Checking bad backlinks and how to remove them to avoid Google penalties

Checking for bad backlinks is an important factor to quickly avoid dropping Google rankings. A low-quality link can cause your website to lose hundreds of positions on the search results page.

According to Search Engine Journal statistics, over 65% of websites are penalized due to unnatural backlinks. DPS.MEDIA recommends that SMEs regularly review to maintain online reputation and optimize SEO effectively.

Identifying bad backlinks and their negative impact on Google rankings

What are bad backlinks?

Bad backlinks are links to your website from low-quality, unrelated, or spammy sites. Google may penalize your website if the number of bad backlinks exceeds the safe threshold.

Some signs to identify bad backlinks include:

– From sites with unrelated content or completely different languages
– Having unnatural anchor text, containing many duplicate keywords
– Placed from penalized websites or those with high spam scores (Moz Spam Score >8/17)
– Buying backlinks in packages or engaging in unnatural link exchanges

Negative impact on SEO

According to SEMrush 2022 report, over 24% of websites that dropped in rankings had factors related to low-quality backlinks. Possible impacts include:

– Sudden loss of rankings on SERP due to Penguin algorithm violations
– Decreased trust flow causing Google to rate your content quality lower
– Affecting crawl rate and indexing time

Real-life example: An e-commerce site in District 3, HCM, dropped from top 3 to top 40 after 2 weeks due to 745 backlinks from foreign forums with unmoderated comments.

Quick checklist to identify bad backlinks

• ✔ Linking page has Domain Authority below 10
• ✔ Content surrounding the anchor text is unrelated
• ✔ Backlink page is listed in Google Disavow Tool
• ✔ Many backlinks come from the same IP (sign of a PBN network)
• ✔ Anchor text repeats the exact keyword multiple times

Quick classification table for backlink quality

Criteria	Good Backlink	Bad Backlink
Trustworthiness (DA/Trust Flow)	>40	<10
Relevant Content	Yes	No
Number of Links	Natural Distribution	Sudden, Rapid Increase
Anchor Text	Diverse, Natural	Uncontrolled Keyword Repetition

Summary takeaway

Bad backlinks not only affect SEO, but can also cause your website to lose long-term credibility. Regularly check, remove negative links, and build a safe backlink profile, especially if you have a long-term SEO plan.

How to effectively use backlink checking tools for small and medium businesses

Choosing the right backlink checking tool

For small and medium businesses, the SEO budget is often limited. Therefore, you should prioritize tools that allow free checks or have economical packages such as:

– Ahrefs (Lite package for SMEs)
– Google Search Console (free)
– Ubersuggest (limited free version)
– SEMrush (valuable 7-day trial)

Checklist for periodic backlink checking operations

For effective checking, you can follow these steps:

• Log in to the tool and enter your main domain
• Filter by unusual anchor text (e.g.: “viagra”, “casino”)
• Check which domains have DR lower than 10 (low trust score)
• Analyze link types: Dofollow/Nofollow
• Check the ratio of links from international sites – pay special attention to links from unfamiliar sites or unrelated languages

Specific example: A retail business in Go Vap once discovered 42 backlinks from Russian adult content sites. After blocking them via Google's Disavow tool, the ranking drop clearly decreased – according to SEMrush (2022 Report), 63% of sites improved their ranking after disavowing toxic links.

Backlink tracking table – Suggested template (HTML)

Domain name	DR (Ahrefs)	Anchor text	Status
cheap-seo123.ru	1	cheap viagra	Need to Disavow
newsblog.uk	12	click here	Untrustworthy
example.vn	32	the product name	Valid

Risks of not controlling harmful backlinks

According to Moz (Whiteboard Friday 2023), spammy links can cause a website to be penalized by Google either manually or automatically by the Penguin algorithm. For SMEs, this leads to:

– Average traffic drops by 30-60% within 1 month
– Loss of trust and brand reputation on search results
– It may take months to recover rankings

Takeaway:

Small businesses don't need expensive tools to manage backlinks effectively – the key is to monitor regularly, identify risks, and act promptly to maintain sustainable SEO strength.

Detailed analysis of backlink quality metrics to assess source credibility

1. Important metrics to monitor

To evaluate the quality of a backlink, you cannot rely solely on quantity. You need to analyze the following metrics:

• domain Rating (DR): Indicates the overall authority of the website, provided by Ahrefs. DR of 50 or higher is considered good quality.
• URL rating (UR): Assesses the strength of the specific URL containing the backlink. High UR along with relevant content is a good sign.
• Spam Score: Moz's metric (0-17) helps detect spam risk. >7 is often a warning sign.
• Dofollow/Nofollow: “Dofollow” backlinks bring real SEO value, but should only account for about 60-70% to diversify your link profile.

2. Checklist for evaluating backlinks from the start

Before adding a backlink or when checking old backlinks, you can use the following checklist:

• Does the linking website have content on the same topic?
• Is the link placed within the article (not in the sidebar/footer)?
• Does the website have a history of spam or Google penalties?
• Is the backlink from reputable domains (e.g., .gov, .edu, or mainstream news sites)?

3. Real examples & data from reports

An (anonymous) client of DPS.MEDIA once had over 500 backlinks but most came from blog comments on websites with Spam Score >10. After removing 65% of bad links, the main keyword ranking increased from #32 to #9 in 3 months (according to Ahrefs, Q2/2023).

metrics	Safe threshold	High risk
Domain Rating (DR)	> 30	< 15
Spam Score	0 – 4	> 7
Dofollow Ratio	50 – 70%	> 90% or < 20%

4. Risks of ignoring backlink analysis

Not thoroughly checking link quality can lead to Google penalties related to unnatural links. Penguin algorithm update (Google, 2016) caused thousands of websites to drop in rankings due to backlinks from PBNs or spam forums.

Takeaway:

A quality backlink comes not from quantity but from relevance, naturalness, and authority metrics. Systematic analysis will help protect your website ranking from unexpected algorithm changes.

Strategy to safely remove bad backlinks without affecting SEO

1. Accurately identify bad backlinks

First, you need to filter and clearly categorize low-quality links. Some common signs:

– Backlinks from spam websites, unrelated content
– Links from domains with low DA (Domain Authority) or penalized by Google
– Backlinks from unclear source PBN (Private Blog Network) networks

2. Propose a safe removal process

Instead of mass removal which may trigger abnormal reports, proceed step by step:

– Contact the webmaster and request link removal (response rate ~10-15% – Ahrefs Report, 2022)
– Use Google’s Disavow tool to block domains you can’t control
– Monitor effectiveness by measuring DR (Domain Rating) and organic Traffic

Real-life example: An online retail business lost nearly 40% of its traffic after receiving 500+ backlinks from anonymous forums. After disavowing all, search traffic recovered after 6 weeks.

3. Checklist for step-by-step removal of bad backlinks

• ☐ Download the entire backlink profile from Ahrefs/SEMrush
• ☐ Mark backlinks from unrelated websites
• ☐ Send removal request email if contact information is available
• ☐ Prepare a txt file and submit via Google Disavow Tool
• ☐ Monitor Google Search Console for the next 4 weeks

4. Comparison table: proactive vs. passive actions

Strategy	Benefit	Risks
Proactively disavow	Protect the brand, maintain SEO	May miss good links if not thoroughly evaluated
Wait for Google to process	Time saving	Risk of ranking drop, loss of traffic

5. Notes when handling bad backlinks

– Google does not encourage abusing the Disavow Tool unless absolutely necessary (Source: Google Search Central Blog, 2023)
– Prioritize removing links before disavowing to create a better signal
– Avoid mistakenly removing quality backlinks: This can negatively affect rankings

Takeaway

An effective bad backlink handling strategy requires regular checks and evidence-based actions. Be proactive in protecting your website instead of waiting for Google's algorithm penalty.

Techniques to rebuild quality backlinks after cleaning harmful links

Rebuilding from a clean foundation

After removing toxic backlinks, restoring your link system is an important step to enhance domain credibility. However, you should not rush to “pour backlinks” but prioritize building a slow and SEO-compliant strategy.

Action list to restart effectively:

• Focus on creating high-quality content with natural shareability
• Contact reputable sites that previously had bad links (if any) to request anchor or linked content changes
• Use analysis tools – e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush – to measure new backlinks over time

Start with links from trustworthy sources

Prioritize sharing articles on moderated community platforms such as Reddit, Medium, and LinkedIn. Posting guest posts on industry-related blogs also helps quickly improve domain name credibility. Real-life example: A cosmetics website in Vietnam increased its organic traffic by 42% in 3 months after shifting to a strategy of acquiring backlinks from beauty experts (source: Internal DPS.MEDIA report, 2023).

Regularly check and maintain new backlinks

Even high-quality backlinks need to be monitored and periodically checked to ensure they are not switched to nofollow, broken redirects, or deleted.

Monthly maintenance checklist:

• Run a backlink report once a month
• Verify the status of outbound links – follow/Nofollow
• Update anchor text if adjustments are needed according to SEO strategy

Summary table: Channels for building quality backlinks

Channel	Level of credibility	Traffic generation capability
Medium.com	High	Average
Industry-related blog	Very high *(if selected carefully)*	High
Reddit (moderated)	Average	High if targeting the right subreddit

Notes on risks & challenges

Not all backlinks bring positive results. Buying links or spamming anchor text can lead to penalties from Google Penguin (2022 update – searchenginejournal).

Takeaway:

Rebuilding the backlink system after cleaning is a process that requires a long-term strategy. Prioritize quality over quantity – and focus on links that bring real value to users.

Monitoring effectiveness and maintaining Google rankings after handling bad backlinks

Monitoring rankings and traffic after processing

After removing low-quality backlinks, you need to monitor changes in keyword rankings and organic traffic:

– Use Google Search Console to compare results before and after disavow.- Check the ranking of main keywords on Google within 2-4 weeks.
– Pay attention to metrics such as CTR, number of clicks, and number of pages displayed.

Checklist for periodic monitoring after handling bad backlinks

To ensure you maintain your position on Google, implement a regular monitoring process:

• ✅ Check new backlinks weekly using Ahrefs or SEMrush
• ✅ Compare keyword rankings before and after (at least once a month)
• ✅ Monitor “Manual action” alerts in Google Search Console
• ✅ Update the disavow file if suspicious backlinks appear

Real example: Organic cosmetics retail site

An organic cosmetics brand in Ho Chi Minh City dropped 30% of its top 3 keywords due to receiving many backlinks from spammed sites (2023). After removing 147 domains and submitting a disavow file via Search Console, organic traffic increased by 22% after 6 weeks (According to DPS.MEDIA internal report).

Backlink processing results tracking table

Indicators	Before disavow	After 4 weeks
Backlink Domain	1,214	897
Top 3 Keywords	47	61
Organic Traffic (GA)	8,400	10,290

Long-term ranking maintenance strategy

Removing bad backlinks alone is not enough, you need to build a quality link profile:

– Diversify backlink sources through guest posts, press, and industry-related forums.
– Check referring domains monthly to detect unusual links.
– Ensure anchor text is not over-optimized.

Brief takeaway

Handling bad backlinks is not enough – you need to continuously monitor and update in a timely manner to maintain rankings. A clean and natural link profile is the solid foundation for a sustainable SEO strategy.

Tips to prevent negative backlinks in today's competitive digital marketing environment

Understand the origins of negative backlinks

Negative backlinks often come from low-quality, spammy websites or sites penalized by Google. In a competitive SEO environment, competitors may use Negative SEO to “play dirty.” According to an Ahrefs report (2023), up to 17% of websites are affected by toxic links without knowing it.

Some signs of negative backlinks:

– Backlinks from domains with adult content, gambling, or malware distribution.
– Irrelevant anchor text or containing spam keywords.
– Sudden increase in backlinks from domains with no traffic.

Checklist to protect your website from bad backlinks

To avoid becoming a victim of a “Negative SEO” campaign, apply a regular check process 1-2 times per month and take preventive measures from the start:

• Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console to scan backlinks every month.
• Verify new linking domains: check their reputation, content, and topic.
• Create a list of suspicious domains and proceed to disavow them via the Google Disavow Tool.
• Set up automatic alerts in SEO tools to update you when there are abnormalities.
• Always stay updated with Google’s algorithms and monitor SERP changes as soon as you suspect an impact.

Classification table for backlinks that need priority handling

Type of backlink	Level of risk	Actions
Backlinks from penalized sites	High	Disavow immediately
Spam anchor backlinks	Average	Verify & evaluate specifically
Backlinks from PBN	Medium – High	check source & escrow domain

Real example: E-commerce website hit by an SEO attack

An e-commerce fashion website in Ho Chi Minh City suddenly dropped 9 positions for its main keyword after just 2 weeks. After checking with Ahrefs, the internal SEO team discovered over 285 new backlinks from “fake” blogs with meaningless content, mostly from foreign IPs. After disavowing and submitting a request to Google, it took 3 weeks for the rankings to partially recover.

Brief takeaway

Preventing negative backlinks is not a one-time task, but a continuous process. By proactively monitoring, evaluating, and removing harmful links, businesses can protect their brand from unnecessary ranking drops.

Remaining thoughts

Identifying and removing bad backlinks helps the website maintain credibility and improve search rankings. This is an important process in an overall SEO strategy.

Regularly check your backlink profile and disavow harmful links. Proactively protecting your website is the key to sustainable success.

You can learn more about “Effective Offpage SEO Techniques” or “How to Build Quality Backlinks for New Websites.” These are closely related topics you should check out now.

DPS.MEDIA is always ready to share SEO strategies tailored for small and medium businesses. Don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions or experiences to share!