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Backlinks still play a decisive role today.
But not all backlinks are created equal.
While high-quality links can add value to your website, there are also so-called “toxic backlinks.”
These unwanted links can not only destroy your ranking within search engine results, but also increase the risk of being penalized by search engines like Google.
But How do you recognize good backlinks And where are toxic backlinks?
In this blog, we dive deep into the topic of toxic backlinks and explain not only how to recognize them, but also what they are, how they arise and why they pose a problem.
Short version — The 5 most important things you need to know about toxic backlinks
1. Definition and Recognition
Toxic backlinks are links from websites with a dubious reputation or from irrelevant sources that can be regarded as spam or attempts at manipulation. They can be identified by low domain authority, poor content quality, lack of organic traffic, or high spam scores.
2. Harmful effects
Toxic backlinks can have a negative impact on your website's search engine ranking, lead to a drop in organic traffic and, in severe cases, even result in manual penalties from search engines such as Google.
3. Causes
Toxic backlinks often result from unethical SEO practices such as buying cheap backlinks, using bots to create automated links, setting up link farms and PBNs, or spam websites and irrelevant links.
4. Removal methods
To remove toxic backlinks, the Google Disavow Tool can be used to tell Google to ignore certain links. Alternatively, you can contact the webmasters of the linking pages directly to request that the links be removed.
5. Importance of regular review
A regular review of the backlink profile is essential to identify and remove toxic backlinks at an early stage. This helps to maintain your website's authority and prevent long-term damage.
What are toxic backlinks?
Toxic backlinks are links that lead to your website from sites with dubious reputation or from irrelevant sources.
These types of backlinks can be seen as spam or artificial attempts to manipulate a website's ranking in search engine results (SERPs).
Often, they are part of black hat SEO strategies that violate search engine guidelines.
A toxic backlink typically comes from websites that themselves have a bad reputation, such as sites that are infected with malware, promote pornographic content or illegal activity, or are in some way fraudulent.
These links can damage your website because search engines like Google regard the quality of backlinks as a factor in a website's ranking.
Another characteristic of toxic backlinks is their irrelevance.
If a website that deals with web design, for example, receives a backlink from a website that deals with gambling, that link could be considered toxic because the two sites have no thematic connection.
Search engines often rate links that do not match the target website thematically as attempts to artificially influence the ranking.
In addition, toxic backlinks can be identified as a result of their implementation.
This includes invisible links or links that are manipulatively embedded in comments, forums, or footers of websites.
In order to protect the integrity and ranking of a website, I therefore recommend regularly checking your own backlink profile, identifying toxic backlinks and occasionally removing them with a Google Disavow file.
But before you panic and worry a lot when looking at your link profile because you'll find a few shady links:
I can assure you that a certain number of spam links today is almost unavoidable.
There is a lot of spam on the web and it is getting more every day.
It is almost unavoidable that your website has one or the other link from weird domains — and Google knows that too.
For this reason, most websites have at least a limited number of shady backlinks without these pages being penalized by Google.
The whole thing only becomes problematic if the proportion of spam links makes up a significant part of your entire link profile.
At such a point, you risk getting a manual penalty from Google and gradually losing traffic and rankings.
Why do toxic backlinks arise?
Toxic backlinks usually arise from an effort to artificially increase a website's search engine ranking.
This is often done through unethical SEO practices that violate the guidelines of search engines such as Google.
Common methods include:
1. Buying backlinks
Buying links can work if the links are from trustworthy link building agencies such as SEO-Galaxy or Fatjoe be acquired.
However, the $50 link packages on Fiverr, where you're offered thousands of links, include NOT in this category.
Buying backlinks is an SEO tactic that is in the gray area between white hate and black hat SEO.
Whether or not the link purchase violates Google Search Guidelines depends primarily on the practices of placing the links.
Especially with cheap link packages on Fiverr, the links are placed en masse on websites that were created just for the purpose of placing links without high-quality content.
Such links may be regarded by search engines as attempts at manipulation and may result in penalties.
2. Automated link creation by bots
In some cases, automated programs (bots) are also used to create links on a large scale.
These bots place links in comments, forums, or other websites, often without connection or relevance to the linked content.
3. Link farms and networks
Link farms are groups of websites that are operated exclusively for the purpose of creating links.
They link to each other and to external sites in order to artificially inflate the link profile.
Private blog networks (PBNs), which consist of several websites that all link to a main page to increase their ranking, work in a similar way.
In addition to these practices However, toxic backlinks can also be created unintentionally:
1. Spam websites
Sometimes spam websites or hacked sites link to reputable websites without the webmaster's knowledge.
These links are often part of a broad-based spam network and can have a negative impact on a website's link profile.
2. Irrelevant links
In some cases, well-intentioned links can also be problematic, especially if they come from websites with completely different content or from another industry.
Such irrelevant links may be perceived as unnatural by search engines.
3. Negative SEO
In rare cases, competitors can attempt to specifically negatively influence the ranking of another website by creating harmful backlinks.
In return, tons of spam links are directed to the site, in the hope that the competitor won't notice this and will be punished by Google.
The fact that large amounts of spam links can end up on your own domain unintentionally shows how important it is to regularly check your backlink profile.
How do I recognize toxic backlinks?
As already mentioned, toxic backlinks are connections that can be potentially harmful to a website's search engine ranking.
They usually come from sources that are considered unreliable or of low quality by search engines.
It is important to understand which types of backlinks can be considered toxic in order to be able to take appropriate action.
In the following, I'll give you a few of my tips on how I personally recognize toxic backlinks.
At this point, however, it must be mentioned that there is no clear “method” for detecting a toxic link.
It is usually a combination of different indicators that leads me to my conclusion that the respective backlink is toxic.
1. Links from low authority websites
In tools like Ahrefs, you can determine the domain rating (DR) of the respective backlinks on a website.
This allows you to quickly find links with a low DR.
Links from a low DR domain aren't automatically spam/toxic, but it's at least an indication that the linking domain doesn't have high authority.
2. Quality of the content of the linking domain
If a link with a low DR is noticeable, the next step is to take a closer look at the content of the page:
- Is the content on the page where the link is placed valuable and relevant to your website?
- Was an author named?
- How is the site structured overall?
- Does the site look trustworthy?
If the content of the website offers little or no added value for users, this can be an indicator of a toxic backlink.
3. Organic traffic
In addition to DR and content quality, the organic traffic of the linking domain should also be checked:
- Does the domain have any traffic at all?
- If so, how much traffic is there and with which keywords?
A page without organic traffic is another indication that the page was only created for linking purposes and that the backlink is potentially toxic.
4. Spam score
In addition to the previous metrics, I always do a so-called spam score check if a link is suspicious.
On a scale of 1-100, the spam score determined the percentage of spammy links.
There are numerous gratis Spam score checker tools.
If the score is above 7, the spam risk can be rated as high and the backlink is potentially toxic.
5. Thematic relevance of the link
Backlinks from websites that don't match your site thematically can be considered toxic.
If possible, a link should have relevant context to the linking page.
Determining thematic relevance is not an exact science and cannot be applied to 100%.
It is normal that you also receive links from domains that are “thematically” not directly related to your website.
6. Visibility of the link
This includes hidden links that are not visible to the user, or links that are embedded in the text using keyword stuffing.
Such practices are considered manipulative by search engines and may result in penalties.
Just check for yourself whether the backlink is visible on the linking page or not.
7. Links from link farms and artificial networks
These links are created from systems that were set up exclusively for the purpose of creating links.
They offer no real benefit and are only used to artificially inflate the link profile.
Websites as part of link farms often have a high DR, but lack high-quality content and little to no traffic.
Link farms can also be recognized by the fact that they have an extremely high number of links to other websites.
That's why I always check the number of referring domains in a domain.
If the number is extremely high and the above characteristics are correct, it is highly likely that it is a link farm.
8. Overly optimized anchor texts
If numerous backlinks are provided with the same keyword-based anchor text, this looks unnatural for the search engine and can be seen as an attempt to artificially manipulate the ranking for this keyword.
In principle, anchor texts should be varied to a large extent to reduce this risk.
If you have 10-20 backlinks with the exact same anchor text (aside from your brand name), consider eliminating some of those links.
9. Links from websites with dubious content
This includes sites with illegal, pornographic, or ethically questionable content.
Such links can also have a negative impact on the reputation and credibility of your website and should be avoided as a matter of principle.
How dangerous are toxic backlinks?
Evidence based on a case study
As mentioned at the beginning, a certain number of “weird” links is almost normal.
Especially because of the normality of spam links, the risks are often underestimated.
But too many toxic links can result in a worsening search engine ranking.
Search engine algorithms can interpret these links as a manipulation attempt, which can result in the website in question being downgraded in the search results.
This results in reduced visibility and a drop in organic traffic.
In more serious cases, toxic backlinks can even result in manual penalties from search engines like Google.
Such penalties are imposed when a reviewer finds that a website is violating webmaster guidelines.
There are numerous case studies that show the effects of Google Penalites.
A gradual loss of traffic is typical, as in the study by Semrush It is clarified:
The screenshots show a website that received a penalty from Google in February 2020.
After the penalty, traffic dropped from around 3,000 monthly visitors to zero within a few days.
In addition to losing traffic, toxic backlinks can undermine credibility and trust in a website.
This means that association with spam sites or dubious sources can also damage the image of an otherwise reputable brand.
In addition, they often have negative effects on conversion rates and therefore also on sales.
Do toxic backlinks have to be removed?
The previous sections should have already made it clear why it is important to remove toxic backlinks.
If you're still not convinced, here are a few valid arguments why removing toxic backlinks is crucial:
1. Avoiding search engine fines
Toxic backlinks can be seen as manipulation attempts by search engines such as Google.
Ignoring these links could result in manual penalties or an automatic ranking downgrade.
By removing these links, you're showing proactive efforts to follow search engine guidelines.
2. Protecting website authority
Your website's authority is determined by the trust that search engines and users place in it.
Toxic backlinks can undermine this authority by linking your website to dubious or irrelevant sources.
3. Maintaining SEO health
The health of your SEO strategy depends heavily on the quality of your backlink profile.
By removing harmful links, you ensure that your profile stays strong and free from elements that could negatively impact your SEO efforts.
4. Preventing long-term damage
While the short-term effects of toxic backlinks may be obvious, such as a sudden drop in traffic, long-term damage can be more subtle and lengthy.
A contaminated backlink profile can affect your site's future performance and make it difficult to recover from rankings.
5. Restoring trust
By cleaning up your backlink profile, you can restore the trust of users and search engines.
A website that actively removes harmful links demonstrates a commitment to quality and relevance.
6. Optimizing link building
Removing toxic backlinks is an opportunity to rethink and improve your link building.
You can focus on building high-quality and relevant links that have positive long-term effects on your ranking.
Removing toxic backlinks can be a challenge, especially when the number of links is high or when cooperation is required from webmasters from other sites.
Ultimately, however, cleaning up toxic backlinks is an important step to ensure the long-term growth of your website.
How do I discover toxic backlinks?
Before that, I've already shown you which indicators you can use to identify toxic backlinks.
In principle, the detection of toxic links is based on a careful review of the backlink profile: the so-called backlink audit.
In order to handle this task effectively, it is advisable to choose a structured approach.
How do I create a backlink audit?
A backlink audit is a comprehensive analysis of a domain's link profile, which aims to get a clear picture of your website's backlink profile.
This audit involves several steps:
1. Data collection
Start by collecting all of your website's backlinks.
Tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush can help you create a complete list.
2. Analysis of link sources
Investigate the origin of each backlink.
Check the domain authority and reputation of the linking sites.
High-quality and trustworthy sources are generally harmless, while links from dubious or irrelevant sites should be examined more closely.
3. Evaluation of link types
Analyze the type of links (e.g. dofollow vs. nofollow).
Dofollow links usually have a bigger impact on your SEO ranking and therefore require a more thorough review.
4. Contextual relevance
Check whether the content of the linking pages is thematically related to your website.
Irrelevant links can be an indication of a manipulative link building strategy.
5. Detecting unusual patterns
Look for unusual patterns, such as sudden increases in the number of backlinks or an accumulation of links from specific domains.
How can I remove toxic backlinks?
Once you've identified toxic backlinks, the next step is to effectively remove them.
This is critical to maintaining the integrity of your SEO strategy and reducing the risk of search engine penalties.
In my opinion, there is two main approaches to removing toxic backlinks: the use of Google's disavow tool and direct contact with the webmasters of the linking sites.
Both methods have their own advantages and areas of application and can also be combined in some cases.
I will now explain both methods to you in more detail.
Removal via Disavow Tool
With the Google Disavow Tool, you can tell Google which links on your domain should be ignored.
To use the disavow tool correctly, you must do the following:
1. Preparing the disavow file
Make a list of all links you want to break.
This list is saved in a special text file, which is then sent to the Disavow tool.
2. Proper formatting
Make sure the disavow file is formatted correctly.
Google provides specific guidelines for formatting this file, including how URLs must be specified.
I create a text file on my computer and insert the domains that I want to remove one after the other, line by line (see screenshot).
3. Targeted selection
Only include links in the disavow file that you are sure are harmful.
Excessive disavowing of harmless links can have a negative impact on your SEO ranking.
4. Submission to Google
Once your disavow file is ready, submit it via Google Search Console.
It's best to Google for “Google Disavow Tool.”
As soon as the text file with the domains is uploaded, the links will be ignored in the future.
5. Patience and monitoring
The disavowing process can take time.
It can take a few days to months until the links are removed and Google sufficiently trusts your site again.
Monitor your website rankings and traffic to assess the impact of the submitted disavow file.
Removal via contact with webmaster
Another way to remove toxic backlinks is to contact the webmasters of the linking pages.
I recommend the following procedure:
1. Determining contact details
Find the contact details of webmasters or site administrators.
You can often find these in the legal notice or in the contact information of the relevant website.
If the email isn't visible on the website, you can use the email finder from Hunter.io try it out.
The software is free and helps you find a domain's email.
2. Professional communication
Make a polite and clear request to remove the link and explain why the link is problematic for your website.
The following is an example of how to contact a webmaster:
3. Follow-up and documentation
Document your communication and follow up on the answers.
In some cases, it may take several attempts before the link is actually removed.
4. Check alternatives
If the direct contact is unsuccessful, you can consider removing the link using the Disavow tool.
By combining these two methods, you can effectively remove toxic backlinks from your website and thus protect your website's ranking.
If this task seems too complex for you, getting help from an experienced search engine optimization agency can be helpful to effectively manage the removal of unwanted backlinks.
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