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Submitting Disavow File Not a Spam Signal to Google

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I sometimes hear from people who are concerned about proactively submitting a disavow file for any reason, thinking it might signal to Google as either a spam signal or some kind of flag that alerts Google to have a closer look at the site’s backlinks.

But is it a valid concern or not?  The question came up on Twitter and Gary Illyes from Google addressed the concern.

This does make a lot of sense.  Perhaps the site was hacked and a hacker pointed a ton of links to the hacked site to get it to rank better.  Or perhaps it was due to a former SEO or link builder and now the site is deciding to clean up its act proactively before it gets hit by Google algorithmically or with a manual action.  Or maybe it was a ad campaign that was inadvertently setup with followed links, and the site owner wants to follow the webmaster guidelines as closely as possible by disavowing if getting a nofollow wasn’t an option.

A disavow can also be a great tool for simple “peace of mind”, for those who want to be able to immediately disavow a dodgy link the moment it first shows up, something many site owners do on a very regular basis without it causing any kind of issue or flag with Google.  So it wouldn’t make sense for Google to punish those site owners who are watching new inbound links carefully.

So feel free to submit your disavow with Google, without being worried that there will be repercussions for doing so.

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Jennifer Slegg

Founder & Editor at The SEM Post
Jennifer Slegg is a longtime speaker and expert in search engine marketing, working in the industry for almost 20 years. When she isn't sitting at her desk writing and working, she can be found grabbing a latte at her local Starbucks or planning her next trip to Disneyland. She regularly speaks at Pubcon, SMX, State of Search, Brighton SEO and more, and has been presenting at conferences for over a decade.

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