How to Use The Disavow Tool to Remove Google Penalties

Many websites have been affected by various updates released by Google. If you have also been affected, it might be time to go ahead and take a look at Google’s disavow tool. It might just be able to help remove penalties. Although there might be some delay involved, it is a method which can work for you.

Not a lot of people know how the disavow tool works and how it can help websites which have been penalized. Because of all the confusion, an explanation is necessary so here is a bit of insight to the disavow tool and how it works. Go to the disavow links tool page to submit the disavow file.

What is Disavow?

When a person submits a disavow request, Google will automatically process the request and tag links pointing to your website in the same procedure as a nofollow tag. It is as if they are not pointing to your site for link counting but only for the purpose of analysis.

If you believe that your website’s rankings are being compromised by low-quality links which are out of your control, it is possible to ask Google to not to take these low-quality links into account when they assess your site.

If links are votes, you are merely asking Google not to count these votes when they are being tallied for your rankings. According to Google, it will take a few months for disavow requests to be processed.

Algorithmic Penalties and How to Remove Them

The Penguin update is different from other updates. Algorithmic penalties which are related to links mean automatic penalties. There is no human review involved and there are also no human exceptions which can be done.

Website owners who want to remove penalties must clean up their links. This is where the usefulness of the disavow links comes in. After you submit a disavow request, you need for it to get processed and this, as mentioned earlier, might take several months.

The next thing you can do is to wait until the next time when Google runs your site against whatever part of the algorithm hit you. There is a lot of waiting involved before you see any change. However, in the case of algorithmic penalties, a disavow should automatically clear your site.

Manual Penalties and How to Remove Them

Removing manual penalties is a different situation and it is potentially much faster.  This is when a human employee at Google reviews your site and decides whether it deserves a penalty or not. This would also mean receiving a notice from Google regarding what has happened.

If you have been penalized because of bad links, you can use the disavow tool to help you but for the penalty to be removed, you have to place a manual request. Filing a reconsideration request will prompt a human being at Google to take a look at your site and even lift the penalty.

It is important to do both things, use the disavow tool and file a reconsideration request. There might even be instances wherein you have to also remove links beyond just using the disavow tool. Google certainly advise that you document all efforts in removing bad links to show that you tried your best to get as many links removed as possible. You might be lucky to get 20% of your links removed with failed attempts for 80% of bad links to be removed.