undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • MozCon
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    Let your business shine with Listings AI
    Moz Local

    Let your business shine with Listings AI

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Link Building
  4. What tools/techniques you use to check if a domain has been penalized?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

What tools/techniques you use to check if a domain has been penalized?

Link Building
5
12
9.5k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • wspwsp
    wspwsp last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:04 AM

    If we think to buy expired or otherwise dropped domains, what tools or techniques you would recommend to check if there has bad SEO history?

    We could of course, check with Google itself if the site is indexed and ranks, but I am asking if there is a particular tool out there that would provide more information if a website had been shady.

    Thanks so much, guys!

    Lily

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • julianhearn
      julianhearn @wspwsp last edited by May 30, 2013, 6:02 AM May 30, 2013, 6:02 AM

      Thanks Lily.

      Redirecting old sites is unlikely to give you a rankings boost, especially if they have changed hands and have expired / dropped. You really need to buy them before they expire and don't change two many details.

      Think about seomoz.com to moz.com - all the link juice have been transfered, and so it should, its just a rebrand, same servers, so owners, etc. But if they brought so ramdon site and redirect do they deserve the link juice? No, and google doesn't think so either.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • wspwsp
        wspwsp @julianhearn last edited by May 30, 2013, 5:56 AM May 30, 2013, 5:56 AM

        That's  a great explanation, Julian! Thanks for adding up.

        Yes, the main idea is to redirect them at some point, that's why I want to be 100% sure they won't harm the rankings.

        Lily

        julianhearn 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 6:02 AM Reply Quote 0
        • julianhearn
          julianhearn last edited by May 30, 2013, 5:55 AM May 30, 2013, 5:30 AM

          What are you trying to achieve by buying dropped domains? Are you planning to redirect them to your own sites for link juice? If you do that be very careful, there are lot better ways to get link juice.

          To check a domain I would:

          • search on google for the website name, e.g. "seomoz" does it rank? (doesnt too much if it doesnt the keyword might be competitive)
          • search for the url, e.g. seomoz.com if it doesnt rank number 1 for this i would walk away
          • does it have sitelinks under the domain name, if yes thats a good sign
          • grab some text from the site and search for it (ensure you are using a clear browser, e.g. no cookie history, so personalised search doesn't kick in), if its a couple of sentences it should rank for that
          • grab a few meta titles and search for them, if they dont rank for the complete title there could be a problem
          • does the site have page rank - a red flag if it doesnt
          • ask the site owner for the last years analytics traffic, the overall traffic graph would be fine
          • look at its moz rank, does it seem to match how it ranks, e.g. if very high moz rank but not ranking for the site name there could be a problem

          that should do it.

          wspwsp 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 5:56 AM Reply Quote 1
          • Raydon
            Raydon @wspwsp last edited by May 30, 2013, 4:08 AM May 30, 2013, 4:06 AM

            this tool maybe?

            more information can also be found in this post

            But not sure how accurate would any data be that you may find from any of these tools if you do not have access to the site itself

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • wspwsp
              wspwsp @David_ODonnell last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:48 AM May 30, 2013, 3:48 AM

              I was looking more for how to spot shady link profile. A tool for that. Anyway, I guess there isn't such tool. Thanks, guys!

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • wspwsp
                wspwsp @David_ODonnell last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:47 AM May 30, 2013, 3:47 AM

                Yes, they are for email spam blacklist.

                Raydon 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 4:06 AM Reply Quote 0
                • David_ODonnell
                  David_ODonnell @RepLoc_Tim last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:35 AM May 30, 2013, 3:35 AM

                  These appear to be tools to check if the site has been black listed for email spam. While it's good to check for when buying a domain, it won't tell you if Google has penalised the site.

                  wspwsp 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 3:47 AM Reply Quote 1
                  • RepLoc_Tim
                    RepLoc_Tim last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:30 AM May 30, 2013, 3:30 AM

                    Here are a couple:

                    • http://www.blacklistalert.org/
                    • http://whatismyipaddress.com/blacklist-check

                    If you also want to check if email was blacklisted:

                    http://www.mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx

                    David_ODonnell 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 3:35 AM Reply Quote 0
                    • David_ODonnell
                      David_ODonnell @wspwsp last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:47 AM May 30, 2013, 3:30 AM

                      Is there a site on the domain at the moment, or has there been one recently?

                      If there is you could see how well indexed it is (site: command), see if it ranks for it's own brand terms, and even moderately competitive terms.

                      You can also run the site through opensiteexplorer and see how dodgy the external link profile is.

                      wspwsp 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 3:48 AM Reply Quote 1
                      • wspwsp
                        wspwsp last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:20 AM May 30, 2013, 3:20 AM

                        That was a great idea for checking on traffic behavior compared to the algorithm updates! Thanks, David.

                        However I am asking if I do not have access to Analytics and GWT. If the domain is expiring and I consider buying it. Any ideas for that scenario?

                        Lily

                        David_ODonnell 1 Reply Last reply May 30, 2013, 3:30 AM Reply Quote 0
                        • David_ODonnell
                          David_ODonnell last edited by May 30, 2013, 3:16 AM May 30, 2013, 3:16 AM

                          One of the most obvious ways is to compare organic search traffic to the dates new algorithms go live. Checkout the Google Algorithm Change History page. There is even a chrome plugin called Chartelligence that overlays the algorithm change dates over your traffic data.

                          Also checkout webmaster tools for messages for unnatural link warnings from Googs themselves.

                          Hope that helps!

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • 1 / 1
                          1 out of 12
                          • First post
                            1/12
                            Last post

                          Got a burning SEO question?

                          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                          Start my free trial


                          Browse Questions

                          Explore more categories

                          • Moz Tools

                            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                          • SEO Tactics

                            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                          • Community

                            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                          • Digital Marketing

                            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                          • Research & Trends

                            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                          • Support

                            Connect on product support and feature requests.

                          • See all categories

                          Related Questions

                          • rishu578

                            Why My Domain Authority Dropped

                            Hello sir i noticed that my DA is Dropped From 27 to 26 Of this website https://www.mytechtalk.org/. What is the reason I don't i try a lot to find a solution but not get . But I notice that in google webmaster tool the domain linking increased every time but on the Moz.com, not domain added even my DA Dropped. Even When i checked my site on  https://ahrefs.com/   he shows approx 350 domain with high da and pa. help me i am getting frustrated. Is that Moz is crawling All domain Fairly or not ??

                            Link Building | Nov 4, 2024, 5:32 PM | rishu578
                            19
                          • Zaidazam

                            Can we use Free domains (like .cf / .tk / .gq / .ml / .ga) for backlinks?

                            many times I Noticed that most of the website use .cf / .tk / .gq / .ml / .ga this domain for backlinks but when I click on this it shows me the error I want to know that how they get a do follow backlink from the Different free domain can I get backlinks from my free domain? if this possible then How? This is my website Pakistan News kindly tell me how to rank.

                            Link Building | May 4, 2018, 8:37 PM | Zaidazam
                            0
                          • asbchris

                            Backlinks from ads on parked domains? Is this possible?

                            Hello Moz Friends, So as I was researching some competitive backlinks and I noticed a lot of backlinks that a clients competitor has are on parked domains and they appear to be google ads from some point. You know the pages that this page no longer exists, or hey do you want to buy this domain? and it has like 6 google ads on it? Yep those pages. My clients industry is construction and their competitor has links from zombie websites, foreign, websites and more. But the links are no longer on the page. Like when it was crawled, their ad was showing. Does this make any sense and is it usually temporary? Thank you for your thoughts friends!

                            Link Building | Jun 29, 2016, 3:46 AM | asbchris
                            0
                          • cbielich

                            Backlinks from domains that are not indexed...

                            Would you count them as spammy and disavow?

                            Link Building | May 28, 2015, 7:44 PM | cbielich
                            0
                          • adamdankhazi

                            Root-Domain vs Subdomain Linkbuilding

                            Hello Mozzers! Couple of days ago I received a request to start optimizing a wordpress website, the domain itself has been around for around 10-12 years so it's it can be considered as one that has real history behind it.  The page has been moved from HTML/FLASH to wordpress about 3 - 4 years ago and hasn't been any SEO maintenance on it. The site used to rank for first position with several keywords, but now understandably, it has greatly decreased. My main question would be, that when I've checked the root domain's and the subdomain's metrics with MOZ Open Site Explorer, the sub domain (with "www.") showed a PA 40 and 90 external links while the root domain (without "www.") only has 27 PA and 6 External links. I know that the 301 or server redirects only transfers about 90% of the link juice to the targeted URL but the difference between the 2 results seem way too big for me. What do you think? Is this normal?
                            During future link building is it more beneficial to target the root domain so the page won't lose that "10%" by redirecting the new link from sub-domain to root domain?
                            Is it possible to get more juice transferred? Thank you very much,
                            Adam

                            Link Building | Aug 18, 2015, 6:52 AM | adamdankhazi
                            0
                          • cfield_splashmedia.com

                            Blog. vs /Blog

                            I need to be able to explain to a client the difference from an SEO perspective between Blog. vs  /Blog. www.website.com/Blog vs Blog.website.com The client wants to know which one will help there website with SEO. I belive both will but /Blog will more. I'm looking for a tangible answer only centered around this subject. Thanks,

                            Link Building | Jun 18, 2012, 9:14 PM | cfield_splashmedia.com
                            0
                          • ArtiKalra

                            Linking to root domain or index page

                            While link building, should I link to index page of my website i.e www.mydomainname.com/index.html or should I link to root domain i.e www.mydomainname,com Also I see duplicate title error for index page and root domain in error statistic. How can I get rid of this.

                            Link Building | Apr 24, 2012, 10:01 PM | ArtiKalra
                            0
                          • seoroyal

                            Best Keyword reseach tool for spanish site?

                            Good morning to all. I am looking for a good keyword research tool for spanish website. The google keyword tool does not give enought long tail keywords and wordtracker does not provide good results for spanish sites. Does anybody here have experience with a good keyword tool for spanish sites?

                            Link Building | Oct 26, 2011, 9:09 AM | seoroyal
                            0

                          Get started with Moz Pro!

                          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                          Start my free trial
                          Products
                          • Moz Pro
                          • Moz Local
                          • Moz API
                          • Moz Data
                          • STAT
                          • Product Updates
                          Moz Solutions
                          • SMB Solutions
                          • Agency Solutions
                          • Enterprise Solutions
                          • Digital Marketers
                          Free SEO Tools
                          • Domain Authority Checker
                          • Link Explorer
                          • Keyword Explorer
                          • Competitive Research
                          • Brand Authority Checker
                          • Local Citation Checker
                          • MozBar Extension
                          • MozCast
                          Resources
                          • Blog
                          • SEO Learning Center
                          • Help Hub
                          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                          • How-to Guides
                          • Moz Academy
                          • API Docs
                          About Moz
                          • About
                          • Team
                          • Careers
                          • Contact
                          Why Moz
                          • Case Studies
                          • Testimonials
                          Get Involved
                          • Become an Affiliate
                          • MozCon
                          • Webinars
                          • Practical Marketer Series
                          • MozPod
                          Connect with us

                          Contact the Help team

                          Join our newsletter
                          Moz logo
                          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                          • Accessibility
                          • Terms of Use
                          • Privacy

                          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.