The State of Search: Protecting Against Link Spam

One constantly evolving element of the SEO space is, and has been for years, how search engines handle black hat methods like link spam. The dubious tactic has been around as long as SEO, and is used both offensively and defensively; it is quite common for bad actors to point spammy links to competing websites in an effort to implicate those sites in a link-building scam. This can then lead to Google applying manual penalties, lowering a site’s position in search or even de-indexing it altogether. In a recent Webmaster Hangout, Google’s John Mueller addressed the topic of link spam penalties by making it clear that if a manual link penalty is applied to a site, that site can and will recover its status if the appropriate fix – usually disavowing the questionable inbound links – is applied in a timely manner.

What does this mean for you?

Our SEO team is set up to monitor and react to any external spammy links your target websites receive by acting quickly to manually disavow those links on a case by case basis if and when we see them. We work within Google Search Console to flag and take immediate action when this occurs, ensuring that your properties are not vulnerable to this kind of external link hack. The recent comments from Mueller underscore the importance of having an always-on approach to inbound link management, as the quicker we react, the less impactful the penalty will be.