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.
How is Moz DA affected by spam links? Disavow file?
-
So it does not appear that moz let's you upload your disavow file. So when moz calculates your DA how do spammy links factor in? After digging through our GA it appears our site was hit with the 2016 penguin update and never recovered. Our weekly visitors were 2k, then dropped to 500 and have stayed close to that level for a while.
We've used the disavow tool, without success over the past 3 years. During that time we have done link out reach and built around 10 legit good quality DA links since. But we have not recovered. At this point i'm thinking I should just remove the disavow file.
Moz says our spam score for our domain is 5%.
-
Hey there,
Sam from Moz's Help Team here!
So, a couple of things - all links do factor into your DA profile. When you disavow a link through Google, it doesn't actually remove the link, Google just stops putting SEO weight into it. So our crawler will still find the link. Unfortunately there isn't a way in Link Explorer to "disavow" a link yet so we will still show it.
Disavowing a link doesn't take it away from our tools, so they will still appear as backlinks to your site. The fact that Google disregards them in relation to your site does not take them off the sites they are on, so best practice is to approach the webmaster first and request the link be removed. If you get no response then disavow with Google:).
I also want to note here that your Spam Score in Moz Pro is actually the percentage of sites with similar features we've found to be penalized or banned by Google (it's not based on the spam score of the sites linking to you). To improve this score I would recommend reading our guide which explains the 27 factors used to make up this score. You can then look at your site and investigate areas you would like to improve on your site:
https://moz.com/help/link-explorer/link-building/spam-score
Best of luck, and let me know if I can help with anything else!
-
Moz has its own ways of determining if a link/site might be potential spam. As they don't know the disavow data of websites that is something that is not taken into account when calculating Domain Authority. I do believe they take their own measures and calculate that against the Domain Authority/Page Authority metrics.
Also, at some point you need a higher quantity of links, building 10 links over a period of months usually isn't a great signal to search engines that your site needs a boost. If it's just for a specific page, then ignore my comment on it. But usually, I notice that sites need more attention than just building links.
-
This is not an answer, but a question. If Google already knows to discount spam links then why should webmasters have to waste their time tracking down spam links and disavowing them?
I for one will not let anyone waste my time by creating spammy links to any website I own. I never realized how many spam links I have until I signed up for a Moz Pro trial. It seems like most of the spam found by Moz did not show up in the links part of my Google Console, so I really don't feel like disavowing links that I never made. For instance I noticed a number of links to my police misconduct website from spammy looking URLs with pornographic anchor text. And some of it looks like kiddie porn keywords. I am afraid to even look at any of those linking pages. I did not make them. They were probably made by some dirty cop that gets off on that kind of stuff.
So I am wording why this man should have to waste his time disavowing links that Google would not value anyway. Is it not enough for Google to give him no credit?
Again, what do I know. I only worked in SEO before going to prison and getting banned from computers about 7 years ago for a drunken email threat.
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
-
Internal Links is reporting "0" value
Open Site Explorer is reporting "0" value under "Total Internal Links" as well as "Internal Links" metrics for my website. I have a good interlinking of pages throughout the site.
Link Explorer | Jul 2, 2021, 6:44 AM | anupjain
Is there an issue with OSE (Open Site Explorer) crawler ? OR There are some crawling problems with our Website's structure ?
Can anybody please give an idea or recommendations on this ?
Domain: https://www.traveltoindia.org/0 -
Problem with third party cookies while using MOZ?
Hello, I am using Moz Pro and I am happy to have this tool for my SEO work. But I am having a little problem while working on my blog site https://thepoolparadise.com/ some times the Moz does not work and asks to allow third-party cookies, wherein the settings third-party cookies are always allowed. Please guide me in this matter. Thank you.
Link Explorer | Feb 13, 2024, 10:38 AM | Niujbuj760 -
My Website's Links Are Not Showing In Moz Link Explorer
Hello Team, I was analyzing my domain (https://www.amzonestep.com) in link explored but there are many websites that are not showing there. Questions
Link Explorer | Nov 10, 2023, 7:53 AM | amzonestep
1. Is this reason website's DA is not increasing 2. Is there wrong steps taken by me for this website. Well, I know there are many factors work in increasing DA but what is should do if these kind on links are not indexing in MOZ. I things these are one of the factors my DA is not Increasing. Please save my job guys. The company has sent me an ultimatum mail of 2 months that they will take back the projects from me. Please save my job. Thanks & Regards Aashirvad Kumar moz.png Screenshot-2020-02-19-at-11.48.21-am.png0 -
Why moz and ahrefs reported a remove link that is exist?
Hi in last few days I checked my website in moz link explorer and ahrefs and it showed lots of my backlink as removed! But when I checked this on the browser its OK is there any problem with these tools? Anyone has this problem? Thanks
Link Explorer | Aug 19, 2019, 10:07 PM | namibiagonzo0 -
How can i reduce spam score
my website is activate in egg incubation industry https://chicken-device.ir . Level of this site spam score is 19% . now how can i reduce that ?
Link Explorer | Dec 29, 2023, 9:24 AM | HeidiMaryAyuningtyas0 -
MOZ can't find internal links on my website while Google search console finds thousands of them
When using open site explorer MOZ finds 0 internal links on https://www.glassesgallery.com while Google search console finds thousands of internal links. What could the issue be? Cr8Wk14 oGOf1gb
Link Explorer | Nov 1, 2018, 8:13 PM | NathanPetralia0 -
What does "Number of Linking Root Domains" in Open Site Explorer actually mean?
I've read through the forum, but I'm confused as to what "Number of Linking Root Domains" means in the Linking Domains report. For example, if the root domain is Moz.com and the number is 135,000 does that mean there are 135,000 links from Moz pointing back to my site or does it mean there are 135,000 sites linking back to Moz? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
Link Explorer | Dec 29, 2016, 9:36 PM | karrabarron1 -
How to force moz to crawl my backlinks?
I have some good number number of backlinks in my webmaster tools. But, open site explorer is showing very few backlinks. How to force moz to crawl all the backlinks? Or is there any way to submit backlinks to moz?
Link Explorer | Oct 18, 2015, 8:07 AM | sankar7890