Why Google’s New Link Disavow Tool Won’t (Necessarily) Rock Your World
17/10/2012
Google has recently launched their brand spanking new link disavowal tool to great acclaim and the excited jumping-up-and-down of site managers everywhere. The tool gives webmasters a new level of intensive control over their site’s positioning on the web by allowing them to ask Google to ignore inbound links from dodgy looking sites which can have a negative impact on your overall SEO effort.
It may surprise you, then, to learn that when our marketing team saw the new tool there was a general consensus not of gleeful cheering but what I would describe very approximately as curious apathy. “Oh, that’s nice,” seemed to be the general verdict. Nobody is throwing their hats in the air over here – and there’s a good reason why.
By now most people have become very familiar with the Google Penguin update which promised to smack down low quality link builders by downgrading article sites, paid directories and many of the other evils used by unethical SEO practitioners around the world. The initial impact of Penguin has cooled off now (or so we’re told – none of our clients even noticed the update as we’ve never used these dodgy tactics for our SEO work) so after such a liberal application of the stick to those poor quality search marketers, Google is now throwing them something like a carrot by letting them disavow all those poor quality inbound links and disassociate their sites from those bad neighbourhoods.
So, Google thinks dodgy or spammy links are bad and doesn’t want you to use them. Is it me, or have we heard this tune before? This is actually the reason for the total lack of excitement at Cornish HQ when this tool was announced – we’ve been dancing to this beat all along because we’ve always placed the focus of our SEO work squarely on high quality content which is of interest to real people. So while it’s nice to be able to kick off the odd Viagra or porn site that might occasionally throw a link our way, it doesn’t actually have much of an impact on the regular nature of what we do, or how we do it. There’s a good reason why all our clients have scratched their heads in puzzlement at all the fuss around these various search engine updates while others are constantly scrambling to claw back ground they have rightly lost due to link farming, paid directories and spammy, low quality article sites.
What then to take away from the unveiling of the new link disavowal tool?
- It’s nice to have – but shouldn’t be game-changing
- You should be keeping an eye on your inbound links anyway as part of your SEO strategy
- If you find yourself needing to disavow anything other than very occasional inbound links, there’s a deeper problem with your approach to SEO which needs addressing fast
If you’re baffled by blogs and lost in links, pick up the phone and call 0330 555 4680 today to find out how Cornish WebServices can help you build a sensible and sustainable set of online marketing to include SEO, PPC, social media and more.
PS we build beautiful websites too!
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