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.
Backlinks From Scraper Sites - Should I Disavow Them?
-
I'm going through all the links (hopefully) to my website and I've found so many links from site scrapers. For instance:
http://www.fzccg.com/cmsteam/dvbbs/boke.asp?zkhod76681.showtopic.148760.html
... which links to my site with anchor text "abercrombie uk How To Change Your Wiper Blades"
It is surely not realistic to think that I can contact all the scraper site owners.
So what should I do with this kind of links?
-
Personally, I wouldnt. Scrapers have been around for years and it's "natural" in my eyes. all the good sites out there, even moz, have thousands upon thousands of scraper sites linking to them. I it's about penguin, then id look into the other links deeper.
For client work I do, I just disavow them if the DA of the site is below 30. LOL.
-
I typically tell people not to worry about these types of sites. EVERYONE gets a little spam linkage, and it's rarely worth worrying about.
If you have been hit with a manual penalty or think you're being impacted by Penguin already, then yes, definitely include these domains in the disavow list. Technically Google wants you to try to have the links removed first.
-
If a link is not beneficial to your site and if you are worried about whether or not it will hurt you, there is no reason you shouldn't disavow that link. I would recommend that you are disavowing the entire domain rather than each link one by one. It will save you time and will prevent any further weirdness from happening on that specific domain.
Disavowing links can be tedious and annoying, but the whole concept of "better safe than sorry" comes into play here hardcore. An intern would be extremely useful in this situation.

-
I meant "will be reviewed manually"
-
Well here's the issue: my site has a penguin penalty so it means my link profile will be reviewed.
-
One of my site has a million of these links. No kidding.
I had nothing to do with these links. They are simply gifts from blackhats.
The site is very healthy, has kickass rankings, does not have any penguin or unnatural links problems, so I am doing nothing about those links.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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.
Related Questions
-
Disavowing Links
I need some advice... I've noticed our link profile has increased with many comments links --- something I certainly have not pursued manually. I'm new to disavowing links. However, before I go ahead and disavow them, I'd like to ask how harmful these links are and would you recommend this is something I can do myself (relatively novice SEO) or if you'd recommend someone who could do this for a reasonable cost. In one instance, the link from this comment thread is with the anchor text, "porn"... Certainly not something we want to rank for, haha! I look forward to your advice
Link Building | | LukeBTDT0 -
How often should you do a link audit and disavow?
Howdy Moz Fans! (Said as I twirl my non-existent mustache... damn you Rand and your cool 'stache"..!!) So I am wondering, how often should one go through and do a link audit? The last time that I really went through a link audit was 8-12 months ago (actually, looking at my disavow upload it was Jan 2015). Is it time that I do another full scale audit of my backlinks?
Link Building | | GoAbroadKP1 -
How important is the originating country of backlinks?
How important is it that you gain backlinks from websites in the same country you're targeting? Scenario: You have a website targeting users in Japan. How important is it that backlinks to your website are from Japanese websites? Do you need a majority of links from Japanese websites to rank well, or will you do OK with 25% Japanese links and 75% links from other countries? According to Majestic, sites for popular Japanese brands like tsutaya.co.jp and seiyu.co.jp get more links from US sites than from Japanese sites.
Link Building | | AdamThompson0 -
Trading Backlinks a good idea?
New to the "backlinking" party. Wondering if its 'good practice' to trade links with other websites within a like-industry. We've been receiving a lot of emails from other websites asking us to trade links. Is this a good link building practice anymore? Thanks!
Link Building | | asa-php0 -
Building backlinks for a newspaper site?
Anyone have tips on building links to a newspaper site? I am looking for a strategy to create links to a news site beyond building one link at a time. We have so much content that is constantly updated that it would be impossible to do this one page at a time.
Link Building | | BostonWright0 -
Changing backlinks anchor text
Hi, I've read a few blog post here that suggests the strength of building links using your brand as an anchor text. This supposedly gives the site authority. Currently a chunck of the back links to my homepage are on generic terms i'm trying to rank for which doesn't seem to be working very well. I was thinking of contacting the various webmasters to change the anchor text to that of the site brand name but wondering if this will signal a manipulation of links to the search engines and potentially could be flagged as paid links? Has anybody done this before and what is the danger of doing this? Thanks Duke
Link Building | | clickangel0 -
Are press release sites useful?
Many of my clients release newsletters and other peices of content qualify as press releases. I have been wondering if people find that the press release sites such as PRleap or PRweb are useful and worthwhile? If so, which do you feel is the best? Is there any research on this? I am planning to record my results from these sites and perhaps make a Youmoz post in the future.
Link Building | | MarloSchneider6