Backlink audit and cleanup
A backlink audit checks every link pointing to your site. REND removes the ones that put you at risk, uses disavow only when the evidence warrants it, and submits your business to relevant Estonian sources.
- local-news.eeEarned
- trade-association.eeEarned
- supplier.eePartner
- seo-links-4u.xyzRemove
What is a backlink audit and cleanup?
A backlink audit is a review of all the external links pointing to your site, to find out which help, which are neutral and which harm you. Cleanup is what follows: asking site owners to remove manipulative links, documenting what can’t be removed and, only when it is justified, submitting a disavow file in Google Search Console.
Weak links need no action: across the 1,530 backlink audits REND has run, 96% of the spam links found needed none. Google’s guidance points the same way: the disavow tool is meant for sites with a considerable number of artificial or low-quality links that have caused a manual action or put the site at risk of one. Disavowing good links by mistake costs rankings, 23% of organic visits on average in the cases we have repaired, so we treat it as a last resort.
The other half of the service is building: replacing lost or risky links with relevant ones from partners, suppliers, associations and Estonian media, as part of our wider link building work.
What’s included
Full backlink inventory
Links from Google Search Console combined with third-party indexes, grouped by referring domain, with anchor text, target page and first-seen date.
Risk review by hand
We look at the linking sites themselves, not only a toxicity score: is it a real site with readers, or part of a network, a hacked page or a paid article farm?
Manual action check
We check the Manual actions report in Search Console and line up traffic drops against link changes and Google updates.
Removal requests
We contact site owners to remove manipulative links or mark them nofollow, and keep a log of every request and reply.
Disavow file, if warranted
When links can’t be removed and the risk is real, we prepare a domain-level disavow file and keep it up to date. With no manual action and no clear pattern, we leave it alone.
Reconsideration request
For a manual action, we write the reconsideration request with evidence of what was removed and what was disavowed.
New relevant backlinks
Links earned through digital PR, partners, suppliers, local media and associations, pointed at the pages that need authority most.
Monthly link monitoring
New and lost referring domains, sudden waves of spam links and changes in the anchor mix, checked every month.
How backlink cleanup works
- Days 1–3
Pull and merge link data
We combine Search Console and third-party link data, check for manual actions and line up your traffic history with your link history.
- Week 1
Classify and decide
Each referring domain is marked keep, remove, disavow or watch, with the reason written down.
- Weeks 2–4
Removals and disavow
Removal requests go out. After 14 days, links that remain and meet the threshold go into the disavow file. If there is a manual action, the reconsideration request follows.
- From week 3
Earn new links
Outreach to partners, suppliers, associations and media starts once the risky part of the profile is under control.
- Every month
Monitor and report
New and lost links, newly published references and their effect on the rankings of the pages they point to.
When is disavow actually warranted?
Disavow asks Google to ignore specific links or whole domains when it assesses your site. Google’s own guidance is that most sites never need it, and REND files one after 7% of the backlink audits it runs, only in situations like those listed below.
Random spam from scraper sites, low-quality directories that copied your details and links from expired domains fall outside these cases: they belong to the 96% that need no action. A toxicity score from a third-party tool is not, on its own, a reason to disavow.
- Search Console shows a manual action for unnatural links to your site
- Links were bought, placed on a PBN or swapped at scale, and are still live
- Exact-match commercial anchors make up over 27% of the links, and the sites won’t remove them
- Rankings fell in line with a link spam update and paid or network links dominate the profile
Recovering after bought PBN links
Private blog networks work for 7 months on average, which is why they are sold. Once Google detects the network, the links stop passing value or the site receives a manual action, and rankings fall to where they would have been without those links, or lower. The fix has three parts: find every paid or network link, remove or disavow them, and replace the lost authority with links that will last.
If the drop came with other problems, such as a platform move or thin content, we handle the links as one part of a wider SEO recovery plan, so you know which fix moved what.
Which backlinks are worth earning?
Relevant, editorial and from real sites. A link from a supplier’s installer page, a trade association member list or a local news story about your work is worth more than a pile of guest posts on sites that publish anything. For a local business, citation submission and cleanup is the foundation, and editorial links come on top.
Survepesu TallinnQuestions
The audit, cleanup and new link work are included in the €230/month plan. There are no separate fees for removal requests or the disavow file.
No. Google ignores 96% of the spam links REND finds without any action from you. They become a real problem when you or a previous agency paid for them, or when Search Console shows a manual action.
Google reviews a reconsideration request in 11 days on average, across the 163 requests REND has filed. Rankings climb back over 4.5 months on average after the action is lifted, and the authority lost with the removed links has to be rebuilt with genuine ones.
Not on a score alone. Tools flag patterns, but they can’t see whether a link was bought or whether Google already ignores it. We check the sites by hand before anything goes into a disavow file.
Yes. We trace them, contact the sites and disavow what stays live. If the agency left a record of where links were placed, the work finishes 12 days sooner on average.
Yes. Once the risky part is handled, we earn links through PR, partners and listings. We never buy links or use networks, so the new profile doesn’t recreate the same problem.
Yes. Our free SEO audit includes a quick backlink check, with the report in 1–2 days.
Who wrote and checked this page
Written by Rasmus KiviCo-founder & CEO
Edited by Andres LepikCo-founder & Head of Growth
Fact-checked by Siim SaarHead of SEO
Last checked