There Is No Need To Include Every Link In Your Disavow File

Digital Marketing Firm in Sonoma County

Not all backlinks to your site have a positive effect on your ranking. Unnatural links pointing to your site can hurt your rankings. Google can even penalize you for unnatural links.

To prevent this from happening, use the disavow tool to inform Google about unnatural links pointing to your site, asking it not to count them when crawling your site.

Using the disavow tool incorrectly can hurt the performance of your site. Disavow only those links that you know were created to manipulate Google’s results. Listing every single link in your disavow file is a total waste of time and effort.

How to Use Disavow?

Create an Audit Spreadsheet

Use an online tool to create a list of links pointing to your site. Many digital marketing firms in Sonoma County and elsewhere recommend manually reviewing every link. Follow these steps if you want to create your own list of backlinks:

  • Download all your links (both sample links and the latest links) from Webmaster Tools
  • Get your spreadsheet from each source. Copy the entire column that contains the URL of sites linking to your website into a new spreadsheet
  • Break URLs to the subdomain level
  • Deduplicate the list so you have just one link from every domain
  • Check every URL on your spreadsheet. Decide whether you should keep links from this domain or disavow. Mark links as either disavow or keep. When deciding whether you should disavow a link or keep, ask yourself:
  • Was the link made solely for SEO purposes?
  • Does the link send visitors to your website?
  • Would you be concerned if Google discovered the link?

Create Your Disavow File

After assessing every link, filter your disavow column. Add domain in front of each domain name. Next, make a text file. To create a text file, copy the disavow directives into a new Google Doc document. Click File——Download As——Plain Text.

File Your Disavow

To file your disavow file, select your site from the dropdown list in the disavow tool. To upload the .txt file you just created, click disavow links (two times) and select choose file.

If you get an error message, check whether:

  • Some domains include odd characters
  • Some URLs contain http://www.
  • Domains have port attached

 

WSI Smart Marketing is a leading digital marketing firm in Sonoma County. We realize the importance of keeping up with the rapidly changing SEO landscape. Our digital marketing experts keep a close watch on trends and industry developments. Whatever your industry, we will create an agile and scalable solution that fits your exact needs. To discuss your project with our team, call 707-843-3714.

Forget Everything You Read About Link Juice

Search Engine Optimization Company in Santa Rosa

Should you focus too much on link juice? Probably not! In a tweet, Google’s John Mueller said that SEO experts must forget everything they know about link juice as the information on link juice is outdated and misleading. He advises SEO experts to build a user-friendly website instead.

Here are some tips to make your website more user-friendly from WSI Smart Marketing, a search engine optimization company in Santa Rosa.

Talk to Your Users

Reach out to your users to understand their expectations, concerns, and needs. Get rid of or fix unpopular features. The idea is to place the user at the core of your design since Google places them at the core of their ranking signals.

A few years ago, ESPN.com asked its regular users to suggest design elements they should add to the redesign of their homepage. They listened to their users and added several elements suggested by them. They saw their annual revenue jump by 35 percent that year due to increased ease of use.

Make Navigation Intuitive

Website navigation can make or break your website visitors’ experience. The best navigation bars are simple and brief. The navigation bar should be placed in the same position across all pages on your site.

Use color contrast and different color schemes to attract and direct the user’s eye to hold you’re their attention. Limit the number of categories in your navigation bar or it will become bulky. Conduct some A/B testing with your navigation bar. Try slightly different tab arrangements and wordings.

Be Careful When Choosing Colors

When choosing the colors for your website, maintain a good balance between beauty and clarity. Make sure the contrast between the text and background is right so your users can read text easily without straining their eyes. Use color combinations that draw the eye.

Work On Your Site Layout

The number of unique mobile internet users is increasing with each passing year. Having a good site layout is extremely important. Use a responsive layout. Make sure your website looks good on desktop and mobile. A good site layout makes information easily accessible.

Speed Up Your Website

The modern consumer is impatient. If your website takes several seconds to load, you may lose users to your competitors. Around 47 percent of consumers expect a page to load in two seconds or less. 40 percent of consumers will leave a web page if it takes more than three seconds to load.

Here are some helpful tips to increase your page speed:

  • Enable compression
  • Optimize images
  • Minimize redirects
  • Use a CDN

 

WSI Smart Marketing is a leading search engine optimization company in Santa Rosa. Our team will craft a customized plan to build or solidify your online presence. We know our way around Google’s SERP rankings. To meet with one of our digital marketing experts, call (707) 843-3714.