Should I use the Disavow Tool at this point?
-
After Penguin, our site: www.stadriemblems.com jumped up to #1 for the keyword "embroidered patches." Now, months later, it's at the top pf page two. I'm pretty sure this is because we do have a few shady links (I didn't do it!) that perhaps Penguin didn't catch the first time around, but now Google is either discounting them or counting them against us.
My question is, since I'm pretty sure those links are the reason we are gradually declining, should I submit them to Google as disavowed, even though technically, we're not penalized . . . yet?
I have done everything possible to get them removed, and it's not happening.
-
No, I've not received a notification. Thanks, Sean.
-
Totally feel your pain, Marisa. It's frustrating to see the decline because of someone else's shoddy work. However, it's probably a better fate then a full-blown penguin penalty, plus it shows that your other links must be great if the page has only dropped to #11. What a great feeling it will be too when you hit back to #1 - knowing that everything you've done, Google loves.
And plus, just checked your rank again and you've bopped back to #10 on my SERP, so the comeback is underway!
-
I would not be disavowing your links at this stage, you do not say if you received a notification from Google or not in your WMT.
If you did then take action to remove and then disavow if they can not be removed, but if you have not received the notification / warning then keep the links in place.
Build some good quality links and add new content.
I hope this helps
Sean
-
Tom,
Thanks for your advice. It seems logical, and now I think I remember reading that somewhere. it kinda sucks, though, because now all I can do is watch my rankings steadily decline and be powerless to stop it. I guess I need to hope I earn enough good links to drown the rest of those out. -
Hi Marisa
Unless you've received a notification in your WMT saying you've received a penalty, then I wouldn't use the disavow tool. Google has been quite insistent that it should only be used as a last resort at trying to remove links as part of a reconsideration request. I don't believe it should be used a precautionary measure, nor would it have any effect unless your site is under a penalty.
I'd actually be quite optimistic about this. What I think we've seen over the last month is Google getting a lot better at discounting links as the algorithm updates. This post put over on Inbound explains it quite well - it looks as though Google is aiming towards continuous devaluation of links. I'm wondering whether this is the case for your site.
What could have happened is that the algorithm has looked at some of the links pointing towards your homepage (as that's the page ranking for that term) and seen a few links and thought "nah, these are crap. Gonna remove their value". With it being a homepage link, this might be a fair old few of older, spammier links the previous SEO put in place. This is consistent with what I've seen with a few sites in the UK - a quite sharp (but not huge) drop, all for keywords ranking for a particular page (usually the homepage).
Now, if this is the case, then I'd say it's a great leap forward by Google Devaluing links on the fly could lead to less dramatic drops and clean ups in the future. I'm fairly sure you wouldn't have had a penalty, so therefore removing those few bad links you have would probably have been futile anyway - but especially so now if Google has devalued them.
All I'd recommend Marisa is continuing with the quality links you've been putting in place already. You may have lost the value of a certain few recently, but all in all it's a good thing as they were probably a bit spammy anyway. I certainly wouldn't waste time disavowing if you haven't experienced a penalty.
Just my 2 copper, but I hope it helps!
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
-
How should the Heading Tags be used in Blogs to gain the Best results in SEO?
There are various Heading Tags from H1 to H6. In what order and priority should they be used in order to get best reach and ranking in google. Is every Tag a must in a blog?
Algorithm Updates | | sne79790 -
Using Brand value for SEO: Can we use keyword with brand name?
Hi Moz community, I am curious to know this. Let's say there is a brand value for a company. It has it's own popularity that it's been mentioned across the internet and social media directly with brand name without their service or industry keyword. Now if the company started promoting themselves like keyword along with their brand name, will it help them to rank for that keyword. For example, Moz is already famous, now they want to rank for "SEO" and related keywords, so they started calling themselves on internet "Moz SEO"; will this fetch them in ranking for keyword SEO? My ultimate question is, using primary keyword along with brand name will work out in ranking for that primary keyword or not? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
How to find keywords competitor is using
I am doing work for a landscaping company and having trouble with finding the best keywords. Most of keywords are so expensive on adwords to use, so obviously we want to optimize as best possible. How do I find what keywords competitors are using for campaigns and/or optimized for? thx.
Algorithm Updates | | SexyLeggings0 -
Should I use subdomains?
I'm thinking of a little project website, but wonder whether I should use subdomains, or just simply categorize the site. For example, (I haven't chosen my domain yet) If I had www.flowers.com, and wanted to produce pages for each type of flower, should i use rose.flower.com
Algorithm Updates | | Gordon_Hall
or
flower.com/rose For SEO purposes, or usability, does it matter? Thanks in advance.0 -
Does it impact over ranking of any website if their same content being used some other external sources
Hi Moz & members, I just want to make sure over website www.1st-care.org , does it impact over ranking this website if the same content (of about us or home care services) being used some other external sources or local citations places. Do those published same content create any ranking drop issue with this website's and making its content strengthen week? . As I was on 9th position in Google.com before, now it has slipped to 29th position. WHY? is there content issue or anything else which i am not aware.
Algorithm Updates | | Futura
See the content used:
Home page content
About us page content Regards,
Teginder Ravi0 -
Question regarding research tools
The keyword analysis tool on seomoz is currently down. Are there are any other trustworthy tools I can use?
Algorithm Updates | | uofmiamiguy0 -
Does Google or Bing use words in the page title beyond the displayed limit for ranking purposes?
Standard good practice for on-page SEO includes keeping page title length below the maximum that Google displays in the SERPs. But words in the title beyond that maximum can be indexed, even if they don't show in the SERPs for end users. For ranking purposes, is there any value in words beyond the character limit in page titles that are truncated in the SERPs?
Algorithm Updates | | KyleJB0