#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Megan Geiss, Director, Marketing Strategy, Merkle | RKG

LINK PRACTICES: KEEPING YOU OUT

OF “JAIL”

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Penguin or Manual Action §  Penguin = Algorithmic Penalty §  Manual action = Notification

§  Do you need a penalty rescue?

BACKGROUND

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

A significant drop in traffic and that is not due to other site architectural or

crawling issues

HOW WILL YOU KNOW?

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Penalty Rescue Has Your Site Been Hit?

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Gather all backlinks

Rank by quality

Analysis

Outreach for removal requests

Follow up

Disavow tool

Reconsideration request

PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  There are many sources: §  Majestic SEO (fresh index) §  GWT for representative sample of

Google’s Index §  Open Site Explorer

GATHER ALL THE BACKLINKS 1

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Caution:

§  Don’t use only one source §  De-dupe the list

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Majestic §  Filter by Citation Flow §  Rank by Trust Flow

§  Kerboo (formerly LinkRisk)

RANK BY QUALITY 2

Bad Links

Suspect links

Neutral Links

44.5%

15.1%

31.4%

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Analyze and evaluate the filtered master list. §  Determine if a backlink or domain is outside of

Google’s quality guidelines or falls within an identified link scheme.

§  Manually review domains

ANALYSIS 3

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  There are clear signals that will help in determinations §  Quality metrics §  Referring Domains §  C-blocks §  Anchor Text §  Geo-Location §  Sitewide Links §  Advertorials §  Relevancy

What to Analyze:

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Majestic SEO §  Comprehensive inventory of inbound links

§  Ahrefs §  Deep dive into anchor text analysis

§  Moz Open Site Explorer §  Analyzing authority and trust of backlinks

§  Google Webmaster Tools §  Sample data from Google’s index

Tools for Analysis

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Analysis Majestic SEO can help determine UNNATURAL spikes in inbound links

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Analysis Ahrefs can help see a combination of new vs. deleted links

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

And More Analysis…

Pivot table anchor text data to determine ratio of referring domains to links

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

…And More Analysis Use Majestic SEO to pinpoint geo-location red flags

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

And More Analysis….

Highlight low Citation and Trust flow via Majestic SEO

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Even More Analysis…. Use MOZ’s Open Site Explorer to look at page level link data

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Gather contact information for the identified removal targets

§  Minimum 2 outreach attempts §  Document all communication

OUTREACH FOR REMOVAL 4

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Caution:

§  Webmasters are HUMAN

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Typical removal request

responses: §  Webmaster removes link §  Webmaster removes link and

doesn't tell you §  No response §  Webmaster requests payment

to remove link

FOLLOW UP 5

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Create file in .txt – one URL per line §  Disavow entire domains: “domain:example.com”

§  All lines beginning with # will be ignored §  Avoid common mistakes: §  Disavowing “just enough” to get by §  Disavowing everything

DISAVOW TOOL 6

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

Caution:

§  Don’t overwrite previous disavow files

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

§  Tell the story… §  Google is looking for the

following: §  Admit the mistake §  Website has stopped the

violations §  Clean up is done §  A good faith assurance

RECONSIDERATION REQUEST 7

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

HAPPY ENDINGS

#SMX #32A @MeganGeiss

THANK YOU!

SEE YOU @SMX WEST SAN JOSE, CA

MARCH 1-3, 2016