Backlink Audits and the Disavow Tool: When "Toxic" Links Really Matter

On this page

1. What a backlink audit is
2. When an audit is worth doing
3. How to audit your backlinks, step by step
4. The "toxic links" myth
5. When the disavow tool actually helps
6. How to disavow safely
7. If you have a manual action for unnatural links
8. A better use of your time

Every so often, a business owner receives an alarming email or tool report: "Your site has hundreds of toxic backlinks. Disavow them now or lose your rankings." Usually there's nothing to worry about. Here's how to look at your backlinks sensibly, when Google's disavow tool is genuinely useful, and which myths you can safely ignore.

What a backlink audit is

A backlink is a link from another website to yours. A backlink audit means reviewing those links to understand who links to you, which of your pages attract links, and whether any links could cause a problem.

For most small businesses, the main value isn't finding "bad" links. It's learning which content earns links, spotting good links to pages you've moved or deleted, and checking for traces of poor SEO work done in the past.

When an audit is worth doing

• Search Console shows a manual action for unnatural links to your site
• You, or an earlier SEO provider, bought links, joined link schemes or ordered "backlink packages"; see SEO red flags and scams
• Traffic fell sharply and you've already ruled out tracking, technical and content causes; see what to check when traffic drops
• Your site was hacked and spam pages were created on it
• You're buying an existing website or domain and want to know its history

If none of these apply, a quick look once or twice a year is plenty.

How to audit your backlinks, step by step

1. Start with Google Search Console. The Links report shows your top linking sites, top linked pages and top linking text. It's free and reflects links Google knows about; see Search Console reports explained.
2. Export the list. The Links report lets you export external links to a spreadsheet.
3. Review by domain, not by URL. One site can link to you hundreds of times from a sidebar or footer, so judge the website as a whole.
4. Use a paid tool only if you need more. Tools such as Ahrefs, Semrush and Moz keep their own link databases and may show links Search Console doesn't; check current plans. Treat their scores as rough guides, not as Google's view.
5. Sort each domain into a category using the table below, and act only where action is needed.

Type of link	Examples	What to do
Good	Suppliers, associations, local news, industry sites, genuine directories	Nothing, except building more relationships like these
Harmless noise	Scraper sites, auto-generated "website worth" pages, random foreign directories	Ignore them; Google generally ignores them too
Broken	Good sites linking to pages that no longer exist on your site	Redirect the old URL to the right page, or ask them to update the link
Unnatural	Paid links, link networks, excessive exchanges, keyword-stuffed anchors someone arranged	Try to get them removed; consider disavowing if you can't

The "toxic links" myth

Many SEO tools label links as "toxic" and give your site a risk score. Those scores are calculated by the tools themselves, not by Google, and they often flag links that are simply low quality or unusual rather than harmful.

• Most sites don't need to disavow anything. Google's own help pages say it can usually work out which links to trust without your help.
• Every site collects junk links over time. Scraper and spam sites copy content and links automatically. It doesn't mean anyone is attacking you.
• Third-party metrics such as authority or spam scores are not something Google uses.
• "Negative SEO", where a competitor points spam links at your site, is something Google says its systems are designed to cope with. Check the usual causes of a ranking drop before blaming it.

Be cautious about paying for monthly "toxic link removal". It often changes nothing, and disavowing good links by mistake can harm your site.

When the disavow tool actually helps

The disavow tool asks Google to ignore specific links when assessing your site. Google's guidance is to use it only when both of these are true:

1. You have a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links pointing to your site
2. Those links have caused a manual action, or are likely to

In practice, that usually means a site with a history of paid links or link schemes, often arranged by an earlier SEO provider. If you've never bought or arranged links, you almost certainly don't need it.

How to disavow safely

• First try to get unnatural links removed by contacting the site owners, and keep a record of your requests
• Create a plain text (.txt) file with one entry per line: either a full URL, or domain:example.com to cover a whole site
• Lines starting with # are comments, useful for noting why you disavowed something
• Upload the file through Google's disavow links tool for the correct Search Console property
• Each upload replaces the previous file, so add new entries to your existing list rather than uploading only the new ones
• Never disavow links from genuine websites just because a tool flagged them

Google applies the file as it recrawls the web, so any effect can take weeks or longer.

If you have a manual action for unnatural links

1. Read the notice under Security and Manual Actions in Search Console; it shows whether the action affects the whole site or only some pages
2. Identify the unnatural links, especially paid, exchanged or network links
3. Ask site owners to remove them, or to mark paid links with nofollow or sponsored attributes
4. Disavow the links you couldn't get removed
5. Submit a reconsideration request explaining what happened, what you removed and what you disavowed

Be honest in the request. If an agency built the links, say so, and explain how you've made sure it won't happen again.

A better use of your time

For most small businesses, the links that matter are the ones you earn next, not the junk you already have. Build relationships with suppliers, associations and local media, and publish content worth linking to; see ethical link building for small businesses. Redirect moved pages so existing links still work, keep your site secure so it can't be used for spam, and let Google ignore the noise.

Worried about links built by a previous SEO provider? See WordPress SEO services for help reviewing your links and fixing what actually matters.