The Danger of Unnatural Links and How to Fix it

If you have been studying search engine optimization for anytime you should fully know that a huge part of Google PageRank system is based on the number and quality of inbound links and as such there is a frenzy of companies offering quick fix solutions for SEO that guarantee thousands of links and instant top rankings for competitive keywords.

LOTS OF LINKS – #1 on GOOGLE – and CHEAP! “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably isn’t”

Most every website owner has been offered some type of link building system that promises to build high value inbound links to a website and they swear they’ll do it fast and real cheap. These inbound links include, but are not limited to directories, blogs, link exchanges and forums.

Before you elect to employ such a dirty get rich fast (or get traffic fast) scheme consider this and ask yourself this question. What is Googles primary purpose? The answer to that question is to make sure that their users get the best, most relevant search results. If their users have a bad search experience Google has a lot to lose.

Don’t Under Estimate Google

Google has become exceptionally sophisticated at easily detecting all forms of unnatural link building scams and vows to penalize all spammy sites that intentionally work to manipulate the search engines. Make no mistake, Google is backing up their claims, with mercy for violators. Before you freak out and worry that you may have inadvertently bought into a small link scam it’s important to note that Google will look at the big picture of your site and a tiny slip up is not likely to have any devastating effects. Google can easily identify and separate repeated spammy link building practices from an occasional bad call or malicious attack (if it’s limited in scope).

One example of unnatural linking systems that the search engines recently caught onto was widget bait, whereas it has keyword rich anchor text or maybe points to a separate website and Google does not and will not count links like that. In this case Google “might not” penalize the site owner but it certainly will not permit any value and pass on any juice from these types of links – hence a huge waste of time and money. Still, using methods like this you’re likely to destroy the chances that you will rank for the keywords used in the spammy anchor text identified in Googles algorithms.

The bottom line is if you did not earn the link naturally then the link is potentially doing damage to your rankings.

How to Fix a Bad Link Profile

So how do you fix your site if you have bad links pointing to it? First, download your links using Google Webmaster tools and try to get those links or articles taken down as soon as possible. Google will usually give you a few examples of bad links that are pointing to your website, but the bigger challenge will be determining all of the links that are damaging your sites reputation and getting rid of them. One solution that you might find helpful in Webmaster tools is the Disavow Links tool which basically lets you tell

Google that you want them to ignore certain links pointing to your website and you can even narrow them down by url or even by an entire domain name. After you have removed or disavowed any bad links you should immediately apply for a reconsideration request and explain how you think the bad links got there and what you did to repair the problem.

Unless you are going after keywords and phrases that are low in competition your link earning program will be the backbone of your overall website traffic and rankings. Bad links must be removed, new links must be “earned” and must come from sites that are relevant, high quality and with a high PageRank with similar links pointing to their very own sites.

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