Would you disavow these links?

[ritafairclough]

Hi,

So I work for a company that has had quite a big influx of directory websites all linking to our landing pages. We have around 30 location pages.

The first batch of these links came in around Jan when our rankings were on the way up but now they have slipped back off the first page so I'm thinking these directory links are causing the issue but...they are from really strong domains.

For an example, here is a selection:

directory.manchestereveningnews.co.uk DR: 67 UR: 12 (where our links are placed)
directory.mirror.co.uk DR 73 UR: 13
directory.dailyrecord.co.uk DR: 73 UR: 12
directory.liverpoolecho.co.uk DR: 66 UR: 12

We have 60-70 links like these pointing to our website they are junk pages but the authority from the domains is making me think twice about disavow.

Would you disavow these links?

Thanks!

 

[Johnny_Tsunami]

Hi,

So I work for a company that has had quite a big influx of directory websites all linking to our landing pages. We have around 30 location pages.

The first batch of these links came in around Jan when our rankings were on the way up but now they have slipped back off the first page so I'm thinking these directory links are causing the issue but...they are from really strong domains.

For an example, here is a selection:

directory.manchestereveningnews.co.uk DR: 67 UR: 12 (where our links are placed)
directory.mirror.co.uk DR 73 UR: 13
directory.dailyrecord.co.uk DR: 73 UR: 12
directory.liverpoolecho.co.uk DR: 66 UR: 12

We have 60-70 links like these pointing to our website they are junk pages but the authority from the domains is making me think twice about disavow.

Would you disavow these links?

Thanks!

Eh, directory links are so hit or miss nowadays. Looking at the URLs, the directories seem "Regionally-relevant" so in my opinion, I would just keep them.

Make sure you set up Google Search Console, check to see if they have any penalties or anything on the site as well that could be causing the issue. You can use a "link checker" like what Cognitive SEO offers to help with the Disavow process and checking the link health - but in the end, it's up to your discretion. I would just leave them.

Try to get more local citations to each of those location pages - i.e. if you have a location page for Manchester, get more "Manchester Business Listings" or something similar - Make sure you use the same NAP (name, address, phone #) across the listings as well - fully optimized for each GEO/KW

 

[ritafairclough]

Eh, directory links are so hit or miss nowadays. Looking at the URLs, the directories seem "Regionally-relevant" so in my opinion, I would just keep them.

Make sure you set up Google Search Console, check to see if they have any penalties or anything on the site as well that could be causing the issue. You can use a "link checker" like what Cognitive SEO offers to help with the Disavow process and checking the link health - but in the end, it's up to your discretion. I would just leave them.

Try to get more local citations to each of those location pages - i.e. if you have a location page for Manchester, get more "Manchester Business Listings" or something similar - Make sure you use the same NAP (name, address, phone #) across the listings as well - fully optimized for each GEO/KW

Thanks

Yeah we are OK with local citations for NAP on our location pages. I'm talking about keyword rankings. Man these domains are strong but sooooo many hitting AHrefs at once with just junky directory listing types.

 

[sub001]

Based on the limited amount of information, I would keep them. While Google has said directory links are no good, the number is quite small IMO to cause any damage. An alternative approach would be to test disawowing links to just a handful of landing pages and see what it does to the SERPs with the rest serving as a control.

 

[RedMango]

The links were placed in January? Around the same time as rankings dropped? Remove them. If you don't want to and they're obviously local citation flow increasing links ie Liverpool/Manchester - then leave them but build better links.

Directories are shit and have been for years. How many outbound links from the same page as yours?

The Feb Update wasn't aimed at directories but that's not to say that they aren't classed as shit links.

 

[ritafairclough]

Based on the limited amount of information, I would keep them. While Google has said directory links are no good, the number is quite small IMO to cause any damage. An alternative approach would be to test disawowing links to just a handful of landing pages and see what it does to the SERPs with the rest serving as a control.

You disavow at domain level so its all in or all out

 

[ritafairclough]

The links were placed in January? Around the same time as rankings dropped? Remove them. If you don't want to and they're obviously local citation flow increasing links ie Liverpool/Manchester - then leave them but build better links.

Directories are shit and have been for years. How many outbound links from the same page as yours?

The Feb Update wasn't aimed at directories but that's not to say that they aren't classed as shit links.

The rankings were going up until these links hit Ahrefs. Outbounds from these pages are quite low, around 10-20 - but they look spammy as hell.

An example of a page is http://directory.dailyrecord.co.uk/search/edinburgh/builders

 

[ConsultJoseph]

I'd keep them IF and ONLY IF I plan on building new and stronger links for the domain. It's perfectly normal for a site to get bad and spammy links. Even the best ones have them but if these are the only links you have, that's a red flag.

And the example you have shown isn't THAT bad... just look at 40% of the local citation sites

 

[kickthat]

I started drafting a longer response, but here's the tl;dr version.

These aren't the types of shitty directory sites that generally get penalised.
These are solid local citation sites that come with a link as well. I would be highly surprised if this is responsible for any rankings drop.

Could something else be the cause?
Could this be dance to due links being built?

 

[ritafairclough]

I'd keep them IF and ONLY IF I plan on building new and stronger links for the domain. It's perfectly normal for a site to get bad and spammy links. Even the best ones have them but if these are the only links you have, that's a red flag.

And the example you have shown isn't THAT bad... just look at 40% of the local citation sites

Thanks...I maybe over panicking but our rankings across the board were going up then slowly they have been sliding back.

 

[ritafairclough]

I started drafting a longer response, but here's the tl;dr version.

These aren't the types of shitty directory sites that generally get penalised.
These are solid local citation sites that come with a link as well. I would be highly surprised if this is responsible for any rankings drop.

Could something else be the cause?
Could this be dance to due links being built?

It could well be that rankings will return stronger but the last 3 Monday marketing report meetings have been painful for me.

No reports of manual spam action in Google Search console either.

 

[sub001]

You disavow at domain level so its all in or all out

So, all directories link to all landing pages?

 

[ppd47]

These are quality directory links that plenty of your competitors will have too. I wouldn't disavow. It's unlikely this is the reason you have slipped in the rankings

 

[ppd47]

You disavow at domain level so its all in or all out

you don't have to disavow at domain level - you can disavow at url level instead

 

[kickthat]

It could well be that rankings will return stronger but the last 3 Monday marketing report meetings have been painful for me.

No reports of manual spam action in Google Search console either.

What did your link profile look like before these links came in? Did you have many other links? What percentage of your link profile is these links?
Have there been any other changes made on the website itself?
What sort of rankings drop are we talking about here? You say you slipped off the first page - are you now top of page 2, or is it a more substantial drop?

 

[ritafairclough]

So, all directories link to all landing pages?

More or less - might be a few that havent been scraped yet.

 

[locknload007]

I never found disavowing the link useful. So not sure if that would help

In general, I avoid directory links unless it is used for link diversification or dilution. On the other side, directory link do help if you want to rank locally. you should also check if these all directory residing in the same server. I have seen many times when I bought directory links, they all are owned by same person.

 

[ritafairclough]

What did your link profile look like before these links came in? Did you have many other links? What percentage of your link profile is these links?
Have there been any other changes made on the website itself?
What sort of rankings drop are we talking about here? You say you slipped off the first page - are you now top of page 2, or is it a more substantial drop?

Big up and down jumps for some landing pages. The other sliding down 2-3 spots per week.

I work in a business that getting organic links is very difficult and the company has generally a poor reputation against competitors who are global brands.

 

[ritafairclough]

you don't have to disavow at domain level - you can disavow at url level instead

Oh thanks - I'm just looking through Ahrefs guide: https://ahrefs.com/blog/bad-links/

This is the first time I've looked in to disavow, hence why I posted this thread.

 

[kickthat]

Big up and down jumps for some landing pages. The other sliding down 2-3 spots per week.

If you're seeing upward jumps as well, or fluctuation up and down then I would probably put this down to dance at the moment - especially as you say it is difficult to get organic links - which I take to mean you don't have a great many other referring domains.

IMO you need to leave some time for the rankings to stabilise, but it is easy for me to say that when I can't see the full picture, or have to be in your shoes for the meetings.