The Disavow Tool is a powerful tool that can help in repairing the reputation of a website if it has been damaged by link building tactics deemed less than optimal by search engines such as Google. It can be used to indicate to search engines that links coming from certain websites to your own website should not influence your overall rankings.
In the past, webmasters would use shady link building tactics to get backlinks from other sites, in an attempt to manipulate the way their website or page was ranked on the search engine’s results pages. The Disavow Tool was created to help combat this type of misuse of SEO.
The Disavow Tool is only available to website owners and SEO practitioners who have their websites verified in Google's Search Console, also known as the Webmaster Tools. Once one has verified their website, they can then access the Disavow Tool in the Search Console and begin the process of submitting links they would like to disavow.
In order to correctly use the Disavow Tool and make the most of it, there are certain steps that need to be taken.
The first step is to audit your website’s backlinks. To do this, you can use a tool such as Google Search Console, or use a dedicated backlink auditing tool like Ahrefs or Moz.
Once you have identified all the bad backlinks, you will need to compile a list of all the domains, URLs and anchor texts that you would like to submit to the Disavow Tool. With some services, this data can be generated automatically, making the process a lot easier.
Become a Sales & Marketing Rainmaker
Learn valuable skills to win more customers, grow your business, and increase your profits.
When you’re ready to submit your list to the Disavow Tool, you need to download it as a text file, and then upload it to the Disavow Tool. This process can take a few days, so patience is needed. When the process is complete and the list has been accepted by the Disavow Tool, you will receive a confirmation via email.
Once your list is complete and accepted, Google may take a few weeks to process it and take any necessary action against the backlinks that you've submitted. Additionally, it is important to note that submitting a backlinks list to the Disavow Tool doesn't guarantee that the backlinks will be removed, as this is ultimately up to the discretion of the search engine.
When it comes to using the Disavow Tool, there are some general guidelines that should be followed. It is important to remember that this tool is only to be used as a last resort, when your website already has been penalised by links to bad websites. All efforts should be made to contact the webmasters of the websites your website has bad backlinks from, and ask them to remove those links.
In addition, the Disavow Tool should be used more as a preventative tool than a reactive one, as it may be too late to repair the damage caused by the bad backlinks if your website has been penalised by the search engine.
Finally, if you decide to use the Disavow Tool, it is important to remember that it is a one-time submission only, and any updates to the list will not be accepted. It is therefore important to make sure that the links you are submitting are indeed the links that you intend to be removed, and that the list includes only domains and URLs that you have asked for removal.
In conclusion, the Disavow Tool is a powerful tool that can help in repairing the reputation of a website if it has been damaged by link building tactics deemed less than optimal by search engines such as Google. It can be used to indicate to search engines that links coming from certain websites to your own website should not influence your overall rankings. However, it should be used as a last resort, and all efforts should be made to contact the webmasters of the websites your website has bad backlinks from, and ask them to remove those links. In addition, it is important to make sure that the list of backlinks submitted to the Disavow Tool is correct and accurate, as the list cannot be updated after the submission.