Link Detox or I can use Open Site Explorer for tracking down bad links?
-
Here's the thing. I need to find bad external links pointing to my site. Is Link Detox the only option or I can actually use Open Site Explorer for that. If OSE is an option, please give me an idea how I need to go about it. Thanks.
-
Recognize that there are three major types of "bad" backlinks that you need to look for:
- sitewides
- over-optimized anchor text
- links from really stinky places
Link Detox is great--I use it all the time to diagnose penalty issues. BUT it only really helps with links from spammy domains--it won't help you spot over-optimized anchor text. I use OSE's anchor text tab to do that.
To spot sitewides, you'll probably want to download the entire backlink profile from OSE into a spreadsheet, then sort by domain, and look for massive blocks of links from the same domain.
-
Also a fan of Link Detox as I just used it and agree it found links OSE did not. After determining the links I wanted to target for removal, I used RMOOV for an email campaign and Disavow list. RMOOV is a really slick tool to contact webmasters and create a record in the form of a Google Docs spreadsheet of your efforts. This could be sent to the Google Web Spam team for support in a reconsideration request. Both tools make this process much simpler than some of the manual methods I've seen described here. Now I'm waiting to be forgiven!
-
I'll second what Tom said. I used Link Detox's $50 for two audits plan a few times and it worked great. I even screwed up the first run by having some settings wrong, emailed their Help Desk, and they re-credited me the botched run.
If you already have collected a list of backlinks from other sources (Moz, Google or Bing Webmaster Tools, Ahref, Majestic, etc) you can also append that list to your audit. Link Detox finds most links anyways, but appending your own list makes it VERY complete.
They even have a feature where later you can append your Disavow file and the Link Detox system marks any matches so you don't have to keep reviewing those bad links. I keep hoping that MOZ and other analysis programs will add a feature where we can append our Disavow file so our link-based statistics will match what Google sees when they factor in the Disavow file.
-
Hi Vince
You can certainly use OSE, but it will be more of a manual process on your end. You'd need to go into the links in the OSE report for yourself, possibly starting with those with low PA/DA scores or exact match anchor text, and then making your own judgement on whether the link is bad or not.
With Link Detox, it runs through your backlink profile (it's a bit more thorough than OSE as well I've found) and then classifies the links for you, in terms of "health". You should always check a few of the results yourself to see if you agree, but it's usually pretty accurate in its diagnosis.
With OSE, you don't get that automatic diagnosis, so Link Detox is pretty unique in that case. If you haven't spotted it, you can pay a one off fee of €50 to run 2 audits - just follow this link. There's no contract with this plan so you can test it and see if you like it. Usually much more cost efficient for individual sites.
Hope this 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
-
Why does the MOZ bar not work on SERPs with site links?
Maybe a dumb question (am a beginner), but MOZ bar shows no information on SERP results with site links? I'm sure there's a reason? What is it?
Getting Started | | RionHaber0 -
Is Moz Pro the tool that SEO agencies are using to SEO my website?
I was just wondering if MOZ PRO is the tool that SEO agencies and specialists are using to SEO my website? Is it possible for a new guy in the SEO to optimize his web site by himself using MOZ PRO and rank on the top? What is the best material to learn from outside the MOZ.com sources? Thank you! Kaloyan
Getting Started | | Prabuinc1 -
Mozbot Can Not Crawl Entire Domain
I'm trying to crawl Redken.com in Moz Analytics and the Search Diagnostics is only crawling 4 pages. The domain uses a "select your country" the first time you visit, and it seems as though the bot is not getting beyond that (aka, not clicking on "USA") and is therefore not crawling the rest of the domain. There is no country specific URL other than redken.com. I've tried entering both "redken.com" and "www.redken.com" as the URL, but no luck. Any tips?
Getting Started | | LabeliumUSA0 -
My question is, when you translate your website to another language, does moz crawl both or do i have to add another campaign to moz so that they can crawl it seperately?
Hello, i recently translated my website to spanish, keywords,meta tags, content etc. All of our URL for the translated pages start "ep", which symbolizes espanol. My question is, does moz crawl those pages along with my english pages? or do i have add another campaign for moz to crawl my spanish pages seperately?
Getting Started | | prestigeluxuryrentals.com0 -
What is the "other" group in traffic to your site on the moz dashboard ?
What is the "other" group in traffic to your site on the moz analytics dashboard ? "Not provided" is in search - organic search history so it's not that.
Getting Started | | Crocodesign0 -
Site traffic vs other sites
I have a quick question. Does Moz have a tool I can use to see how much traffic my site gets a month versus some competition? I know Alexa has this but you have to create an account. I am just wondering if Moz has one and I am missing it.
Getting Started | | trumpfinc0 -
Is there a way MOZ can help me get HQ links?
I'm new to MOZ, I'm on the niche sites building. Is there an easy way to find HQ pages to post to with MOZ? Like it's with Market samurai.
Getting Started | | bishop230