For Beginner: Best Ways to Deal with Bad Links

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Best Ways to Deal with Bad Links

Bad links are something that is going to damage your websites SEO. That is why it is a good idea to get rid of them. But, how do you do it? And, to what extent should these links be removed? Are all bad links so bad? Below you will find the answer to these questions and some top advice about how to get rid of bad links. There are four bad link varieties described in this article, but they are in no particular order.

Also Read: Best Way to Easily Find and Remove Broken Links from your Website or Blog
Also Read: The 5 Best Ways to Build Quality Backlinks for Your Website or Blog

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is a process that makes your website more search engine friendly. The search engines cannot read and comprehend what is on your website, they have to use clues in order to guess what the content is all about. Backlinks are used as clues, as are internal links. Backlinks are also used as a way of judging a website’s popularity.

Bad link 1 - A backlink from a black-hat website

The most common version of this was the backlink that came from a link farm. This is a website that was built simply to upload content for the sake of adding a link to it. This is deemed as one of many type of black-hat website, and a link from here is bad news.

How to deal with it
Try to have the backlink removed from the website. Do all that you can in order to remove the backlink? If you cannot, then copy your content and put in on a new URL. Then, remove the URL that the backlink points to. This breaks the link between your website and the black-hat website.

Bad link 2 - A backlink from black-hat methods

One of the most common ways this happens is when a spam bot places a link onto a number of comment sections. In many cases, the blog master will notice the spam and remove it.

How to deal with it
If the blog master does not recognize or remove the spam link, then request that the spam link be moved. Some websites and blogs allow you to report spam, so you can simply report that it exists and the web master will remove it for you. Use a backlink checker to locate all of the backlinks that were spammed. If you cannot remove them all, then do as you did with bad link number one and discontinue the URL that they point towards.

Also Read: Tips on How to Have Better SEO Results with Link Building
Also Read: How to Find the Websites or Blogs that are Copying your Content?

Bad link 3 - An internal link that leads nowhere

This is known as a broken link, and they happen quite often for a number of reasons. They are not too bad in small numbers, but Google will start to penalize websites that have too many.

How to deal with it
If you notice a lot of broken links, then you need to start being more meticulous when you start new pages, remove pages, and make updates to your website. Use a link checker to see how many of your internal links are broken. All you have to do is either fix the link so that it points to a working page, or remove the link if it no longer serves any purpose. The problem will then be resolved the next time that the search engines crawl your website.

Bad link 4 - An internal link that points to another URL that is not online

This happens quite a bit. It is where you link to another website page, but then the destination URL is deleted or the website goes offline, etc. Just link broken internal links, it does not matter if you only have a few of these. But, if you have lots, or if they happen on a regular occasions then Google may penalize you. It lowers your websites usability, which is one reason why you are penalized. Imagine if you have a list of products that you link to, and yet only 60% of the links work, it is going to be frustrating for your user (hence your website usability rating drops).

Broken links that point to external websites are also a signature of a website that is selling backlinks or that has been hacked, which is another reason why you may be penalized.

Also Read: The 3 Basic Things You Should Know Before Creating a Blog to Become a Successful Blogger

How to deal with it
When you use a tool to check your internal links, they often show you if your external links are broken too. Go to the website of the broken link to see if it is still online. They may have messed around with the URL, or deleted the page completely. If you cannot fix the link, then you should delete it from your website.

About Author:
The article is provided by Sonia Jackson. If you have any problems with your accounting homework she’s ready to help you.

For Beginner