher in the search results, as Google will see your site as being more trustworthy and authoritative.
How to disavow links
If you’ve decided that you want to disavow links to your website, there are a few steps you need to take:
1. Identify the links you want to disavow
The first step is to identify which links you want to disavow. You can do this manually by looking through your website’s link profile, or you can use a tool like Google Search Console.
2. Create a disavow file
Once you’ve identified the links you want to disavow, you need to create a disavow file. This is a simple text file that contains a list of all the links you want to disavow.
3. Submit the disavow file to Google
The final step is to submit your disavow file to Google. You can do this through Google Search Console.
Conclusion
Disavowing links can be a helpful way to improve your website’s SEO, but it’s important to use this tool carefully. Make sure you only disavow links from low-quality or spammy websites, as disavowing links from high-quality sites can hurt your rankings.
If you’re not sure whether or not to disavow a particular link, it’s usually best to err on the side of caution and leave the link in place.
Jamie Fallon is an SEO expert who lives life to the maximum, redlining every day on a rollercoaster straight to the grave.
In an SEO career of almost ten years, he’s seen it all, he’s done it all, and he’s not impressed: from white text on a white background to today, when you can have robots paint or write for you like some kind of sick science fiction come true.
No matter what life throws at him, Jamie always manages to come out on top. He’s an expert at seeing the silver lining in every cloud and making the best of every situation. His positive attitude and unshakable faith in himself have seen him through tough times. For some people, success goes to their heads; but Jamie never forgets what got him to wherever he thinks he is.
When he’s not busy gaming the system, you can find him writing angry thinkpieces on how Google is ruining everything good about the internet, or hanging out with his wife (pictured).
