Have you heard about Google’s upcoming Penguin 4.0 update?
Are you also scared of the impacts of the next update?
This is common because every update brings havoc in the SEO industry. Even the experts working very cautiously and wisely get affected by the updates.
Do you remember the first Penguin that was released in 2012? The update came as an enemy of unnatural links by giving them a spam signal. A large number of websites guilty of “link schemes” were removed from the SERPs.
After changing the way of doing off-page SEO trough that update, now Google is all set to roll out Penguin 4.0, which is expected to be completely different. This will not just be a mechanism the search engine uses to detect spammy links; it will be a real-time update that will be rolled out every year with regular updates.
Though there is no defined date of the update, you cannot risk your business to get the update rolled out and then make changes in the website. It is better safe than sorry. So be prepared for the upcoming update by using the tips given here for a comprehensive link audit.
1. Make a List of Links along with the Referring Domains
The first step in the backlink audit is to get a complete list of pages and domains that are linked to your website. There are different tools like SEO SpyGlass you can use to get this list.
2. Remove the Trash
Once you get the list by using the tools, check them whether these are live and dofollows or not. The benefit of using SEO SpyGlass is that it visits every backlink page and checks if the links are live.
If you find pages that don’t link to you or the pages that offer nofollow links, it is better to remove such pages. This helps you get a full list of live and dofollow links for better analysis.
3. Find Low-Quality Backlinks
Finding the links which have high penalty risk is an important part of link audit. SEO SpyGlass helps you get that with its handy metric. It uses the same metrics Google uses in its algorithm of Penguin and shows you how toxic every link for your website is. Besides the quality of the link, the penalty risk also depends on other factors related to the domain like indexation in Google, number of outgoing links and uniqueness of the IP. To get the best results, it is better to analyze the link quality by domain.
4. Reach Out to the Webmasters
Before disavowing the spammy links, it is better to first request the webmaster to remove the links. Though it is a difficult task to find the email address of webmaster and then getting a reply from them, you should try your level best to take down the link before taking help of disavow tool.
If nothing helps you, the last resort is to disavow the links to get rid of the toxic links.
5. Check your Profile for Other Loopholes
Though link auditing is complete by now, and you have got a list of safe links, you cannot relax to have completed the process. You should check your website for further weaknesses and fix them at the right time. Moreover, check the competitors to find out the areas where you need to make improvements to outshine their level.
6. Keep a Clean Link Profile
Though first link evaluation process might seem lengthy and time-consuming, after doing the initial work, it will be much easier to maintain the link profile. It is better to indulge in ongoing maintenance with monthly link checks. You can also ask your search engine optimization company to make backlink auditing part of the SEO routine.
Leave a Reply