Google Disavow Tool: When Should You Use It?

Many SEO experts wonder if it’s a wise SEO linkbuilding tactic to disavow links from websites that steal important rankings with syndicated content. Disavowing links is essentially like a double-edged sword, and you should know when doing so would be best for link building.

Google does not tell businesses or webmasters which links that are helpful for their websites. Therefore, whenever an SEO uses the disavow tool, they do not know if they are removing URLs that are helping them boost their rankings for specific keywords.

It’s generally recommended to use the disavow tool sparingly, as a lot of times, SEOs end up hurting their rankings because they disavow suspicious links that were actually considered good links by Google. However, if a website receives a large number of links that are obviously toxic, then it may be better to simply remove them.

Some experts believe that Google has more information about the URLs directed to a website than even the webmasters themselves. If a link is suspect, the search engine usually does not count it.

However, there are times when Google does count the links. If you disavow these links, you are actually doing more harm than good for your website.

Google will always choose to rank original content when there is syndicated content involved. With that in mind, if you are the owner of the original content, you should use the canonical tag and other good link building tactics on all the content syndicated from your site. These methods are especially useful if other websites are stealing your rankings this way.

On the other hand, it is not the best decision to disavow links from websites that republish articles and blog posts – unless the site itself is toxic and is harming the rankings of the original source of the content.

In conclusion, the purpose of Google’s disavow tool is to remove sketchy or suspect links that are redirected to a healthy website. The main goal of the disavow tool is to fight negative SEO; however, it is also something that you should use with the utmost caution.

Negative SEO, although rare, really happens. Some agencies use black hat SEO tactics and promise their clients fast results in a short amount of time, but in reality, these methods can really hurt a website’s rankings as time goes by. Although there are only a few agencies that attempt to use negative SEO these days, it’s still something to be wary about.

When good SEOs notice or suspect negative SEO affecting a website through redirected links and syndicated content, then using the disavow tool is crucial for recovery.

The disavow tool is also necessary for websites that used sketchy link building techniques in the past and are now looking to change their methods by turning to white hat SEO tactics. In most cases, SEOs even make good use of this tool when submitting a reconsideration request to Google to nullify a manual penalty.

Work With Position1SEO

Businesses and website owners might not be aware of the potential harm that can be done when misusing SEO tools. Google’s disavow tool is not designed to prevent competitors from ranking for your content. There are many other ways to outrank your competitor websites without resorting to the disavow tool.

Our team at Position1SEO is well-versed in handling all sorts of difficult SEO situations, using only the correct tools and techniques when necessary. We can use canonicalisation and good SEO linkbuilding practices that are guaranteed to help you outrank your competitors.  Moreover, we aim to always comply with Google’s algorithm system updates, making sure that our clients will not get any nasty rankings penalties.

If you need professional SEO services, get in touch today! Dial 0141 404 7515 or email office@position1seo.co.uk and get your free SEO audit!