Google’s Matt Cutts On Common Disavow Link Tool Mistakes

Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a new video discussing some of the more common mistakes when using the disavow tool.

Below are the six most common mistakes. Note the first one is by far the most common mistake of them all.

(1) The file you upload should be a regular text file only. No syntax or fonts or sorting should be done in this file. People often upload Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and so on. Just upload a text (TXT) file.

(2) Typically, the first attempt by users are to be very specific and fine-tuned with their individual URLs. Instead use a domain: command and disavow the whole site. That is often better, Matt said.

(3) Wrong syntax is another common issue; use the right syntax within the TXT file.

(4) Do not write the story on why you are disavowing in the disavow text file. Do that instead in the reconsideration request, not in the text file.

(5) With that, when you do add comments to your disavow tool properly use comment out tags. People often forget to uncomment out or comment out and it causes syntax errors. It may be better off not to comment at all in the file or limit your commenting, Matt said.

(6) The disavow is not the be all and end all. It will not cure all your URLs. Clean up your links outside of the disavow tool as well, don’t just take the shortcut approach.

Here is the video:

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.