Clearing spam backlinks from your website is essential for maintaining good SEO health and avoiding potential penalties from search engines like Google. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you identify and deal with spammy backlinks:
Step 1: Identify Spam Backlinks
Use SEO tools to analyze your backlink profile:
- Free Tools:
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs Backlink Checker (free version)
- Paid Tools:
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Moz
- Majestic
Look for:
- Links from low-quality, irrelevant, or foreign-language domains
- Links with exact-match anchor text for keywords you’re targeting
- Links from spammy directories or comment sections
Step 2: Try to Remove the Backlinks
Once you’ve identified the bad backlinks:
- Visit the linking site – See if there’s a contact page or email.
- Send a polite removal request – Ask the webmaster to remove the backlink.
- Example:
- “Hi, I noticed your site is linking to mine (example.com) on this page: [URL]. This link is not relevant and may harm my SEO. Could you kindly remove it? Thanks!”
Step 3: Disavow Backlinks Using Google
If you can’t get the links removed manually, disavow them:
✅ Here’s how:
- Create a .txt file with the list of domains/URLs to disavow.
- makefile
- CopyEdit
- # Example disavow file
- domain:spammydomain.com
- http://spammydomain.com/bad-link
- domain:anotherbadsite.net
- Go to the Google Disavow Tool
- Select your website and upload the .txt file.
⚠️ Use the Disavow Tool carefully — only disavow links you’re sure are spammy or harmful.
Step 4: Monitor Your Backlink Profile Regularly
- Check every month or quarter using the tools mentioned above
- Set up alerts (Ahrefs, SEMrush) for new backlinks
Optional: Strengthen Your Good Backlinks
- Keep building high-quality, relevant backlinks
- Create shareable content
- Get listed on trusted directories or industry sites
