While some of you must be wondering what the Google Disavow tool is, I’m sure many of you have heard mixed reviews about using it for SEO.Â
If you’re reliant on Google’s website rankings for greater traffic, are a victim of link penalties or are always wondering why all your efforts to boost your website ranking doesn’t seem to be working, then it’s time for you to leverage the Google Disavow tool to take care of any funny business that might be keeping your website from hitting the top spot on SERPs.Â
What is the Google Disavow tool and how do you use it?
The Google Disavow tool is part of Google’s Search Console, which was formerly a part of its Webmaster tools. It allows websites to request Google to discount the value of an inbound link, possibly a spammy link, that’s causing your website ranking to take a hit.
Disavowing a link means telling search engines not to factor in a specific link(s) when crawling your site. If you don’t have control over these links, you can use this tool to get Google to disregard them so your website’s reputation is unharmed.
To disavow links, you need to first identify what they are, beginning with the backlinks your website has received. Then you must identify bad backlinks either by using a tool or by manually visiting each one and evaluating whether or not the link is valuable.
After this, it’s usually the rule to send that website an email with a link removal request asking them to remove that link. The problem is when this request is ignored. In that case, you need to compile a disavow file by picking them out one by one and then uploading the file through the tool. Â
There are some common mistakes you might make while using the Google Disavow tool and if you know exactly how to get through them successfully, you will be able to see the fruits of your efforts in about a month.
Why do you need to use the Google Disavow tool?
Knowing how to build links is a cornerstone of SEO. Having backlinks from any site can contribute to your link velocity and help increase your site’s ranking and search visibility.Â
However, if those backlinks are bad, spammy or unnatural and are directing users to your website, it can contribute to poor website rankings and can even result in Google penalising you.Â
Not all backlinks are created equal and there’s something called a ‘spam backlink’. It’s a link to your site placed on a trashy, irrelevant website with some random, ill-fitted anchor text. Naturally, this type of link does not do your website’s image and search visibility any favours.Â
While good backlinks can raise your domain authority and page authority scores, increase your visibility on search engines, and help you rank better, bad backlinks do just the opposite. There’s sure to be a couple of poor backlinks directing to your website already and while this is somewhat normal, if there are too many of them, it’ll look like you’re trying to use shady SEO tactics to manipulate your rankings.
The Google Disavow tool comes in handy in situations like this. Truth be told, it’s a tool that will be used by almost every person who’s building their site’s SEO because it’s not enough to just increase your link velocity – it’s also crucial that your backlinks are high-quality and doesn’t give your site a bad name.Â
Reap the benefits of excellent backlinks with the Google Disavow tool
The Google Disavow is a great tool to have in your SEO arsenal and is one that every site owner needs to be familiar with.Â
Knowing how to use this tool cautiously but effectively is a learning curve but is highly necessary. Do your homework, learn more about the Google Disavow tool and make it a useful part of your SEO strategy.Â