Does DA Matter when Disavowing Links?

Ever since the introduction of Google’s Disavow tool, it has always been a matter of endless discussions within an SEO community?

Which pages or sites should we disavow? Which backlink sources to use to find link to disavow? When should we actually need to use the tool?

Jim Boykin, CEO of Internet Marketing Ninjas, and Ann Smarty, IMN’s analyst, discuss disavowing links, when to use the Disavow tool, and which criteria to use when deciding whether any specific backlink should be disavowed.

Does DA (Domain Authority) Matter when Analyzing Links for a Disavow?

Domain authority has never been part of our disavowing process.

If a link is natural, we don’t care if it has come from a high- or low-DA site.

If a backlink if paid and/or comes from a network, it should be disavowed regardless of a DA.

The better question is, what is a DA and how do you measure it.

Domain authority (DA) is a metric that comes from third-party sites, not Google.

It is never a good idea to rely on some made up numbers that have nothing to do with Google or its algorithm.

Should I disavow anything?

This is another key question here.

In most cases most website owners don’t even need to use disavow. Even Google reps discourage from using Disavow because it can do more harm than good.

You need to consult an experienced and knowledgeable SEO expert whether you need to disavow anything.

How to decide which links should be disavowed?

Instead of relying on artificial numbers, we use our internal backlink mapping tool to identify paid links. Those are always good candidates to disavow.

If you think you have a lot of questionable links and you think you may receive a Google penalty, let us review your links.