Backlink cleanup that removes the risk, not your good links.

Backlink cleanup starts with a decision, not a file. Google’s own guide to disavowing links says that in most cases Google can assess which links to trust, so most sites will not need the tool. It suggests a disavow file only when a site has a considerable number of spammy, artificial or low-quality links, and those links have caused, or will likely cause, a manual action. We check both conditions first, and if neither applies, we say so and stop.

If the work goes ahead, we collect links from every source we can. The Search Console Links report shows a sample of the links Google knows about, and its tables stop at 1,000 rows. So we add exports from Ahrefs and Semrush and merge them by domain. On stores with a long history, the merged list is usually several times what Search Console shows.

Every linking domain is then checked by a person. We open the page, see where the link sits and read the anchor text. Then we sort each domain into one of three groups: keep (real sites, press, partners, suppliers), ignore (ordinary spam that Google already discounts) or act on (links that look bought, swapped or built for ranking). Only the last group goes forward. That is how toxic backlinks get handled without losing good ones.

For links we act on, removal comes before disavowal. Google’s Manual actions report help page asks for a good-faith effort to remove links first and says that adding every backlink to the disavow file blindly is not enough. We find a contact for each site, send removal requests, follow up once, and log every reply and non-reply with a date. That log becomes your evidence.

What can’t be removed goes into the disavow file. As of October 2026 the file must be a UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII text file of up to 100,000 lines and 2 MB, with one URL or domain: entry per line and comments starting with #, according to the disavow guide. We disavow at domain level when a whole site is a link seller, keep a dated comment for each group, and merge any old file you already have, because an upload replaces the previous list for that property.

Links you control get fixed at the source. Sponsored posts and affiliate links should carry rel="sponsored", as Google’s page on qualifying outbound links explains. We contact the sites you paid and ask for the attribute rather than removal where the post is a genuine ad, so the traffic stays and the ranking signal goes.

If there is a manual action, we write the reconsideration request once every affected link is dealt with. Google says a good request explains the exact issue, describes the steps taken and documents the outcome, and that link-related reviews can take longer than other reviews. We attach the removal log and explain the links that couldn’t be removed. Then we wait for the decision; a second request before a reply only slows things down.

After the cleanup, we check new links every month for three months. Our tools are the ones Kashif uses on store SEO work every week: Ahrefs, Semrush and Search Console. Search Console results from stores we work on are on our fashion page and our jewelry page. Both started with a technical review of what held each store back.