Assessing Link Quality - #LinkaratiChat with Paul Madden

Link quality is fundamental to SEO. If you want to move the needle in search, you need links that are relevant and add value to the web.

Every SEO needs to be able to assess link quality. Luckily Paul Madden, co-founder of Kerboo (formerly Link Risk), agreed to join #LinkaratiChat on September 8th to discuss assessing link quality.

Paul has deep experience in backlink profile analysis. Kerboo is designed to help SEOs and site owners manage their backlink profile and recover from Penguin or link-based penalties.

Without further ado, let's get into the recap of our chat.

Question One: What Key Characteristics Do You Examine When Assessing Link Quality?

The Penguin algorithm was specifically designed to stop manipulation of the Google algorithm via links. Paul kicked off the chat reminding everyone to look specifically for signs of manipulation when assessing link quality:

A1 Signals of intent to manipulate Google. Commercial anchor text, obvious link building techniques of the past. #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A1 In most link profiles its pretty easy to identify known techniques and thats what Google generally act against #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

Cody Cahill reminded us all of the human value of a link:

A1: If you are assessing the value of an individual link, throw the SEO metrics out the window, and think instead about ... #linkaratichat

— Cody Cahill (@Pleasant_Pen) September 8, 2015

A1: (cont'd) ... does the link offer the user of the page value? Would the user click on the link? Be happy they did? #linkaratichat

— Cody Cahill (@Pleasant_Pen) September 8, 2015

Tripp Hamilton uses three different factors when gauging link quality:

@Linkarati A1: Relevance, website quality, & context are the three factors that will determine the quality of a link. #LinkaratiChat

— Tripp Hamilton (@Tripp_Hamilton) September 8, 2015

And John Gibbings recommended looking at the big picture, including the link neighborhood in addition to the individual link on the page:

A1: Focus on the relevancy of on-page content to yours, while considering the website's footprint (link neighborhood quality) #LinkaratiChat

— John Gibbings (@JohnGibbings) September 8, 2015

Which takes us nicely into question two.

Question Two: How Do You Assess An Entire Link Profile? Which Elements Do You Focus On?

Paul starts with the obvious, taking bulk action.

A2 Some can be done in bulk, most directories, most article sites can be removed or disavowed quickly. #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A2 Start with Sitewides, then commercial anchors then tactics #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

Annie Singer touted Moz's spam analysis when performing a link profile overview:

A2 I kinda love the Moz spam analysis as a broad overview #linkaratichat

— Annie Singer (@singerswings) September 8, 2015

Thomas McMahon had some great advice, specifically mentioning a few different elements to analyze:

A2: Anchor text distribution, linking domains vs backlinks, and TF vs CF are things I look at first to make a snap judgement #linkaratichat

— Thomas McMahon (@ThomasMcMahon14) September 8, 2015

Micha Boettinger has a similar process:

A2: I start by checking if the number makes sense, then look for red flag links, then check anchor text distribution #linkaratichat

— Micha Boettiger (@writerworldwide) September 8, 2015

John has specific red flags when analyzing an entire link profile:

A2.2 Red flags being: Porn, Poker, Pills & low quality content. Search by article title for a syndicated content check. #LinkaratiChat

— John Gibbings (@JohnGibbings) September 8, 2015

Which leads us into toxic links.

Question Three: What Makes A Link Toxic?

Paul recommends focusing on intent, with an eye specifically for manipulation.

A3 Intent. Google penalise you for trying to manipulate their ranking signals so any link that is outside of their guidelines #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

Devin pointed out simply following Google's guidelines:

A3: If the link violates Google's guidelines it's pretty toxic if you ask me. #linkaratichat

— Devin (@DevDawg) September 8, 2015

Anthony agreed, furthering the statement once again with intent:

A3: a link is toxic not only when in violation of G's guidelines, but when that violation is done on purpose. #linkaratichat

— Anthony Randall (@tonyxrandall) September 8, 2015

Liam Barrett cited relevance:

A3: Relevancy. If your link is in a non-relevant neighborhood it may be deemed as spammy. #linkaratichat

— Liam Barrett (@TheBestBarrett) September 8, 2015

Andrew agreed, citing a few more potentially toxic link types:

A3: Exact match anchor text, spammy link neighborhood, lack of relevance...all attributes of a toxic link #linkaratichat

— Andrew Dennis (@AndrewDennis33) September 8, 2015

Cody pointed out that individually, it's hard for a link to be toxic. Worthless, yes, toxic, not as much. It takes a great number of worthless links to create toxicity.

Q3: I don't think a link in and of itself can be "toxic". They are only toxic in bulk. Many links, however, are worthless. #linkaratichat

— Cody Cahill (@Pleasant_Pen) September 8, 2015

Sounds like a good time to address negative SEO (often referred to as NSEO).

Question Four: What Are Your Thoughts On Negative SEO?

I wish I had good news to share here. Unfortunately, most within the chat agreed negative SEO is a real problem.

A4 Used to be very hard to do, usually cost prohibitive. Now more and more common and we see more evidence of it working too #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A4 The ease of sites like Fiverr where you can get thousands of links quickly and easily means its so much easier #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A4: Negative SEO is a huge problem and potential easy way out. It is more difficult now with tools like @SeoAlarms #LinkaratiChat

— John Gibbings (@JohnGibbings) September 8, 2015

A4: It's nasty. Just disavowing all that stuff can be cost prohibitive. Google needs better tools for businesses to fight it #LinkaratiChat

— Micha Boettiger (@writerworldwide) September 8, 2015

Fortunately, if you monitor your backlink profile it's extremely easy to spot.

A4: act proactively preemtively and preventively and it will never hit you #LinkaratiChat

— Boris Krumov (@SeoKungFu) September 8, 2015

Q4: We recommend to set up Email Alerts in GWT tool which will notify you about major issues #LinkaratiChat #kerboo

— Alexandra Tachalova (@AlexTachalova) September 8, 2015

Discussing negative SEO, and how to spot it, naturally led into discussion of link removal and disavow.

Question Five: What Is Your #1 Tip for Disavows/Link Removal?

This is Paul's wheelhouse. He limited himself to five top pieces of advice:

A5 Disavow should be done by someone who knows what they are doing #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A5 Disavow should be done at domain level (domain:http://t.co/qQFz7ad1Zp) rather than URL level #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A5 Only disavow the root and watch for subdomains (domain:http://t.co/aRjIZvjKKr is incorrect) #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

A5 Don’t try to disavow at root for large sites like Blogger / Tumblr #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

And finally:

A5 ALWAYS get sign off by the client before updating the disavow and make sure you keep the disavow checked and up to date #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

For more advice from Paul, check out the article he put together here on Linkarati about Understanding The Link Audit Process.

Tripp recommended customizing the disavow based upon your site's situation:

@Linkarati A5: If you have a penalty, use the disavow tool like a machete. If not, use the disavow tool like a scalpel. #LinkaratiChat

— Tripp Hamilton (@Tripp_Hamilton) September 8, 2015

John agreed, going so far as to recommend considering a rebrand if necessary:

A5: IF the penalty is bad enough. Don't waste your time removing links. Re-brand, make a new site &don't 301 to the new one. #LinkaratiChat

— John Gibbings (@JohnGibbings) September 8, 2015

Question Six: How Do You Explain Link Quality to Clients?

Paul led the discussion with recognizing the value of a link, and acknowledging risk:

A6 Link quality is the balance between the likelyhood that a link will pass value and not pass risk. #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

Link quality is about the link delivering some value… value can be defined in many ways #LinkaratiChat

— Paul Madden (@PaulDavidMadden) September 8, 2015

Andrew had a few great tidbits of advice as well:

A6: Bottom line is link quality is determined by whether or not the link supports client goals. (1/2) #linkaratichat

— Andrew Dennis (@AndrewDennis33) September 8, 2015

A6: Could mean increased search visibility, relationship building, improved brand awareness, authority building, etc. (2/2) #linkaratichat

— Andrew Dennis (@AndrewDennis33) September 8, 2015

John shared how important it is to build the proper expectations from the start:

A6: Establish client expectations from the Start. If they are stubbornly expecting quantity over quality, Pass on the lead #LinkaratiChat

— John Gibbings (@JohnGibbings) September 8, 2015

Cody agreed, sharing the importance of transparency:

A6: I encourage clients to scrutinize every link we build to ensure that it is valuable. But it is more than checking DA. #linkaratichat

— Cody Cahill (@Pleasant_Pen) September 8, 2015

And That's A Wrap!

Thank you so much to Paul Madden for sharing valuable insight and leading the conversation! And thank you so much to everyone who participated - we love the energy and insight you all bring to every chat.

Thank you so much everyone for joining, and huge thanks to @PaulDavidMadden for sharing expertise #LinkaratiChat pic.twitter.com/YKEaLVjdZD

— Linkarati (@Linkarati) September 8, 2015

If you're craving more SEO and link building goodness, don't miss out on our webinar with Kerboo this Wednesday at 10:30AM PDT.