Why does GWT still show some links from a disavowed domain?
-
We have disavowed a lot of spam links that were pointing to our website.
We've disavowed on a domain level and a lot of links have now disappeared on GWT.
However, there is a domain that we disavowed where MOST of the links have disappeared in GWT but there are STILL some remaining even a month and a half after disavowing.
The disavow file has been sent in numerous times since then with new domains.
Is there an explanation as to why some links still remain on this domain even though most of them have been disavowed and removed from GWT?
-
Thanks Peter
-
Unfortunately, there's very little transparency on this topic. Google may not remove them at all in GWT, in some cases, and even if they do, it can take a very long time. There's no great way to tell whether Google has actually disavowed a link, other than the end result of a penalty being lifted, etc.
-
"When you disavow links or domains it doesn't cause them to be removed from your webmaster tools list of links. "
That's strange because most of the links we've disavowed have disappeared from our GWT. How can this be?
-
"We've disavowed on a domain level and a lot of links have now disappeared on GWT."
When you disavow links or domains it doesn't cause them to be removed from your webmaster tools list of links. Google will apply an invisible nofollow tag to the links but there is no outward evidence of this being done.
-
What is OPE? Are you referring to Open Site Explorer? If so, you should note that the disavow tool in GWT doesn't remove links from the sites, it's just supposed to remove them from your Google link profile. So, any outside link aggregator (like Open Site Explorer or Majestic SEO) will still show those links because they report what links actually exist (the one's they've found) not what links Google is counting. They don't have access to the disavow request or Google's link profile.
As to the original question, Google can take a while to process disavow requests. So, it may just be a time thing. I'm also wondering if Google filters new links it finds through the disavow list? This isn't based in experience or even anything I've read, I'm just wondering. If you disavow a domain and Google removes those links, but then later they crawl that site and find more links (new to them), do they automatically not include those links because you've already disavowed the site or does the crawler add it to your link profile and then they filter those links through the disavowed list after the fact, if at all? If they add the links and then filter it later, that could explain what you're seeing.
Perhaps there's someone out there who's tested or observed this who could provide more clarity.
-
GWT does take time to update its data. Use OPE and see if those links still appear on your back links profile
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 Link Building and Link Juice Quality
Hi There! I manage the website for a law office that covers many geographical locations. For very specific niche content, we would prefer to create one piece of content and link to the various geographic locations where we would handle that topic instead of posting multiple variations of the same content for each specific geographical area. If we put a button on these pages that has links to each location, will that have the same "link juice" effect to the pages we're linking that linking directly in the text would? (example: the Where can we help you? button on this page : http://www.zdfirm.com/volkswagen-recall/) Thank you!
Link Building | | ZDAdmin0 -
Many of our best links are to our old domain. Problem?
Hi, around 7 years ago the organization I'm with switched their domain name. When doing link analysis some of our best links are to the old domain including a followed link from an article on the BBC news site. The old domain has been 301 redirecting to the new domain for years. Is it worth the time to contact the sites that are linking to the old domain? Or, will all or the majority of the link juice be given to the newer domain with the 301 redirect? Thanks!
Link Building | | limited70 -
Link Building - Affiliate Link Programs
I'm getting some conflicting information when researching this... I want to create the most organic link building strategy that not only gets high authority sites linking to a website, but relevant websites. I'm creating an affiliate link program where I link to partner and affiliate companies, who in turn link back to me. The question is where to put these links. I was initially thinking of putting them in the footer so they add credibility to every page, and in turn ask my affiliates to do the same thing. However; some sources say that Google no longer looks at links in the footer section. Is it true that Google doesn't count links in footer sections? And do you have any tips on creating this Affiliate Link Program?
Link Building | | reidsteven750 -
Multiple LInks from the same domain - how much benefit do they give?
I'm wondering how much added benefit there is to gaining multiple links from the same domain? For example when looking at a competitor in open site explorer I see they have 239 linking domains but 5,066 links. How much additional benefit are they getting over just having 239 links from 239 domains? Also how many links is an optimal number from a domain in that case before there become no more point seeking links from that domain? 5? 10? Thanks
Link Building | | performagen1 -
Links not showing up in Site Explorer?
Why aren't some backlinks showing up in Site Explorer? I have links to my home page (www.mortgagesbymark.com) from Trulia at http://www.trulia.com/blog/mortgagesbymark/ but they're not showing up in Site Explorer. Thanks for your help!
Link Building | | MortgagesByMark0 -
A good link builder / link building agency for Spanish content
Hi, I am looking for a good link building agency or freelance to execute a link building strategy for the next months. The content is in Spanish. Could anyone recommend me a good agency or a good link builder for Spanish content? Thank you very much! Jorge
Link Building | | jorgediaz0 -
Acquiring a link
once I get a list of links from ontolo or the link acquisition assitant here on seomoz what is the next step? do i email that site? what do i actually do to get acquire the link? thank you for answering this! I am new to link building and so new that I dont actually know the steps and need help from someone. thank you VIjay
Link Building | | vijayvasu0