Toxic backlink cleanup · Sports publisher network
Cleaning 4,000+ spam domains across a site network
A publisher running four sports-history websites had thousands of spam domains pointing at its two biggest sites. In one day, every link was reviewed, a disavow file was built and submitted, and the full network was checked.
- 4,093
- spam domains disavowed across two sites
- HIGH → LOW
- Semrush toxic score on both main sites
- 48% → 0%
- toxic referring domains on the worst-affected site
- 4 sites
- audited in one network, in one day
The challenge
Both main sites had large, aging backlink profiles full of scraper, spam and link-network domains: 14.4K and 20.8K backlinks on the two main sites. Semrush rated the toxic score HIGH on both.
What I did
- Audit. Full backlink audit of all four domains: 14.4K and 20.8K backlinks on the two main sites.
- Manual review. Flagged domains were checked by hand, so genuine links stayed and only spam and link-network domains went into the file.
- Disavow file. Domain-level rules where a whole site was spam, URL-level rules where only one page was the problem.
- Upload and verify. Files uploaded to Search Console and a fresh Semrush audit run the next day to confirm the result.
Results: two high-risk sites, two clean sister sites
| Metric | Site A before | Site A after | Site B before | Site B after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush toxic score | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW |
| Toxic referring domains | 30% (1,067) | 0% | 48% (2,619) | 0% |
| Potentially toxic domains | 26% (931) | 0% | 16% (888) | 0% |
| Non-toxic domains | 44% | 100% | 36% | 100% |
| Disavowed in Search Console | 1,250 domains + 1,080 URLs | 2,843 domains + 867 URLs | ||
Sister sites C and D were also audited: 25 and 23 referring domains, 100% non-toxic, so no disavow was needed.
Why it worked
Every domain reviewed by hand
Google treats disavow as an advanced tool, which is why every domain was reviewed by hand instead of uploading the automated list.
The right level of rule
Domain-level rules for whole spam sites, URL-level rules where only one page was the problem.
The whole network checked
All four sites were audited, so the two clean sister sites were left alone.
Verified the next day
A fresh Semrush audit the next day confirmed the result.
What's next
Disavowing tells Google to ignore the listed links; it does not delete them from the web. The "after" figures show the risky links are now excluded from the profile, not that they disappeared.
Questions about this project
Why review backlinks by hand instead of disavowing the automated list?
Google treats disavow as an advanced tool. Reviewing every flagged domain by hand meant genuine links stayed and only spam and link-network domains went into the file.
When should you disavow a URL instead of a whole domain?
Domain-level rules were used where a whole site was spam, and URL-level rules where only one page was the problem.
Do sister sites always need a disavow?
No. Sister sites C and D had 25 and 23 referring domains, 100% non-toxic, so no disavow was needed.
Client and domain names withheld. Figures from Semrush Backlink Audit (Sep 21 and 22, 2024) and Google Search Console.
