Here are some questions that needed answering after the Link Detox Genesis webinar last week. I have put them here mainly for my own reference, but they may be useful for anyone considering doing their own Link Detox.
Q: What website should I run a Link Detox report on e.g. www.domain.com or domain.com?
A: If you have links pointing to the www and non-www version of your website (like most websites) then you should be analyzing both the www and the non-www versions of your domain. If you do not combine both, then you might miss links and cross-effects between the two domains. It’s highly recommended that you leave the box ticked that enables you to run a Link Dtox on both www and non www version of your website. This way you have the results of both domains in one report.
If you enter www.domain.com (subdomain) you be asked if you would like to analyze BOTH. Make sure you activate this option.
If you enter domain.com (topdomain), the links to your subdomains (www-version) will automatically be analyzed.
Q: What is the Cemper Power Trust and how is it calculated?
A: To learn more about the metrics CEMPER PowerTM, CEMPER TrustTM and CEMPER Power*TrustTM please visit the LRT site to get a better understanding.
Q: What if you have already disavowed some links. Will the tool show the same data if the report is run again for the same URL?
A: If you have submitted a disavow file to Google we recommend uploading your disavow file to your Link Research Tools account so these ignored links will be excluded and marked as disavowed on all your future DTOX reports.
Q: If a link is marked as a suspicious “no follow” why should I disavow it?
A: It’s a common disbelieve that NOFOLLOW have no effect. Think of a Wikipedia link! NOFOLLOW links from spammy/banned/virus sites are still links from bad sites that are potentially harmful. Think about all the comment spam – it’s usually NOFOLLOW but doesn’t mean it’s worthless or not harming.
If a nofollow link is marked as toxic or suspicious you should review the link first, if it does look like a bad link then you should remove it by contacting the webmaster for removal or using the Google Disavow tool.
Q: Should we always disavow the unverified links? Or only on suspicious domains?
A: We recommend that you review all unverified links that you want Google to ignore, keep in mind that we use very common spam link rules and a selflearning data-driven algorithm to identify bad links, because if you ignore good links, it might hurt your sites rankings.
Q: Can you please clarify how the rating works? Am I rating the link as bad or good? Or am I rating that the Link Detox report is good or bad for that link?
A: You should give us your rating if you think the link is good or bad for you. This means, if you think a link is bad, then rate this link with Thumbs-Down. If you think a link is good, then rate the link with Thumbs-Up. These decisions are taken into account for risk scoring in the re-processing step. Your decisions count 100% for you. You can find more information about link rating in this chapter “Link rating”.
In short:
- If you think that a link is GOOD- thumbs UP
- If you think that a link is BAD- thumbs DOWN
Don’t forget to reprocess your report.
Q: If we reprocess a Link Detox Genesis report will we lose our tags and ratings?
A: No, you will not lose your tags or ratings if you decide to re-process your report.
Q: What is the first thing I should do to recover my Google rankings?
A: We recommend running a Link Detox report on your domain name. This is the first step you should follow when wanting to recover your Google rankings.
Q: Why should I disavow links from scraper-sites, that Google should have devalued itself?
A: If you have backlinks coming from scraper sites that are marked as toxic or suspicions then it’s a good idea to remove that backlink to reduce your average Link Detox Risk score.
Q: What is the best way to get toxic/suspicious links removed?
A: It’s best to get in contact with the webmasters first asking them to delete the links manually before using the Google disavow tool to disavow them (Google Disavow Tool should be used if the webmasters do not remove the links).
Make sure you review all links you want Google to ignore, because if you ignore good links, it might hurt your sites rankings.
Q: If you set the tool to run regularly, will it let you know which links are new?
A: We actually have the Link Alerts product for alerts about brand mentions and new links, but we will consider building that into Dtox as well soon
Q: If you upload a disavow list, does it just show up in other tool link reports for that website or will it show up across a set of websites (if you have more than one)?
A: We process the disavow list and you show all disavow information you gave us in all the other tools as well. By this you will have a more accurate picture on your links the more disavow list you upload.
Q: Should I disavow the page or the whole domain?
A: It depends on the individual backlink. If you only have 1 backlink from this domain and no others, then you can only disavow the page. If you have many bad backlinks from the same domain then it could be a better idea to disavow the whole domain.
Q: Is there a difference between selecting Ignored or Disavow while uploading a backlink file?
A: Both will get ignored by the tool. The difference is that you see the disavowed links with the link status “disavowed” in the report and your ignored links with the status “ignored”. Disavowed backlinks will not be included in your report and are automatically included in the export of your disavow file. Ignored backlinks will not be included in your report and will not be included in the export of your Disavow file.
Q: When does Google take the disavowed links into account?
A: Unfortunately nobody knows exactly when Google takes the disavowed links into account. It can take several weeks or even months. But we have also built the Boost tool that you can use to speed up the process of Google crawling your disavowed links.
Q: How does the Link Detox identify toxic and suspicious links?
A: We use very common spam link rules and a selflearning data-driven algorithm to check the domains. Please find them here: http://www.linkdetox.com/faq/
Q: After I have submitted a Disavow file, and when I have new URLs to disavow, do I simply add this to the previous Disavow file?
A: You can either change your old file (you can find it in your settings https://www.linkresearchtools.com/toolkit/account.php) or upload an additional one. All saved files in the settings will be used.
Q: Are suspicious links needed for a natural link profile?
A: Yes, for your website to look natural it needs to have a mixture of links. No site has only healthy links. You can also compare your link profile with the link profile of your competition to find out what is normal in your niche. (Best tools: CLA and CDTOX)
Q: What percentage of toxic links is problematic? What percentage of suspicious links is problematic?
A: It always depends on your niche what is normal or not. It is a good idea to start a CDTOX and compare.
The Link Detox Risk metric helps you to estimate if you have a problem. If you have a Link Detox Risk of 1000 or more, you have a problem
Q: I want an LRT T-Shirt!
A: You can get your link research tools gear from http://linkresearchtools.spreadshirt.at/
Q: The sitewide links get filtered out of the report – Shouldn’t I review them to include them in the disavow file?
A: If a website has more than 5 sitewide toxic links it is recommended to disavow the whole domain, and not the individual links. If you wish to see the sitewide links, please start a BLP/Backlink Profiler report which is found in the Superhero plan.
Q: Does the Link Detox work in all languages?
A: Yes, the whole LRT works in all languages.
Q: Would you disavow links when you have received no penalty, but your rankings dropped?
A: Link monitoring gets more important these days, so we would recommend running regular Link Detox reports and try to get the bad links removed before they may harm you.
Q: Is it possible to check only 1 URL or page to see what the DTOX says about it?
A: Unfortunately this is not possible. What you can do is to start the DTOX in the What-IF Mode (available for Superhero and all Link Detox Pro plans) and upload just one URL to check it. But don’t forget that this is the Prognosis mode, which means there is no Link Check included.
Q: How long do you need to wait before a re-run?
A: It depends on your website and your niche. When you receive many new backlinks every day you should probably make a daily DTOX check. Don’t forget the importance of link monitoring.
Q: I don’t like webinars, why don’t you offer a guide?
A: We offer a Quick Start Guide, please find it here. We are also already working on improving the guides making them more detailed.
Q: Is it useful to add backlink files to gain more data?
A: We have a lot of data sources (23 in total), However we do not have a 100% index of the web. For this reason, we recommend you use our improved upload function to provide us with all your available link source files – especially from Google Webmaster Tools for links and disavow-files. Make sure you also upload the disavow files in order to receive a correct calculated Link Dtox risk.
Q: Can I add a backlink file after I have started the report?
A: No, you have to attach the backlink file before you start the report. It is not possible to attach the file afterwards to the results.
Q: Can Link Detox detect Negative SEO?
A: The Link Detox tool will be able to detect if more toxic and suspicious links are being built to your website, please make sure that you run a Link Detox report on a regular basis to ensure you are always aware of the amount of backlinks being built to your website.
Q: Are you able to get the email of the webmasters of the bad links?
A: If the tool is able to find the e-mail addresses then you can find them in the email column in the table. You can also export this list.
Q: Is there built in function to e-mail multiple webmasters?
A: No, the Link Detox only provides you with a list of e-mails. You can find them in the table in the e-mail column.
Q: How can I track competitor’s links?
A: You can use the Link Alerts tool for this purpose. You will get an email notification if your competitor received new backlinks.
Q: What if Google declines my reconsideration request because toxic links still exist?
A: You need to make sure that when you are disavowing links that you review them carefully and if you find a spammy domain then you should disavow links by domain instead of by page, this way any future links being built to your site from a particular domain that has been disavowed will not be counted.
Q How do I know that the disavowed links I just uploaded have reached Google? Will I get an email notification? How long will i have to wait to see the result?
A: Google will take the disavowed links into account when they crawl them again. Unfortunately they will not provide you with a confirmation mail or email notification. So it depends when your site will get crawled again.
Q: How to speed up google after you have uploaded the disavow list?
A: You can use our Link Detox Boost tool to speed up the process.
Q: How reliable are TOX3 links and are they all worth disavowing?
A: Based on our experience and feedback we have, including that from many Google reconsideration requests we are confident about that decision. If we were unsure we could call it suspicious. For the TOX3 case, we are sure. Get rid of those links ASAP.
Q: How do I decide which links are good and which are bad if I’m nervous about dropping in rankings by disavowing too much?
A: Please review all the links and make sure that you really want to disavow them (because Link Detox Genesis is aggressive with evaluating the links), but we made the experience is that it is a good idea to get rid of all the links, because if your site is already not ranking, it cannot get worse. The bad links will not help you. Of course you should try to receive good links again.
But removal of the links is something different than disavowing them. By disavowing you tell Google that these links are bad and that you don’t like them. If you have more bad links than good links, then it would make sense to disavow them.
Q: I disavowed some pages but now realize I should have done the domains. Is it okay to now do the domains?
A: Yes, you can exchange the file in the Google Webmaster Tools’ Disavow tool.
Q: Can you disavow links within the tool itself? Do you not have to do this through Google?
A:The Link Detox helps you in creating a disavow file and then you can export and upload it directly to Google.
Q: Is an EMD Domain with keyword in the name a brand or money keyword? For example www.my-KEYWORD.com?
A: www.my-KEYWORD.com is the brand, for example www.buy-diapers.com. But buy diapers would be a money keyword.
Q: I heard that disavowing doesn’t work, is that true?
A: The problem is that Google is only a machine; they say they recrawl the web and the reprocess can take a number of weeks, but we designed the Link Boost tool to make it easier and FASTER for you.
Q: If I disavow au.yahoo.com on a domain level, will that get rid of all yahoo.com, or only the au.yahoo.com? Why does local.yahoo.com come up as toxic? Isn’t yahoo considered a good link any more?
A: Keep in mind that we use common spamlink rules and a selflearning algorithm to evaluate the links and it can be wrong in certain edge cases. Please review the links before you disavow them. When you think that it is a good link, then please use the rating function in the Link Detox and give this Link a thumbs up.
In case from yahoo it can happen that this specific page is a victim of comment spam etc. Please check out which rule apply to the site.
It is definitely not recommended to disavow the whole yahoo domain.
Q: When a subdomain on an authority site comes up as toxic, is it possible they have a virus there? What other reasons could cause it to be rated as toxic?
A: You can check which DTOX rule apply to this backlink and then decide. http://www.linkdetox.com/faq/
Q: Does Google disavow all the files we ask it to do?
A: Unfortunately nobody knows what Google exactly does, but since Google suggests to disavow links, then it would make sense to do so. To speed up his process and support Google at his work we created the Link Detox Boost tool.
Q: What is Link Detox credit?
A: The whole LRT is based on a credits system. Please check out this link: http://helpdesk.linkresearchtools.com/entries/25347067-How-does-the-credit-system-in-Link-Research-Tools-work-
Q: How can I view my remaining credits?
A: You can see this in your Start Report overview dashboard underneath each tool.
Q: What is the best package to purchase, for a single site?
A: It depends on your purpose. If you want to concentrate on the Link Detox, probably the Link Detox Pro is enough for you. If you want to do other analyses as well, then probably the Starter plan is the right one for you. If you want to use the Link Detox Boost, you would need the Superhero or Link Detox Consultant plan at least.
Q: Is it a good rule of thumb to disavow all unverified links (toxic and suspicious)?
A: Check the rule which applies to an unverified site and then decide what to do.
Q: What if we have too many links suspicious and toxic? Can google just ban our site if we apply to disavow?
A: Google suggests webmasters to use the Google Disavow Tool also proactive! So you don’t have to worry about this.
Q: If a website has 1000s of spammy links (most with no contact info to request removal) is there hard evidence Google acts on disavow file with these spammy links?
A: You can let Google know that you tried to contact the webmasters but failed. Then you can disavow these kinds of sites on domain basis.
Q: Does LRT offer services to clean a website up as well? For the ones that can’t use your tools correctly or don’t have the time?
A: We give our best to provide webinars, guides and videos to our clients so that they can use the tools. If this is not enough, we can also forward you to one of our third party LRT Professionals. Please let our Helpdesk know if you need consulting help.
Q: When I have already fed a disavow list and add more domains for disavowal, does Genesis add the new ones to the list I provided?
A: You will have to upload this file manually into the Link Detox tool. You can either upload it when you start a new report or upload it in your Settings. (you can find it in your settings https://www.linkresearchtools.com/toolkit/account.php). All saved files in the settings will be used.
Q: How important is it to get the theme specified explicitly when starting a new report vs the automatic option?
A: We recommend it that you always choose the correct theme.
Q: As a rule, do you disavow all links from sites that are not indexed by google?
A: Not indexed backlinks are marked as TOX1. TOX1 links should get removed. However, we recommend you to review them before you remove them.
