The process of identifying and disavowing toxic or spammy backlinks that could harm a website's ranking or incur a Google penalty.
Link detox is the process of auditing your backlink profile to identify and remove "toxic" links that might be hurting your rankings. These are usually spammy, low-quality, or bought links that trigger Google's Penguin algorithm.
First, try to contact the webmasters to remove the links. If that fails (it usually does), use the Google Disavow Tool to tell Google "ignore these links when calculating my rank."
Browse related definitions in the same glossary category.
Anchor Text
The clickable text in a hyperlink. Using descriptive anchor text helps search engines understand the linked page's content.
Backlink
An incoming link from another website to your site. High-quality backlinks are a major ranking factor.
Backlink Profile
The collection of all inbound links pointing to a website. A healthy profile has diverse, high-quality sources.
Disavow File
A file submitted to Google to ignore specific backlinks considered harmful or spammy.
External Link
A hyperlink pointing from your website to another domain. Adds credibility when linking to authoritative sources.
Link Building
The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites. A core component of off-page SEO.
Understanding "Link Detox" is just the first step. Our team at TwoSquares specializes in technical SEO and digital strategy, helping brands turn complex concepts into measurable growth.