Deutsch Deutsch English English

Unnatural Backlinks

Unnatural backlinks are links that were not created naturally but through manipulative practices. Google defines these as links that are "primarily intended to manipulate a website's ranking in Google search results".

What are unnatural backlinks?

Characteristics of unnatural backlinks

Unnatural backlinks typically exhibit the following characteristics:

  • Artificial Creation: Links are created through automated programs or paid services
  • Lack of Relevance: Linking pages have no thematic connection to the target page
  • Low Quality: Links come from spam sites or low-quality directories
  • Unnatural Anchor Texts: Excessive use of keyword anchor texts
  • Massive Link Building Campaigns: Unrealistically rapid increase in backlink count

Types of unnatural backlinks

1. Paid links without disclosure

Paid links that are not marked with the rel="sponsored" attribute are considered unnatural.

2. Link farms and PBNs (Private Blog Networks)

Networks of websites created exclusively for link building.

3. Automated link building tools

Tools that automatically create links on various platforms.

4. Link exchange programs

Systematic link exchange programs without thematic relevance.

5. Spam comments with links

Links in comments on blogs or forums without added value.

Detecting unnatural backlinks

Technical indicators

Indicator
Description
Risk Factor
Anchor Text Distribution
Over 60% keyword anchor texts
High
Link Velocity
Unrealistically rapid increase
Very High
Domain Authority Distribution
Only low DA domains
High
IP Addresses
Many links from same IPs
Medium
Content Quality
Spam content on linking pages
Very High

Tools for backlink analysis

Google Search Console

  • Manual action notifications
  • Analyze link reports

Ahrefs

  • Toxic Backlink Score
  • Link quality assessment

SEMrush

  • Backlink Audit Tool
  • Toxic Link Detection

Majestic

  • Trust Flow and Citation Flow
  • Link context analysis

Google penalties from unnatural backlinks

Manual actions

Google can impose manual actions when unnatural backlinks are discovered:

  • Partial manual action: Affects only specific pages
  • Site-wide manual action: Affects the entire domain
  • Link-related manual action: Specifically for backlink problems

Algorithmic penalties

The Penguin algorithm automatically penalizes websites with unnatural backlink profiles.

Preventing unnatural backlinks

1. Natural link building

  • Create quality content: Valuable content that attracts natural links
  • Digital PR: Press releases and media work
  • Guest posting: High-quality guest articles on relevant websites
  • Broken link building: Identify and replace broken links

2. Link monitoring

  • Regular backlink audits: Monthly review of link profile
  • Toxic link detection: Automated detection of harmful links
  • Anchor text monitoring: Monitor anchor text distribution

3. Using the disavow tool

For harmful links that cannot be removed:

  1. Identify harmful links
  2. Contact webmasters
  3. Create disavow file
  4. Submit to Google

Recovery strategies

1. Immediate measures

  • Check manual action notification
  • Identify harmful links
  • Contact webmasters
  • Create disavow file

2. Link cleanup

Step
Action
Timeframe
1. Analysis
Analyze backlink profile
1-2 weeks
2. Contact
Contact webmasters
2-4 weeks
3. Disavow
Disavow harmful links
1 week
4. Reconsideration
Reconsideration Request
2-8 weeks

3. Reconsideration request

After cleanup, a reconsideration request must be submitted to Google:

  1. Detailed documentation of measures taken
  2. List of removed links
  3. Attach disavow file
  4. Describe future prevention measures

Best practices for natural backlinks

1. Content marketing strategy

  • Create linkable assets: Infographics, tools, studies
  • Original research: Own data and insights
  • High-quality content: In-depth, useful articles

2. Relationship building

  • Networking: Build contacts in the industry
  • Cooperations: Partnerships with other websites
  • Community building: Engagement in relevant communities

3. Technical optimization

  • Set link attributes correctly: nofollow, sponsored, ugc
  • Optimize internal linking: Relevant internal links
  • Structured data: Rich snippets for better visibility

Monitoring and maintenance

Regular checks

  • Weekly: Review new backlinks
  • Monthly: Complete backlink audit
  • Quarterly: Strategy review and adjustment

KPIs for link monitoring

  • Toxic Backlink Score: Percentage of harmful links
  • Anchor text distribution: Natural vs. unnatural distribution
  • Domain authority distribution: Quality of linking domains
  • Link velocity: Speed of link building

Avoiding common mistakes

1. Link buying

❌ Avoid: Buying links from link sellers

✅ Better: Natural links through quality content

2. Mass link building

❌ Avoid: Hundreds of links in short time

✅ Better: Continuous, organic link building

3. Irrelevant links

❌ Avoid: Links from thematically unrelated websites

✅ Better: Links from thematically relevant pages

4. Neglecting monitoring

❌ Avoid: Not monitoring backlink profile

✅ Better: Regular monitoring and quick response

Conclusion

Unnatural backlinks pose a significant risk to SEO ranking. Through proactive prevention, regular monitoring, and quick response to problems, website operators can keep their backlink profile clean and avoid Google penalties.

The key lies in creating high-quality content that attracts natural links, as well as continuous monitoring and maintenance of the backlink profile.

Related topics