The answer is no, probably not. At least not in terms of preventing link related penalties. Many SEO strategists throw themselves headfirst into link building without any though of link health and relevance, practically inviting Google penalties onto themselves. Auditing your backlink profile is a must.
Creating Backlink Reports
Before you even think about building links, you need to be thinking about the effect that existing links are having on your website. After all, what is the point of spending time building those flashy new links, if the existing links on the site are incurring Google penalties? So what are the important steps?
Rule Out Other Faults
The faults on the site that are causing ranking drops or traffic loss may not necessarily be as a result of backlink errors.
• Tracking Issues
• Technical Issues
• Content Issues
• Hacking
• Outbound Linking Issues
Effective link removals take time, so it is important that your time is not wasted should other faults be the true causes of your SEO woes.
Use the Right Tools
Building a comprehensive backlink report shouldn’t be a quick, haphazard process. Auditors need to be thorough in choosing the correct tools for the job. Notable and important tools include:
• Ahrefs.com
• Majestic.com
• Moz.com
• Google Webmaster Tools
Be thorough and gather ALL of the relevant links. Successful link auditing is vital to the long term success of your SEO strategy, so it is always worth taking the time to be exhaustive in identifying backlinks.
Remove, Disavow, Nofollow, Repeat
You know the links that are causing problems, now its time to take action. It’s important to identify any key footprints such as anchor text and delivery date, before you begin wholesale removal of backlinks. You shouldn’t however, be afraid to send out as many link removal emails as possible. Low quality links should be removed before you are penalized, instead of waiting to remove them before the worst happens.
This process should be repeated each month, ensuring the continued health of your website and backlink profile.
To see how StrategiQ can help with your SEO strategy get in touch today.
