This document provides advice on how to identify and manage risky links to avoid penalties from Google. It discusses: 1. How Google's Penguin algorithm targets unnatural or low-quality links and has penalized many sites over time. 2. The types of links that carry more risk, such as sitewide links, links with suspicious anchor text, or links from sites with poor metrics. 3. Steps to audit existing links and identify risky ones, including looking at anchor text distribution, link metrics, and site activity, to determine which links to potentially remove or disavow. 4. Tips for recovering from penalties, such as thorough link cleanups, removal or disavowal of

1. HOW TO SPOT
A SHI**Y LINK
BY PAUL
MADDEN

2. HOW TO SPOT
A SHITTY LINK
BY PAUL
MADDEN

3. HOW TO SPOT
A SHITTY LINK
BY PAUL
MADDEN

4. Former professional
spammer

7. The Provider of the
Largest Number of
Links in the UK

8. BAD
YEAR
2012 A
For blatant SEO

9. PRE 1ST QUARTER
OF 2012
Throw as many
links as you
dared
Some counted
some did not
If you threw
enough of the right

10. WHAT
CHANGED?

11. Further
Pressure
Penguin
Unnatural Link
Warnings
Disavow Penalties all
over the
place
&

12. WHAT IS
PENGUIN?
Squawk!

13. IS A PENALTY OR
FILTER
PENGUI
N

14. TO DULL THE
EFFECT OF
DESIGN
ED
People Chasing the
Algorithm

15. PENALTI
ES
LINK

16. Google have sent a
number of waves of
unnatural link
warnings
There is now a
much more formal
procedure to get
the penalty
removed
They are still
sending them

17. WE ALL
NOW FACE
THE
PROBLEM

18. Links are
STILL the
Signal

19. THE MYTHOF NATURAL LINKS

20. THEY
NEED US
WE ARE THE
SIGNAL

21. ABOUT
SHEEP
A WARNING

22. Don’t follow what everyone
else does or you’ll be in
the next filter
Guest
Posts
Infograph
ics

23. WHAT’S
LEFT ?
TYPES OF
LINK

24. PAID LINKS

25. GIFTS

26. ADVERTORIAL

27. Infographics
Guest posts
Directories
Social Bookmarks
Paid in content

28. TYPES OF LINK
PROFILES
THERE ARE
2

29. YOU HAVE TO MANAGE
EACH ONE
EVERY LINK HAS RISK

30. Validate every link opportunity
Only buy link building services if
the company can demonstrate
that they know what risk is and
how they handle it
Be realistic in your link risk
exposure

31. WHAT WAS
OUR
RESPONSE?

32. We needed to try understand what the link
risk was of every link we had placed or
were going to place

33. Google have
hidden what
they consider a
bad link well
To rank you have
to build, but you
have to manage
the risk far more

34. MANAGING THE RISK OF
LINK BUILDING
1. 2. 3.
Have someone
audit your links
with experience
Audit what you
have
Determine what is
risky and what to
remove

35. Removing is almost as bad as not
removing
If you determine what the problem
links are, out of every 100 links you
identify as bad Google probably
only thinks 20 are bad
Removing all 100 is as bad for
your rankings as getting penalised
in some cases

38. WHAT TO LOOK FOR
SIGNALS OF RISK

39.  far higher % of on anchor
 higher % of sitewides
 higher % of suspect cctld
 more links that 40x or 50x

40. PROPENSITY 4 DISAVOW

41. What makes a link
problematic?
Reason for
the site
Commercial
Anchors again
and again
Poor link metrics
(Majestic / Moz / PR)
No Social Activity
on a site (Twitter /
Facebook)
Banned
Words
Links to bad
places
No interaction
on the site
Wrong
CCltd

42. OR EVERY
SUSPECT ONE
LOOK AT EVERY
LINK

44. Risk is obvious in the anchor text distribution

47. WHAT TO DO IF YOU
GET CAUGHT?

48. 3 Main Risks:
Penguin Link
Devaluation
Link
Warnings

49. AND WAIT FOR GOOGLE
REBALANCE

50. WITH CAUTION
REBUILD

51. Manual Penalty:
Link audit and clean-up
Link removal attempts
(keep records)
Disavow the links that
you cannot remove

52. REMOVALS

53. FOR EVERY
LINK YOU
REMOVEYou have to consider what
you might have to add & how

54. WAIT

55. REINCLUSION
REQUESTYOU AREN’T SUCCESSFUL TRY AGA

56. KNOW WHEN YOU
BEATEN

57. DON’T WORK AS WELL AS
THEY DID
301’s

58. REDIRECTIONS
AND NEW DOMAINS
BEWARE WHAT PAS

59. SAY
HELLO!paul@manuallinkbuilding.co.uk
@pauldavidmadden
manuallinkbuilding.co.uk

60. IMAGE
CREDITS
Slide 4 – Vote by jonathan mcintosh
Slide 10 – Signals by nottsexminer
Slide 14 – Builder by Titanic Belfast
Slide 20 – Camel by wwarby
Slide 21 – Lion by amandarichard421
*Paul – Rest stolen from the interwebs