Affirming bad backlinks is an vital step to safeguard your website from the penalties triggered due to low-quality or spammy backlinks. This is a step-by-step procedure for how to disavow bad backlinks or negative backlinks by using Google’s Disavow Tool:
Visit : https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links
Identify Bad Backlinks
Start by auditing your backlink profile to find harmful links.
✅ Use tools like:
- Google Search Console
- Ahrefs
- SEMrush
- Moz
- Ubersuggest
Look for links that:
- Come from spammy or irrelevant sites
- Have exact match anchor text repeated excessively
- Are from low quality directories or PBNs (Private Blog Networks)
- Appear to be paid or manipulative
2. Try to Remove the Links Manually [ Optional but Recommended ]
Before disavowing try contacting webmasters of the linking sites and request link removal. It’s a good signal to Google that you’re actively trying to fix the issue.
3. Create a Disavow File
Make a .txt file that contains the domains or specific URLs you want Google to ignore.
📌 Format:
- To disavow a full domain:
domain:example.com - To disavow a specific page:
https://example.com/spammy-page.html
✍️ Example:
makefileCopyEdit# Disavow spammy backlinks
domain:spamdomain1.com
domain:lowqualitysite.net
https://badlinksite.com/page1.html
➡️ Keep it clean — 1 line per domain or URL, no extra formatting.
Submit the File to Google
Head over to the Google Disavow Tool : https://search.google.com/search-console/disavow-links
⚠️ You must be the verified owner of the domain in Google Search Console.
Steps:
- Select your property.
- Click “Disavow Links”
- Upload the
.txtfile - Confirm submission