One of the most important aspects in obtaining online exposure is the ability to appear high in Google’s search rankings. While the new Penguin updates have taken much of the “fluff” out of SEO, webmasters have been increasingly concerned that malicious reviews of their website links will result in lower rankings and may incur penalties. Thus, Google launched their link disavow tool on the 16th of October last year amongst mixed reviews. Although this tool does indeed work, it must be recognised that some considerations need to be taken when employing link disavow.
What is the Disavow Tool?
This relatively new feature allows webmasters to remove low quality links that may harm the status and ranking of a website. Most often, these are links that the webmaster cannot control. As opposed to incurring an SEO penalty and causing rankings to subsequently suffer, Google has introduced a disavow tool to allow one to request that Google not take such links into account when evaluating a page. A more detailed description from Google can be found here.
Working to Remove Algorithmic Penalties
As opposed to manual penalties, algorithmic penalties are automatic. An example can be those which had occurred with the recent Penguin update. In effect, no human eyes have ever reviewed the links, but rather Google’s computers determined that they were inappropriate. Disavow is extremely effective in cleaning up these bad links, but it must be realised that this is not the end of the process. You must then wait for the disavow request to enter into their system and be processed. After this, it is also necessary to wait until Google uses the same algorithm that originally picked up the bad links to make certain that they were removed effectively. This three step process can actually take a number of weeks to complete. Succinctly, the disavow tool works, but the logistical side of gaining recognition from Google can be time consuming.
Addressing Manual Penalties
This process can actually be much quicker due to the fact that a human has physically reviewed your links and found one or more to not abide by Penguin regulations. the disavow tool can be used in conjunction with what Google terms a “reconsideration request”. It should be noted here that the disavow tool alone will not be enough to erase the penalty. Both the tool and the request must be filed in tandem. The reason behind filing the request is that this will prompt a human at Google to ascertain as to whether the link or links were removed. This will expedite the process, as there is no need to wait until and algorithmic sweep is performed as is the case with computer-based penalties.
Also, it should also be clear that human-centred penalties normally come with an expiration date. Therefore, the webmaster always has a choice to forgo the disavow tool and wait for the penalty to be lifted. However, this can prove risky, as it will leave the site open to possibly incur an algorithmic penalty in the future and the more lengthy removal process will have to be undertaken. A more detailed description of the time frames involved for both algorithmic and manual processes can be found on this page.
So, the disavow method as a standalone process works quite well. Nevertheless, it is essential to understand that the tool’s efficacy is directly related to the length of time take within the administration processes of Google. Needless to say, any potentially bad links should be dealt with as soon as one has become aware of their existence. Other tips to help more effectively manage a site while addressing Google’s parameters can be viewed here. Still, the disavow tool has become an increasingly valuable trick in a webmaster’s arsenal to help promote effective SEO and search rankings.