: How do I know if backlinks are hurting my search rankings? The previous owner had disavowed 400+ backlinks, but I know that some of them were very good and high quality. I un-disavowed them.

@Candy875

A couple things you can do:


Look at the authority of the page where the link is coming from. If it is high, then keep them.
Look at intent. Is the link a true online representation of an offline relationship? If it is then you should keep it.
What does the link source neighborhood look like? If there are other spammy links outgoing from the page or domain or if it is clear that the content is all over the map on one site (travel review to Florida, review of gun hardware, etc) then that is a spammy site.
What are your most successful competitors doing? The best thing to do is look forward and start making the connections with people that are also interested in your product. Establish a drumbeat of good quality links coming in to make questionable links a smaller proportion.
Be honest with yourself. Sites don't get dinged without any knowing why. I wouldn't use the disavow/avow tools willy nilly going forward. Lots of activity back and forth would be a red flag.

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