{"id":7167,"date":"2020-10-07T11:52:19","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T10:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brainlabsdigital.com\/?p=7167"},"modified":"2025-06-20T20:39:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T20:39:16","slug":"the-ultimate-guide-to-identifying-bad-backlinks-with-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brainlabsdigital.com\/the-ultimate-guide-to-identifying-bad-backlinks-with-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"The ultimate guide to identifying bad backlinks (with examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today we\u2019ll be walking through real examples of unnatural links to help you clearly identify when a link should be disavowed. This article is a follow-on from my last post (\u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.distilled.net\/resources\/playing-detective-how-to-identify-bad-backlinks\/\">Playing Detective: How To Identify Bad Backlinks<\/a>\u2019), where I explained how to do a backlink audit. If you\u2019re new to backlink audits, I would start there and then come back to this article when you\u2019re ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the frequency with which I write on the topic, you could assume that I love doing backlink audits. Quite the opposite, actually: my mission is to help any poor soul who is lumbered with a backlink audit to be able to quickly and easily spot links which clearly should be disavowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re not sure if backlink audits are still necessary in 2020, I encourage you to read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blog.google\/products\/search\/how-we-keep-spam-out-of-search\/\">this post<\/a> that was published by Google in June of this year (hint: yes, very much still necessary).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Anchor text is the key to finding bad links<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re sitting in front of your Excel spreadsheet looking at endless rows of backlink data, you might wonder where on earth to start when trying to spot bad links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a simple answer: anchor text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anchor text that contains keywords is a surefire giveaway that a link has been unnaturally obtained. Why? Because while it\u2019s great for SEO, it\u2019s rare that sites will just so happen to link to you with the keywords you want to rank for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Links that have been obtained naturally usually have anchor text such as<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u2018click here\u2019<\/li><li>\u2018site\u2019<\/li><li>\u2018here\u2019<\/li><li>your brand or domain name<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll find keyword-centric anchor text to be the common theme in all the links below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bad backlink examples<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Hacked sites<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The first example is from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laurakalister.com\/\">hacked site<\/a>. (Yes \u2013 I thought I\u2019d start off with a bang!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can see from the homepage that at some point in time this was a legitimate website. However, when we navigate to the blog there are a tonne of completely random articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/vTsQD1-u5X0HaBP9oBrXg0qtfZQoFFPufgP2ug4f-mE6JXcrUgTPtgOX3j7yGj7dPtYxVn99p7RmZ84SSftLaMNwXgYuIhk5pgeGCEdwj6V2ICjh-KqBxzN7r1OINhG3_t7rmCOW\" alt=\"Hacked Website Backlink Example Screenshot\" width=\"622\" height=\"308\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above: The blog at hacked site laurakalister.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Navigating into the articles themselves, we can see that they have been written with the sole aim of placing paid links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The articles are completely unrelated from the website (and from each other);<\/li><li>The articles contain lots of links with keyword-centric and commercial anchor text;<\/li><li>Some of the articles actually don\u2019t make any sense at all: they\u2019re just a bunch of gobbledigook!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, there is an article titled \u2018<strong>Day Trips In Provence With A Private Driver\u2019<\/strong>. It\u2019s written extremely poorly, with many sentences not making sense. It has two links with the anchor text \u2018<strong>private car service nice airport<\/strong>\u2019 which both link to a car hire service website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It couldn\u2019t be clearer that this article has been written purely to place these links. We can therefore assume with a high degree of confidence that these links have been paid for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>Without hesitation I would disavow these links. They really aren\u2019t subtle at all and if a Google employee manually reviewed this site, it\u2019s very obvious that the sites being linked to have participated in a link-buying scheme.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Content Farms<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/infanttoddlerspecialistgroup.com\">This domain<\/a> (infanttoddlerspecialistgroup.com) looks very similar to a typical \u2018content farm\u2019 &#8211; a site that has been built purely to place links in low-quality articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once again we see completely unrelated articles; at the top of the blog, there\u2019s a recipe article, and when we scroll down we see an article on the topic of \u2018<strong>cost effective heating solutions<\/strong>\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within this article there are two links with the same anchor text: \u2018<strong>central heating boiler replacement<\/strong>\u2019. Both links point to commercial pages about central heating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/UJQDBuV9RlmOmxuGmT6jOr4A2b5qqKrGKD26i4n9LAGolvzereTFpYpdkLVAF2IaOE4RmF0oq1JnDISSEgIYp3MKB8aE4qNjkEi2giDeiRX0izvYnB0kRqwMrMwKa6nQtchdHB5m\" alt=\"Content Farm Backlink Example Screenshot\" width=\"507\" height=\"469\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above<\/em>: <em>Example of a paid link on a content farm site<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict:<\/strong> I would disavow because again, this is not subtle at all , especially the repetition of the commercial anchor text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to find this type of link: <\/strong>look for keyword-centric anchor text in your spreadsheet and then scan an eye over the linking domains. Notice any that are completely unrelated to the site being linked to. For example, if I was auditing the backlink profile of this heating website, it would definitely pull my eye to see a link from a domain about toddlers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Links Pages<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/karmadi.com\/links.htm\">This<\/a> is a typical example of a links page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The links on these types of pages aren\u2019t necessarily paid for, but they are certainly not natural. It may have been a case of a link exchange, however, bear in mind that <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/66356?hl=en\">Google frowns upon link exchanges too<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s the giveaway?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The page exists purely to list links;<\/li><li>Many of the links are completely unrelated, not only to the site in question but also to each other;<\/li><li>Last but not least (you guessed it) \u2013 keyword-centric anchor text!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Given that <a href=\"http:\/\/karmadi.com\/links.htm\">the site<\/a> is supposedly about English Springer Spaniels, I wonder why it lists links such as \u2018<strong>low income resource guide for seniors USA<\/strong>\u2019, \u2018<strong>alcohol misuse, abuse, addiction and treatment<\/strong>\u2019 and \u2018<strong>a guide for senior housing in Canada<\/strong>\u2019. There can only be one reason: because they\u2019ve been paid to do so!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-PNRLYrU9lYhXIsHA0TuxVtYkmtVAOHCj14uCUNCSeMOu4GF-TXxA4qT1wpLn3pEe4JszNL66h8xptcDzw9KkwJqrS2AJsJjE5trqMj9TnnjDjuRXCrYz2GLlnE0ANMIekHUhkPZ\" alt=\"Links Page Backlinks Example Screenshot\" width=\"470\" height=\"375\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above<\/em>: <em>Unnatural links at http:\/\/karmadi.com\/links.htm<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there are many links on this page that <em>are<\/em> related to dogs. What do you do if one of those links is pointing to a client website?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>I would still disavow. Even if it\u2019s plausible that you could have been linked to from this page naturally, it\u2019s very clear that many of these links are not natural at all. <strong>You\u2019re therefore at risk by association<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to find this type of link: <\/strong>look in your spreadsheet for backlink URLs or page titles that contain \u2018link\u2019 or \u2018links\u2019.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Fake User Profiles<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The next type of link we\u2019re going to look at are those placed in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laurakalister.com\/\">fake user profiles<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below we can see a user profile that has keyword-rich anchor text pointing out to various sites.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/bP-MRQTNnNFuMl2thnZLF78NCiPyeZ4EP02hKTbcrNV8VibFUvZHGxqdRGFKXHhGGuI3vS3PDf5G4aeGajxsswSqOkGf9FG3-nc4fuJMBa70Ie5i54nrykikN4uCSehu4YmNTbPk\" alt=\"Fake User Profile Backlink Example Screenshot\" width=\"759\" height=\"383\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above: Paid links on a fake user profile<br><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, there is a link with anchor text \u2018<strong>require<\/strong>\u2019. This points to a dictionary website that has a page about the word \u2018require\u2019. Clearly the dictionary website wants to rank for this specific keyword, so has paid for the link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>it\u2019s pretty clear this isn\u2019t a legitimate user profile, and that it has been created for the sole purpose of placing links to manipulate the Google algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to find this type of link<\/strong>: search in the backlink URL for \u2018user\u2019 or \u2018user-profile\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5. Bloggers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When paying (or bribing!) bloggers to link to your website, it\u2019s vital it\u2019s handled correctly: any such link should be marked up with the rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d or rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d attribute (read more <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/96569\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet many people are clearly flouting the rules: in <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/66356?hl=en\">Google\u2019s official guidelines on link schemes<\/a>, this type of link is top of the list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/gpFkB7uUBRMlW4if2Rd0ZBtMIJmQPFltXNzMe75qvfU39YflWJwhNo2qv9X6b1gllw3dHhKTeHqYq7cViudN41MgovR_K7jFcoP4pjviokvAxQgVRrYzHqqI1mJNyBER7qyze65W\" alt=\"Screenshot of Google guidelines on link schemes\" width=\"602\" height=\"85\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above<\/em>: <em>Google\u2019s official guidelines on link building schemes<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.alisonathome.com\/\">This blog<\/a> is a perfect example of links that violate Google\u2019s guidelines. In particular <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alisonathome.com\/Blog\/christmasbedroomideas\/\">this article<\/a>, which contains <strong>seven links to the same website<\/strong> (yes, seven!) which all:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Link to product pages;<\/li><li>Have keyword-centric anchor text.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Worst of all, there\u2019s nothing on these links (such as rel=\u201dsponsored\u201d or rel=\u201dnofollow\u201d) to indicate the relationship between the blog and the site being linked to, which is clearly a commercial one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>disavow without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to find this type of link: <\/strong>look through the linking domains list for \u2018blog\u2019 or people\u2019s names (many bloggers put their name in their domain). To save yourself filtering endlessly for people\u2019s names, you could use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.distilled.net\/how-to-use-regex-in-google-sheets\/\">Regex in Google Sheets<\/a> to speed up this task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6. Sitewide Links<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We now move on to the importance of link location. Where a link is placed on a page <em>does<\/em> matter.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Achieving a backlink in a prominent position \u2013 such as in the main navigation, sidebar or footer of a site \u2013 is usually a strong hint that a link has been paid for. Why? Because links in these positions are site-wide, so benefit from receiving the most link equity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Achieving such links naturally is rare, and so is normally a sign of a link-building scheme.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6.1 Example: Sidebar Links<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aeroretirees.org\/\">This site<\/a> is an example of (potentially paid) links in a sidebar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/onUSFlFhKXjg9ZuVu7EETcIJJDMdb-qh3giWa4L9-Cjfye0K8ydOeb8UpXpGzhJOFKS87quvz6w2W02yR6FHj-0jjkYwWMpdxJZIcxdrRgcjilXLVQZ8gUUVHHrFvmlZkNacDOhM\" alt=\"\" width=\"227\" height=\"541\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above: Example of suspicious sidebar links<br><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The links look suspect for several reason:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>They\u2019re in the sidebar;<\/li><li>The header to the section is \u2018links\u2019 (a bit of a giveaway!);<\/li><li>The anchor text of all these links is keyword-focused.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it\u2019s not a cut-and-dried case, and here\u2019s why: the majority of links are related to people of retirement age, so sit within the theme of the website (Aero Retirees) pretty well. So, how do you make a decision?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>in this case I would consider the entire backlink profile of the site being audited. If it\u2019s generally clean, with little-to-no evidence of participation in link schemes, I would not disavow it. However, if the backlink profile has numerous examples of manipulative link-building tactics, I would definitely err on the side of caution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If still in doubt, a good question to always have at the back of your mind is: would this pass a manual review from a Google employee?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>6.2 Example: Footer Links<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In many ways, footer links can be the most common type of paid sitewide link. The reason for this is that they are less visible to users, so site owners are more willing to place links in this section of the site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.r-healthyresources.com\/\">this site<\/a> it\u2019s a bit more obvious that at least one of these links has been paid for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The footer area section is called \u2018Helpful Links\u2019, which in itself is a red flag;<\/li><li>We can see a link at the top of this section with the anchor text \u2018<strong>financing home<\/strong>\u2019. This is incredibly commercial, keyword-focused anchor text and it links to a site about finance.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>If this isn\u2019t a paid link, then I don\u2019t know what is! I would definitely disavow it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How Can You Find Sitewide Links?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re probably wondering how you know where a backlink is in a page.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Brainlabs, we use <a href=\"https:\/\/kerboo.com\/\">Kerboo<\/a> backlink audit software, which helpfully provides a column called \u2018link section\u2019 that tells you if a backlink is in the navigation, footer or page body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other tools such as Majestic and Ahrefs don\u2019t appear to provide this information, but perhaps other backlink tools do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>7. Directory Links<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Back in the day, acquiring directory links was a really common tactic used by SEOs to manipulate the Google algorithm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The practice has generally died out, especially as Google has officially stated that \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/66356?hl=en\">low-quality directory or bookmark site links<\/a>\u201d are considered malpractice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, note the use of the term \u2018low-quality\u2019 \u2013 directory links aren\u2019t inherently bad, and in some cases it\u2019s actually a perfectly legitimate way to build links to your site. For example, if you\u2019re a physical store, it makes perfect sense to get a link in a (good quality) local directory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.piseries.com\/\">This website<\/a> is a clear example of a low-quality directory. It\u2019s very clearly been built purely for the purpose of link-building, not users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/T6LUQrh3nd5m1fsymFTtsw7SxAJ6llTiFRgaV8yvOvL0f8dEmh_3YnI-GFG4fk2m9lrnkLuxvcHD7aw5ryZtPm2O5mX_wOVLko7GDc6iaDjrD_UW_QlmfD7xIIbOdqEgXxS8MBlo\" alt=\"Low-Quality Directory Backlinks Example Screenshot\" width=\"656\" height=\"374\"\/><figcaption><br><em>Above:<\/em> <em>Example of a low-quality directory built to manipulate the Google algorithm<\/em><br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It fulfils all the criteria for a low-quality directory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>It link to all sorts of category of website;<\/li><li>There\u2019s the option to \u2018add URL\/link\u2019 or \u2018submit URL\/link\u2019;<\/li><li>It just looks very low-quality.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>Disavow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How to find this type of link: <\/strong>look for \u2018directory\u2019, \u2018dir\u2019 or \u2018webdir\u2019 in the domain name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>To wrap up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So there you have it, seven examples of low-quality links that you would want to disavow in a backlink audit. I really hope this article is helpful for you and makes your job of deciding if a link should be disavowed (or not) a bit easier. Thanks so much for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today we\u2019ll be walking through real examples of unnatural links to help you clearly identify when a link should be disavowed. This article is a follow-on from my last post (\u2018Playing Detective: How To Identify Bad Backlinks\u2019), where I explained how to do a backlink audit. If you\u2019re new to backlink audits, I would start [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Ultimate Guide To Identifying Bad Backlinks - Brainlabs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this post, we\u2019ll be walking through real examples of bad backlinks to help you clearly identify when a link should be disavowed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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