Removing perverted Links by Removing Pages on Your Website

Trying to fresh up your backlink profile? Did you know that you can rapidly remove links by removing the page of your site to which that link points?

Obviously this tactic can’t be used for links pointing to your home page. But, if you have inner pages that have built up huge numbers of unnatural links and are causing your site to be affected harmfully by a Google penalty or algorithm issue, then this could be a good method to use.

Be sure you do it correctly though! Later on in this article I’ll share about how a client of mine got their site re-penalized by making an error in 404ing their pages.

Removing a Page with Unnatural Links pointing to it

During a Webmaster Central Hangout, Google employee John Mueller was asked:
Does removing a page that has abnormal links pointing to it accomplish the same thing when it comes to removing a link when it comes to the Penguin algorithm? If a site has its entire links pointing to one page and removes the page is the issue solved?

"Yes, basically that’s pretty much the same thing," Mueller said. "So, what happens when a page is removed and the page returns a 404, what happens is that we drop those links so that they don’t count. Generally talking, if you can’t remove those links and you don’t want to use the disavow back links tool then you could remove those pages."

And here's how Mueller answered a question in the Google Webmaster Forum on the similar topic:
In general, if you remove the page that is being linked to and make sure that it returns a 404/410 HTTP response code, we'll overlook the links to those pages.

Don’t Make These Mistakes!

Please know, though, that the page must be really removed in order for the links pointing to it to no longer count. The following won't work to take away links:

•    No indexing and/or no following the page. A no indexed, no followed page will still receive Page Rank from links pointing to it. Marking a page on your site no indexed and/or no followed doesn't achieve the same thing as physically removing a link.
•    Blocking by robots.txt: A page that is infertile by robots.txt will still receive Page Rank as well. The robots.txt directive will simply tell Google not to crawl that page. But, if links point to it then they will still count towards your site.
•    Redirecting the pages to another page on your site. A forward will pass somewhere from 95 to 100 percent of the Page Rank from bad link on to the redirected page and won't remove the link.
•    Removing the link but creating an identical page on your site with a different URL. I've seen situations where Google can be familiar with identical content and automatically cannibalize it. What this means is that links pointing to the original page will be attributed to the new page.

A Grievous Error

One of my clients made a big mistake. Several months ago we worked hard to take away an unnatural links penalty that this client received.
An earlier SEO company had built abnormal links to their site by creating a large number of articles on the site and then paying other sites to link to these articles. We detached those unnatural links by removing all of the articles that had been made on the site. If someone clicked on one of those unnatural links, they would be going to to a 404 page.

The site also had some other visibly unnatural links, such as low-quality directories which we dealt with as well. We were very pleased when Google removed the unnatural links punishment from the site.
However, I was very astonished to find out about two months later that the site was penalized.
It didn’t take long to decide what had happened. The site owners had decided to redirect all of those 404 pages to the home page.

Whether it was done in error, or done to try to sneakily regain some link juice, I don't know. Somehow their site underwent another physical review and the penalty was levied again.

Should You 404 Pages or Just Disavow the perverted Links?

In the same Hangout linked to above, Mueller said that using the disavow tool to ask Google to not count these bad links would work just as well as 404ing the page(s) on your sites to remove links.

However, as there is argument over the use of the disavow tool,I would suggest that if all of a page’s links are bad ones, to just remove the page rather than disavow. Removing the page will remove all of the bad links.

Guest Posts Press Releases Advertorials Can harm Rankings

Google had issued two warnings about advertorials earlier this year, as well as one Google Webmaster Help video which dealt specifically with advertorials, as well as a part video in which Google's Matt Cutts discussed upcoming SEO changes.

Not surprisingly, Google has now updated their webmaster plan to include advertorials, along with other trendy spammy linking techniques, in their Link Schemes help document.

Google Further Downplays Links

First, perhaps the most important change is the truth that Google removed the entire first paragraph from their link scheme help article which detailed how your website’s inward links influenced your search rankings.

Here is the original first paragraph from the link scheme help article, which dates back at least a year:

Your site's ranking in Google search results is partly based on psychiatry of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links influence your ranking. The sites that link to you can give context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and reputation.

Could this removal be indicative of something bigger? Or was it simply done to make more efficient the help article with the new changes?

It's no secret that links aren’t as a precious as they were a few years ago and SEO professionals have been adjusting their linking tactics because of it. But is this another sign that Google is falling the emphasis it places on links in the search algorithm? 

Last month, in a separate change, Google began advising webmasters that high-quality sites, not links, are the best way to improve search rankings.

Keyword-Rich

Another change has to do with heavily-optimized anchor text used in press releases and articles that are spread on other sites. This technique is seen very frequently, particularly in highly spirited markets. Google gives a pretty common example of optimized anchor text:

There are many wedding rings on the market. If you want to have a wedding, you will have to pick the best ring. You will also need to buy flowers and a wedding dress.

Google also brings up “Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links”. This has somewhat gone out of favor, particularly mass submissions to free article sites for all but very spammy churn and burn markets.

However, guest redeployment is still pretty popular, although many sites that accept guest blogging, as well as those doing the writing, have begun either using no follow, or in an optimized straight URL link.

Advertorials & Native Advertising

The final addition is advertorials. Just as Google has been stating in the recent webmaster help videos, this is now an example of unnatural links that violate the Google guidelines.

Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass PageRank.

it is nice to see Google continue to update their help documents, particularly for pages that are frequented by those webmasters to have received an unnatural linking warning from Google. However, the removal of the first paragraph will likely leave some SEO professionals thinking the change, and what exactly it means, if anything.

Link Building Starts with Research

A link requires two websites. If you’re building links one of those websites previously belongs to you but when the other website comes in, that’s where it gets difficult. Finding that site at the other end of your would-be link takes study, and that research, if it’s going to be useful at all, requires a individual, devoted kind of person. Generating content and creating outreach are important, but the content and outreach have nowhere to go without a base made of good research.
 

Understanding your place
 

In the link building world, research comes in many forms. Research is a broad term with a few dissimilar definitions, but it all comes back to searching, discovery and tracking.
Compiling back link research, using advanced link building tools and plugging in fancy search operator strings won’t do you a world of good unless you know your niche. Who are the big players in the industry? Who are the creative bloggers? What are the issues? Which specific challenges have you faced? What’s the industry jargon?
 

It’s best to answer these questions as soon as possible. The more you make known yourself with a client’s niche, the less time you’ll waste on research that won’t yield any results. This specific kind of research doesn’t necessarily need to be conducted by a number-crunching data-head—it’s imperative that anyone directly working on your link building drive understands your industry before diving in headlong. This can only be proficient with a human brain. All of the research and analytics tools in the world won’t help you really understand your place—only that special, analytical gray matter powerhouse can do the job.
 

Research Techniques
 

Once you recognize your niche, it’s time to find some sites. These websites are where the enchanted ‘other end of the link’ will go, so no real link structure campaign can go anywhere without extensive site finding. This is where you’ll need a dedicated data-head and a reliable spreadsheet. Understanding that information requires a human brain—one that sees the world in terms of data.

• Boots on the Ground – This is the most basic draw near, but also the most inspired approach. Use basic search strings or come up with something difficult. Anthony Pens bane and Sean Revel both have some great, unique ideas for finding niche sites. Simply put, this method allows you to cozy up with Google until your eyes go numb.

• Tools – There are plenty of companies that offer link building tools, and many of them focus in finding sites. Ontolo does a ton of the grunt work for you, and Guest Post Labs offers an brilliant query generator. There are also tools that aggregate articles/posts from sites like Reddit and Google News into a single spreadsheet, and the user can input any imaginable keyword.

• In a World Without Google – This method is also pretty basic. Imagine a world without Google. Now click through some niche/industry sites. See who they link to. Check their blog rolls. Go down the rabbit hole—you might be astonished what you find.

• Backlink/Competitor Research – This type of research can be grueling, but it’s imperative in any good link building campaign. Examine your competitor’s back links and use that information in your strategy.

• Social Media – Social media outlets (especially Twitter) are a large way to find sites that might never come up on Google for target keywords. Search hash tags, search profiles and search tweets. Alternatively, ask around—it is supposed to be social, after all.

• Networking – Speaking of asking around, you can never talk to too many people or make too many friends. It’s as simple as striking up a conversation and recording any relevant results.
Understand that using this information requires a human brain—one that sees the world in terms of data. Otherwise, every single URL is sentenced to rotting in a spreadsheet. That dedicated researcher, the one that knows what to do with the data itself, is the important part.
 

To Every Link a Good Home
 
Its best practice to weed out crappy sites as you go along, but you’re going to see more raised red flags as you dig a little bit deeper. A good link building campaign won’t work without highly regarded sites, and it’s a researcher’s job to ferret out the spam and the garbage. A reputable site might mean a 99 DA tech blog, or it might mean an 18 DA personal blog that’s highly applicable to your niche. A drone or a tool can’t determine if a site is reputable or not—it requires a human brain.
 

Then, there’s the smell test. Robots and spreadsheets can’t smell, so a human is required here, too. The researcher applies the smell test—was the content written by real people, for real people? Are the ads sketchy? How often is the site updated? Is there an audience? Building a link from a robotic spam blog to your site isn’t going to help anyone—not your website, not you and not the internet as a whole.

Crunching the Numbers
 

Data study is important, and only certain types of people can really crunch the numbers and form out what they mean. That’s what separates a researcher from an average writer or social media strategist. A good investigator has to track search rankings, track time and competence standards, track link building goals and find patterns in each. You can build a thousand ideal, sustainable links, but if you can’t see the results (and how you achieved them), then what’s the point? A good canvasser can find meaning in a sea of numbers, hyperlinks and spreadsheets. This is where case studies are born as well, which are an opportunity for more links and content.

Writers, designers and video producers create big content, but none of it would have anywhere to go without research. There are some great research tools out there, but all of them need a human brain to interpret the data and results. Researchers are the foundation of any successful link building campaign—they’re shamans that communicate with the world of raw data, hyperlinks and complex search operators. Link building begins with research and research begins with a human brain.

The Future of Links

Google has been changing it’s rules on where #1 in the SERPS is viewing up.  If all you know is the # that you’re screening up in the serps.  That sucks and you need to reconsider what’s going on in your life.  Cause the whole lot is becoming more personalized and unlike then what we’re used to.

Mobile will not go back to desktop… it’s going so far from that, it’s not going to be a serp…it’ll just be an answer because it knows accurately what the person is searching for.  Here is what we think you want to know before the person even finishes typing.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Links are still significant. But if you’re trying to game (author, social, reviews, links, etc) you’re going to misplace.  We need to figure out and describe how Google is defining us.  Entities will rule the web.  Google isn’t to build the world on a fair basis.  It’s going to help brands and entities rule in the online world.  Good news is that you can be a unit.  If you are a real company, then act like it.

The problem with us is that you can’t false #RCS (real company shit) you have to be a genuine company and think like a real company to become big online.

This doesn’t work:

These don’t work anymore… it’s not genuine company shit.  It worked in the past but doesn’t work anymore.

It’s time to be a real business, so let’s be a real business!

Why Links Remain important to SEO Success

With all the "link building is dead!" and "link building isn't dying or dead!" posts out there, joined with the fright that many people seem to have where link building is concerned, it's natural to wonder about who's right. We all have our skewed perspectives too, along with it would be silly to try and pretend that, as a person who specializes in link building, I'd ever say that links are an dying out species.

I think social is here to stay and its value will only grow. I think that it's not possible to imagine the day when technical SEO professionals won't be needed to help make sure that site architecture is best and to instruct us on how to handle all the new code issues that happen as everyone gets online. I think that great writers will find that their skills are even more in demand than ever.

I think that the production is swarming with misinformation about links and that many sites who can't afford to engage in risky techniques still do so simply because they don't have to get concerned or lift a finger.
However, link building isn't dead or dying. It's changing, yes, and it's getting much harder, but it's still alive and kicking and here's why.
 

Why Links Matter

The web was built on links. Links drive traffic and they increase rankings. They are how we tell a story. They are how we point people to things we want them to see and how we navigate through the endlessness of the Internet.
No matter what anyone says, without high-quality links, you can't perform at an optimal level physically (at least not for long) and you can't weather algorithmic updates that crush sites with weaker profiles.

So what is a high-quality link? When we say that links matter, we don't always differentiate between subpar, average, and high quality links and that's an important difference.
I can give you more examples of bad links than I can of remarkable links, sadly, because bad links are easy to get. High-quality links aren't.

Secondly, look at these three facts:

•    Google's Page Rank is based on links. If the value of links is going to lessen, they're going to have to reword the algorithm. If they wanted to do that they'd have done it already.

•    Spiders use links to crawl the web just like humans use them to navigate.

•    Links are a accepted way we tell someone about great. When you're writing and want to reveal an example, isn't it more natural to give the example site a link than to allude to the URL and say "hey you, go see if you can figure out what this URL that I position actually is and look it up yourself!"?

The importance of value comes into play with Google's Page Rank and you know what? It always has. Many people have just incorrectly assumed that it was strictly a quantity game where the site with the most links rose to the top, but that is really oversimplifying the way it all works.

A high-quality link is so high in quality somewhat because of the quality of the sites linking to it. When that high-quality link is keen at your site, you receive more value than you do if you were linked to from a page that had lower authority from lower-quality links pointing to it.
 

*Directly From Google's Mouth
 

In the updated webmaster answers on rankings, Google now says this:
In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by creating high-quality sites that users will want to use and divide.

That "share" part can happen in many ways but the language isn't exclusive to links any longer. Notice the bit about "high-quality" too, as it used to pertain to links. Sharing is still done via links even though it's also done on community sites and offline methods, but the idea isn't really different; the language is what's misused.

Let's look at another Google quote:

Google has invented many innovations in search to improve the answers you find. The first and most well-known is PageRank, named for Larry Page (Google's co-founder and CEO). Page Rank works by including the number and quality of links to a page to determine a rough estimate of how important the website is. The underlying statement is that more important websites are likely to receive more links from other websites.

There's that declare of "quality" again alongside the "important" language. This is on a page about how Google search works, on the Google.com domain, so it's unlikely that it is false. If links from high-quality sites stop mattering, PageRank will stop mattering, and is that likely?

Other things may be more important (like the negative signals sent out from having a poor link profile) and the grouping of many factors can matter more than one single one, but will we see a day when links aren't a factor for SEO? Nope.
 

Too Much Fuss?
 

Think about paid links. Even after the no follow attribute was new and Google cracked down on both the buyers and sellers of links via Webmaster Tools warnings and penalties, people still want to buy and sell links.

Would Google keep trying to crack down on how we manipulate links if there was an easier way and if links weren't really that significant? Would they invest that kind of energy and time if anything else could be done? Would they have formed the disavow tool if they could properly determine that a link shouldn't be counted?
 

Links Post-Penguin
 
Here's something I bet they didn't expect to occur after Penguin 2.0 though:

Some sites that had before linked out for free now asked for payment to keep the links up or followed because they theorized that if people were getting penalized or warned for bad free links, they may as well make some money off what they were doing because who knows what Google would think about those links down the road?

If Google decides that a site is guilty of linking out in an abnormal manner, why not go ahead and make a few bucks before it gets strike? I'm not saying these were great sites to begin with of course, because in the cases I've looked at, they were not, but if authority sites start to fear connecting out, what's to stop them from wanting to make money off the few links that they do give out?

If you think that webmasters on any site put up a link and that's the end of it, you're living in a dream world. Links get changed, removed, nofollowed, and become out of order.

Dishonest people contact a webmaster and ask for links to be taken down for competitors' sites and these webmasters don't have the time or wish to verify that these are legitimate requests, so you know that great link you have? You might have just lost it or it might now point to your competitor.

That's the problem. There are many of awful and dangerous free links out there, and there are loads of authority links that have been purchased. There are loads of people who can control this system to their benefit and cause you harm in the process. It is a mess, but it's one that is impossible to clean up.
 

Summary
 

We do place a high value of significance on recommendations whether it's your father telling you the best place to buy a used car or Columbia University linking to a local medical center that they recommend pre-med students check out for an internship. That's the way the world works, not just the Internet.

As we become busy with more voices telling us what we should do and where we should do it, the power voices will stand out even more. Having a advice from those authorities will only get more important.

So links aren't dying. We just need to focus on building better ones.

Is Link Building Dead? 3 Tips for Link Builders Post-Penguin 2.0

”We’ve detected that some of the links pointing to your site are using techniques outside Google’s Webmaster Guidelines….”

For enterprise SEOs, receipt of this notification is typically followed by a deep, sinking feeling in your chest.

You check your keyword head-terms in the SERPs and understand that you can’t find your website anywhere.  A lump forms in your throat as the realization sets in — you’ve been penalized by Google.

The Link Building Challenge

Google’s crackdown on unnatural links over the past few years has raised the question within SEO circles: “Is link building dead?”

The reason folks might think its dead is because Google’s definition of what constitutes an “unnatural” or “artificial” link seems a bit…broad:

“Any links intended to influence a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme.”

Not to talk about the penalty for “suspicious links” is quite severe. Whereas sports celebrities are fined or suspended from a few games for breaking the rules, businesses whose websites violate Google’sWebmaster Guidelines could find themselves losing a lot more.

Some good businesses have taken main financial losses as a result of the infamous Google Penalty. Estimates suggest that costs to big box retailers and enterprise e-commerce companies might easily hit $5 million per month in lost natural search revenue.

Smaller businesses facing such penalties could end up ruined, having to close their doors.  Yes, Google can put you out of business — whether you deserve it or not.

The fear Google has instilled into the hearts of SEOs over bad links is unparalleled.  Is it any wonder that so many are asking, “Is link building a dying art?”

Link Building Lives!

The answer to the above question is an emphatic, “No!” Link building is not dead; in fact, link building is alive and well. But you do need to be careful.

While all the recent reports about Penguin 2.0 might lead traditional SEOs to advice against active link building, the vast majority of page 1 rankings are on page 1 because of their link profile.

Links are Google’s “weak link” in the search industry. Google still remains heavily dependent on links as its primary form of ranking websites within its search results pages.

So, how can enterprise SEOs navigate link building without getting penalized for building links? How can you rank organically, using good links, while avoiding penalties? Read on for the high road to link building, according to three link experts.

1. Perform a Link Audit

This is hands-down, your first step. Conducting a link audit will need several phases and tools; however, if you follow Chuck’s advice here, you’ll be able to get through it.

In How to Conduct a Link Audit, Chuck Price does a great job walking readers through all the steps concerned in a link audit. Whether you plan to do any link building or not, I highly recommend you do a link audit now — doing so may help you avoid possible issues down the road.

Chuck explains how to “Download Latest Links” from Google Webmaster Tools and how to get a complete backlink profile. This will allow you to decide which links need to be reviewed and considered for removal/disavowal, including:

Links from a domain not indexed in Google

Links from a website containing a malware or virus warning

Links on the same page as spammy, unrelated links

Links on a page with Google PageRank that is gray bar or zero

Links coming from link networks

Sitewide links – especially blogroll and footer links

Paid links

2. Keep It Relevant

Your next significant step is to ensure relevancy. Ken Lyons wrote an excellent article on how to build relevant links to your website.

Ken’s article, “Link Building: Get Relevant or Die Trying,” is a fantastic read. He includes Authoritative Guides, Infographics, Industry Spotlights, Group Interviews, Industry Awards, Guest Posts, and, yes…”Buying Links” as a applicable link tactic. This is a must-read for all SEOs.

Ken describes link relevancy as Google’s way to determine trust, decipher the topic or context of a target document, deliver relevant information in the right context (i.e., relevant query results) and sort out link spam.

Speaking of relevancy, Ken also provides tips on a few more relevant link tactics such as:

In-Depth Reviews: noteworthy products or services

Free Tools: prime targets for link outreach

Curated Content: extensive articles and weekly round ups

Broken Link Building: unearthing high-authority, relevant link opportunities

Niche Microsites: dedicated to a exact topic or niche

3. Exploit PR Strategies

Lastly, I want to recommend something not often elaborated upon: using PR to build links. Cassie Gillette, Director Online Marketing at KoMarketing, has an outstanding article written recently, “5 PR Strategies You Can Use To Build Links Now.”

Cassie reviews PR-focused tools that let you find content, post pitches and seek those looking for sources — all great ways to “make connections and discover potential link opportunities.”

She points out the fact that reporters are using social media to source stories, which has given search marketers, “a huge window of opportunity for link building.” She also offers tools for creating segmented reporter lists and gathering data.

Another enormous source of links can be event interviews. Cassie points out how there is always someone looking to interview attendees before, during and after the show — at some conferences, they’ll even set up interviews for you!

Lastly, she suggests monitoring editorial opportunities, which can offer quite a few outstanding methods for building high quality inbound links to your website.

Thanks to these creative professionals above (and there are many more), link building is alive and well. Everyone knows that links are the bedrock for SEO results — so I persuade you to consider these tactics.

This isn’t the end-all answer to link building by any means; however, enterprise SEOs can’t go wrong by including the above steps in their linking strategy: 1) perform your link audit, 2) keep it relevant, and 3) develop your PR strategies.