#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
Megan Geiss, Director, Marketing Strategy, Merkle | RKG
LINK PRACTICES: KEEPING YOU OUT
OF “JAIL”
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Penguin or Manual Action § Penguin = Algorithmic Penalty § Manual action = Notification
§ Do you need a penalty rescue?
BACKGROUND
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
A significant drop in traffic and that is not due to other site architectural or
crawling issues
HOW WILL YOU KNOW?
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
Gather all backlinks
Rank by quality
Analysis
Outreach for removal requests
Follow up
Disavow tool
Reconsideration request
PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS 1
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#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ There are many sources: § Majestic SEO (fresh index) § GWT for representative sample of
Google’s Index § Open Site Explorer
GATHER ALL THE BACKLINKS 1
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Majestic § Filter by Citation Flow § Rank by Trust Flow
§ Kerboo (formerly LinkRisk)
RANK BY QUALITY 2
Bad Links
Suspect links
Neutral Links
44.5%
15.1%
31.4%
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Analyze and evaluate the filtered master list. § Determine if a backlink or domain is outside of
Google’s quality guidelines or falls within an identified link scheme.
§ Manually review domains
ANALYSIS 3
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ There are clear signals that will help in determinations § Quality metrics § Referring Domains § C-blocks § Anchor Text § Geo-Location § Sitewide Links § Advertorials § Relevancy
What to Analyze:
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Majestic SEO § Comprehensive inventory of inbound links
§ Ahrefs § Deep dive into anchor text analysis
§ Moz Open Site Explorer § Analyzing authority and trust of backlinks
§ Google Webmaster Tools § Sample data from Google’s index
Tools for Analysis
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
And More Analysis…
Pivot table anchor text data to determine ratio of referring domains to links
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
Even More Analysis…. Use MOZ’s Open Site Explorer to look at page level link data
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Gather contact information for the identified removal targets
§ Minimum 2 outreach attempts § Document all communication
OUTREACH FOR REMOVAL 4
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Typical removal request
responses: § Webmaster removes link § Webmaster removes link and
doesn't tell you § No response § Webmaster requests payment
to remove link
FOLLOW UP 5
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Create file in .txt – one URL per line § Disavow entire domains: “domain:example.com”
§ All lines beginning with # will be ignored § Avoid common mistakes: § Disavowing “just enough” to get by § Disavowing everything
DISAVOW TOOL 6
#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss
§ Tell the story… § Google is looking for the
following: § Admit the mistake § Website has stopped the
violations § Clean up is done § A good faith assurance
RECONSIDERATION REQUEST 7