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Disavow tool - good or bad idea?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Jeffr2014, Aug 19, 2014.

  1. #1
    I was told by a few self-proclaimed SEO experts that using disavow tool is a bad idea. Some were saying that it is like pleading guilty to Google, others were claiming that by using the tool I'll be attracting Google's attention to my site and that may not be such a good thing...:)

    Yet, nowadays it is hard to find any website with decent SERP that doesn't have some junk links pointing to it, so I decided to test disavow tool on one of my old websites. This one only ranked for a single keyword that I didn't care much for. I checked the links and disavowed 150+ bad links (approx 2% of total). Within three weeks, my ranking for this one target keyword was falling and zigzagging until it stabilized. From the average position #20 the site went down to #55.

    While it is very likely that this drop is attributed to my use of disavow tool, there are other possible factors that could affect the ranking. Google's Amit Singhal just disclosed that they had 890 changes to search algorithm in the past year, some change could have caused this drop...?

    Anyway, before I jump to conclusions and "blacklist" the disavow tool, I would like to know if anybody else here had similar experience. Can you please share your good or bad experience of using disavow tool? Any thoughts?


    Please note that I hate when people pollute DP threads with irrelevant or unintelligent comments and waste readers' time. All spam [to run up your message count] will be reported!
     
    Jeffr2014, Aug 19, 2014 IP
  2. SEOsince99

    SEOsince99 Greenhorn

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    #2
    All you will read is horror stories associated with the disavow tool. Story after story flood the Webmaster tools forums on Google about how using the disavow tool ruined their rankings.

    Think about it for a minute and what the purpose is of the tool. The tool is designed for you to "discredit' the links you created to manipulate search rankings. Basically you are telling Google that you cheated, think you may have been caught so you are saying sorry. Meanwhile you help Google get smarter with what to target for Penguin and tell them you are cheat at the same time.

    This is why you always want to remove the links instead. Removing the links is natural, and how the web occurs already. It doesn't tell Google you were cheating and no red flags go up. You also don't shoot yourself in the foot when Penguin rolls out by helping Google get smarter with all of the easy link building type of links.
     
    SEOsince99, Aug 19, 2014 IP
    Jameyson MacDonald likes this.
  3. Jameyson MacDonald

    Jameyson MacDonald Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I agree with @SEOsince99 Unless you know for fact you've been hit with a penalty and cannot get the webmaster of a site to remove a troublesome backlink, I'd steer clear of the disavow tool.

    In my opinion, you should just do a thorough backlink check and see where all you have backlinks. Any websites with backlinks to you that you know Google will probably target, I'd write the webmaster and request he remove them, if you are unable to do so yourself.
     
    Jameyson MacDonald, Aug 19, 2014 IP
  4. KylieSweet

    KylieSweet Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Link removal is not as easy as you can say, and for example you write the webmaster and requesting for removal of link. Are you aware that it is useless or not because there are websites usually abandoned by the site owners now your effort to for request is gone :(
     
    KylieSweet, Aug 19, 2014 IP
  5. Henry Calvin

    Henry Calvin Member

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    #5
    But you have to use this tool when your website backlink are totally irrelevent. Otherwise Google will hit your website.
     
    Henry Calvin, Aug 20, 2014 IP
  6. Vitarank

    Vitarank Well-Known Member

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    #6
    Using the disavow tool is never an easy task in order to lift the Big G's penalty. there are times that the amount the amount of time and effort that you spend using this in the hopes wont commensurate the actual results, yes the penalty may be lifted but Google wont place you where you were before, basically you'll start from scratch.
     
    Vitarank, Aug 20, 2014 IP
  7. net-point

    net-point Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Struggling with remove backlinks is an horror if your competition do a negative seo on you, it`s stupid google force us to clean the mess someone else can do, anyone can do to our project. Moreover, I know the people who are trying convince google by disavowing backlinks for 6 months and they get everytime the same answer from them, there is something else to clean up ... I thin all the people who are using this tool are guilty of this what is happening cos once someone disavov some backlinks he put on risk other people who had the backlinks in the same places so that way Google acquired millions of free employees around the World who are fighting with SEO for free now, and they are laughing very loud because we are doing their job now by revealing the places where we make our ranks ...
     
    net-point, Aug 21, 2014 IP
  8. dataguru

    dataguru Active Member

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    #8
    As already in discussion, If your bad backlinks list then u can moderate it with the help of Webmaster tools. Penguin effects only those website where bad link are there in bunches with no relevancy either in category or content. These tool help u to remove bad links upto certain limits and after all that happen u can resubmit with the help of webmaster tool for reconsideration and after that Google find u got the point regarding same it will revoke the penalty.
     
    dataguru, Aug 21, 2014 IP
  9. Jeffr2014

    Jeffr2014 Active Member

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    #9
    Removing bad links is a difficult task, emailing webmasters (as Jameyson MacDonald suggested) only works in less then 50% of cases and it is an obvious first step. But when you are hit with massive negative SEO you don't really have much choice but to use disavow tool, an alternative is to abandon your site altogether.
     
    Jeffr2014, Aug 21, 2014 IP
  10. SEOsince99

    SEOsince99 Greenhorn

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    #10
    Totally disagree, I've recovered many sites strictly by removing links and never touching the disavow tool in any of the recoveries. I'm talking about manual penalties and some algorithm issues. I own hundreds of sites and manage an SEO company. Our focus is on cleaning new clients profiles to start clean. I don't want the previous SEO companies crap on my hands when the next Penguin algo rolls out.

    We'd be stupid to do it ourselves so we outsource it to a link removal company. Why would I waste my time or my employees time managing the link removals when there are good services that can do it for me?

    The service I uses does a great job because they don't just stop at accepting that links cannot be removed. They get the hosts to take action in most cases, I've seen links that looked hopeless for removal. Only to see a suspension page up the next time I visited it. Hosts are quick to suspend sites with complaints these days. It takes up unnecessary bandwidth, is against many hosts TOS, and is usually a resource hog on the $2 shared hosting they have them on anyways. Contacting the hosting companies, and in some cases domain registrars is enough to have the hosting remove the accounts entirely. That often means hundreds of crappy directories getting shut down at once.

    No, link removal isn't easy. No, it's not free just like those crappy links that your previous SEO built that you paid for. And no, you aren't gonna get all of them removed. But it's much better to have a cleaner profile than to throw in the towel and say "screw it".
     
    SEOsince99, Aug 21, 2014 IP
  11. rankwatch.com

    rankwatch.com Active Member

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    #11
    One of the known website had a horrible experience after he disavowed his bad links. The rankings plummeted to such an extent that he lost over 50% of his traffic.
     
    rankwatch.com, Aug 27, 2014 IP