When we reviewed the backlink profile of our own website, we found something uncomfortable: around 96% of the links pointing to our domain were spam — almost all from a single network of junk sites. That is a pattern consistent with negative SEO, where low-quality links accumulate around a site without the owner ever asking for them. Here is how we found it, why we did not panic, and the measured steps we took to clean it up — explained so a non-technical business owner can run the same checks.
The reassuring bit first: most websites never need to "fix" their backlinks. Google is generally very good at ignoring junk links on its own. The goal of this article is to help you check, understand, and only act when there is real evidence you need to.
What we actually found
Using Google Search Console and a backlink tool, we pulled the full list of sites linking to ours. The overwhelming majority — roughly 96% — were irrelevant, low-quality pages from one interconnected network: the sort of automated link spam that has nothing to do with our business and that we never requested. We cannot prove who created it or why, so we will not speculate. What we can say is that the pattern is consistent with negative SEO.
Why we did not panic — and why you probably should not either
The single most important check lives in Google Search Console, under Security & Manual Actions → Manual actions. It tells you whether a person at Google has actually penalised your site. Ours said "No issues detected" — meaning Google had not penalised us, despite the spam. That is the reassurance most owners are looking for, and most will find it.
Google has said for years that it is good at ignoring spammy links automatically, and that most sites never need to take action over third-party junk links. A pile of spam links is not the same thing as a penalty.
So why did we clean it up at all?
Given the sheer scale — 96% of our profile — and the deliberate-looking pattern, we made a considered decision to disavow that one clearly-spam network, telling Google to ignore it. This was a careful clean-up, not a panic move. We did it at the whole-domain level for the junk network only, and we were meticulous about not touching a single legitimate link.
Here is the nuance most articles skip. The disavow tool is a last resort. Google itself says most sites should never use it, because disavowing good links by mistake can hurt your rankings. We used it deliberately, with evidence, and with experience — which is exactly the narrow situation it is meant for.
How to check your own website (about five minutes)
- Open Google Search Console (free) and add your site.
- Security & Manual Actions → Manual actions: "No issues detected" means no penalty. This is the check that matters most.
- Security & Manual Actions → Security issues: confirms your site has not been hacked or flagged as unsafe.
- Links report: scan your "Top linking sites" for anything wildly irrelevant.
- Watch your traffic: a sudden, unexplained drop that lines up with a spike in junk links is worth investigating.
If everything is clear and your traffic is steady, the honest answer is usually: do nothing, and re-check in a few months.
Want a step-by-step version you can keep? Download our free guide — the plain-English version of these checks, written for business owners — or run our free website audit for a quick health check.
What this means for your business
Two takeaways. First, spam links on their own rarely require action — check for a manual action before you worry. Second, if you do have a genuine problem (a manual action, or a clear drop tied to a link attack), the clean-up has to be precise: a careless disavow does more harm than the spam it is trying to remove. That is exactly when it pays to have someone who has done it before take a look.
