Should you disavow Google’s disavow link tool? Probably.
The word is out. Google has released their disavow link tool, the SEO world is abuzz, and now you’re paranoid, thinking you should do something about it.
So stop worrying, already. You probably don’t need to do anything.
According to Google itself, “The primary purpose of this tool is to help clean up if you’ve hired a bad SEO or made mistakes in your own link-building.”
If you didn’t, congratulate yourself for hiring your SEO wisely and get back to whatever it is you should be doing. You really can disavow the disavow link tool.
But if you were not so lucky and unknowingly fell into the hands of a black hat SEO or if it was you who unknowingly or purposely engaged in what I call the artificial insemination of inbound links to manipulate your rank, Google is now giving you the means to repent and clear your website of any “guilt.”
This still doesn’t mean you have to do anything, however. Listen to what Matt Cutts, head of Google’s web spam team, has to say from 7:00 to 7:20, particularly 7:10 where he says, “We handle things just fine”:
So what does that mean, “we handle things just fine”?
Some (according to Matt, “very few”) websites owners have gotten link warnings in their Webmaster Tools. Google sent these notices out to site owners when they detected bad link building practices and was meant as a warning to those site owners to go remove them. In some cases, however, this has been impossible to do for whatever reason. Perhaps the linking site owner couldn’t be contacted, or maybe the bad link was put there maliciously by a competitor to disavow the site in Google’s eyes and they have no intention of removing it.
So Google came back with this tool as a means for you to tell them you tried to comply. The links are still there, but you did your best to remove them and wash yourself from the stain of sin.
Unless you have warnings in your Webmaster Tools, then, disavow the disavow tool. You don’t need to use it because Google has already “handled things just fine.”
Worry less about removing links than about building them.
All this probably also means that if you have link spam pointing to your site, Google has most likely already disavowed those links. Sounds good, but in actuality that may not be fine to you. Did you suffer a big drop in rank this year? This may be why. The links you used to count on to increase your rank are suddenly of no value. Your next best steps then are to, instead of remove bad links, build good links. And that’s what you should’ve been doing all along.
How do you build good Google-fearing links?
First of all, you don’t “build” links; you earn them. Good, Google-fearing links come naturally because you deserve them.
We have a new client who’s the perfect example of what TO DO to get links. He is an expert in his field and as such has a plethora of information to share, and share he does. He’s published a book; his website is full of very valuable, highly relevant copy; his community is growing on his Facebook page which is current, engaging, and attended to; he speaks at conventions and accepts interview requests; and more than anything provides an incredible service to his customers who then become his evangelists. All that quite naturally attracts links. What’s amazed me is how many inbound link opportunities there are that are just waiting to be plucked, all for the simple asking is my guess, and yet two SEO firms before us missed or ignored them – most likely because it was much easier to buy or plant them.
You too may have many inbound links just waiting for you to claim. If you don’t know where to begin, stay tuned to this blog. I’m compiling a list of my favorite list building ideas and blogs to help you get into and stay in Google’s good graces.
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- Yelp Is Hiding My Reviews. What Can I Do? - March 12, 2020
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Tags: Google, Link Building, Matt Cutts, SEO, Webmaster tools
