Google’s Disavow Tool: Use With Caution Or You Could Harm Your Website's Performance

In late 2012, Google introduced the Disavow tool, which allows websites to disavow links. While it was welcomed with open arms by some, there has been a smattering of mixed reviews and a few naysayers who caution against the seeming convenience of it.

Of course, many site owners bombarded their SEO writers and web designers with requests to remove links. Some of the links caused manual penalties, while others were simply sub par, and as SEO best practice knowledge continues to spread, it’s natural that more website owners are on top of their link game.

Keep in mind that Disavow is an advanced tool and should only be used by professional webmasters. Its purpose is to remove backlinks that harm your site’s performance, such as super-spammy links. You also have to be 100 percent certain that the backlinks are harming your site’s performance, otherwise you might do a lot more harm than good.

Quality link building, along with quality content and analytics, is the foundation of smart SEO. With best practices always evolving, it’s a must to keep up with trends. Here’s a look at how to carefully use Disavow.

Use Disavow If...

You’re a professional with a sharp understanding of how SEO works. It might be prudent to use Disavow if you’ve received a bad link warning from Google, but those warnings aren’t always accurate. Before using Disavow, it’s best to try to manually remove trouble links first; the same rings true for manual penalties.

If you’re sure that you have received a manual penalty because of a bad link, and you know exactly what link it is, try to remove it yourself first. This is the fastest, easiest, and yet most overlooked approach—especially for website newbies. If that fails, Disavow may be an option.

Let’s say you manage a retail site and you’ve been hit with a manual penalty soon after adding new backlinks. If a little digging shows that a certain link is stuffed with spam, you’ve likely identified the culprit and can get it removed.

When You’re Stuck

If you’ve been slapped with a manual penalty or have received bad link warnings, these can be tough to remove. You can apply for a reconsideration with Google, but reconsiderations are notoriously difficult to get. If you’ve been struggling with this for weeks or months, it might be time to try out Disavow. However, Disavow should be a last resort since properly identifying a trouble link is a huge undertaking.

Another time Disavow could work is if you’ve received negative SEO. Negative SEO is subjective and not always “fair,” but that’s how the SEO game sometimes plays out. Keep in mind that negative SEO is a rarity and the chances of your actually becoming a victim are slim at best. Also, the odds of someone consciously creating bad links to infiltrate your site are extremely low. Before using Disavow on negative SEO, ensure that you're not dealing with another SEO problem.

Use Disavow With Care

It’s pretty easy to disavow every link on a domain name—which will absolutely destroy your site rankings. If you have sub-domains and root domains linked together, this can also cause problems. One wrong move can devastate your SEO rankings, and you know just how challenging it can be to rebuild.

Consider Disavow one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal, and remember that it should only be used if all else fails. Try alternatives first, and only use it if you have zero doubts about the link you’d like to disavow. There’s no undoing it once it’s complete, so tread carefully.