Unnatural links are low quality backlinks created to manipulate a website’s search rankings.
These links are often bought or exchanged and violates Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. They can result in penalties or removal from search results.
Unnatural links are considered deceptive because it’s not earned organically and trying to fake a site’s authority.
Does that mean all link building is bad?
Short answer: No.
It’s important to understand that not all link building is harmful. And the difference between “natural” and “unnatural” links isn’t always clear-cut.
For example, only excessive link exchanges or guest posts are typically flagged as “unnatural”.
Using these two tactics as a small part of your overall link building strategy is usually fine.
On the other hand…
Buying links from private blog networks (PBNs), spammy sites, or link farms is definitely considered “unnatural”.
Google is constantly updating their algorithm to detect unnatural links automatically.
The key is to focus on earning high-quality, relevant links through proven link building strategies.
This will boost your SEO and keep you out of hot water with Google.
📈 Increase your traffic in just 28 days. Click Here Now.
What Will I Learn?
Yes, unnatural links can significantly affect your SEO.
Link quality is an important Google ranking factor, so having low-quality links pointing at your website will only negatively impact your site.
What’s more?
Google actively penalises websites that engage in link schemes.
In 2012, they released the Google Penguin algorithm update to target websites building unnatural spammy links.
Google even has a dedicated human “web spam” team that hands out manual actions to sites found building unnatural links.
And the consequences are severe…
Google penalties result in lower rankings or, in the worst cases – Complete removal from search results!
That’s why it’s essential to maintain a healthy backlink profile.
Here is a list of what unnatural links look like:
That’s a lot of factors, right?
The truth is that unnatural links are pretty easy to identify. And Google is really good at it.
It’s not worth the risk to your website and SEO.
You don’t need to remove unnatural links from your website in most cases. Google’s algorithm is sophisticated enough to automatically identify and ignore unnatural links.
But there are some exceptions to this…
If you have participated in black hat SEO tactics to build unnatural links, you need to remove them manually.
This includes if you have been hit with a manual link spam penalty.
Here’s what you need to do:
First, contact the website’s owner and ask them to remove the unnatural link. This is the best and easiest way to deal with the link.
Getting this link removed should clear any penalties or risk of penalties.
Didn’t work?
Take matters into your own hands…
Use Google’s disavow tool to tell Google to ignore the unnatural links. You are essentially asking Google not to associate that link with your website.
Check out our complete tutorial on how to disavow backlinks to learn more.
Remember:
If you buy backlinks, you need to be strategic. Only use link building services with a reputation for delivering high-quality, natural backlinks.
🔥 Increase your traffic with the 100% free 28 Day SEO Challenge.
Join My Facebook Group
