In October 2012, Google’s Matt Cutts revealed the company’s Link Disavow Tool to the world at PubCon. This tool, he said, would allow webmasters to send a list of links to Google that they don’t want any juice from. It appeared to be a Get Out of Jail Free card for sites that previously engaged in poor SEO practices.
There was a catch, though. In order to use the Link Disavow Tool, Cutts stressed that webmasters had to show evidence that they previously attempted to have links to their sites removed by contacting the owner of the website containing the link. If you didn’t show Google this information, he implied, the company might not disavow those links from your site’s link profile.
Now, all that is changed.
In a recent video published by Cutts, he said it’s OK to use the Link Disavow Tool, even if you haven’t done what was thought to be the necessary preparatory work. Essentially, Cutts pulled a 180, which will make things a lot easier for webmasters moving forward. This doesn’t mean, however, we don’t think it’s wise to just go crazy with the Disavow Tool.
Following the right channels and doing things correctly is still the best option. We recommend that if there are links to your website you’re not comfortable with, that you should contact the owners of those linking sites and ask them to remove them yourself, that way there’s a paper trail. Sure, it may now be OK to just disavow those links, but if you show Google that you’re doing things the right way, it may keep you off its naughty list, which will help your search visibility.
For more information about Google’s flip-flop on how to use the Link Disavow Tools, please listen to the TM podcast! And remember, if you have questions, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment below!
Thanks for listening!
The post Google Reveals Link Disavow Tool for Webmasters appeared first on TM Blog.