This article explains how to use Search Atlas to assess a new client's backlink profile when they arrive with a high spam score. You will learn where to run the analysis, how to read the data, and how to confirm that your cleanup efforts are having a measurable effect.

## **📍 Where to Find It**

All backlink analysis tools are grouped in one place. In the top-right header, click the apps-grid icon, then go to **More Features → Backlinks (Backlink Research)**. You will see the following sub-tools:

- **Backlink Research** — full backlink profile for any domain
- **Link Gap Analysis** — compare your client's links against competitors
- **Compare Backlinks** — side-by-side domain comparison
- **Topical Relevance** — assess how contextually relevant linking domains are
- **Backlink Velocity** — track the rate at which links are being gained or lost

## **🛠️ Step-by-Step**

1. **Run a Backlink Research audit.** Go to the top-right header (apps-grid icon) → **More Features → Backlinks (Backlink Research)** and enter your client's root domain. Click **Analyze**. This pulls the full backlink profile including spam metrics for each linking domain.
2. **Identify high-risk links.** In the results, sort or filter by spam score. Focus on referring domains with a spam score above 30% — these are your highest-priority targets. Look for patterns: private blog networks, unrelated foreign-language directories, or domains with no organic traffic and thin content.
3. **Assess topical relevance of linking domains.** Go to the top-right header (apps-grid icon) → **More Features → Backlinks (Backlink Research) → Topical Relevance** and enter the client's domain. Links from topically unrelated domains compound a spam risk even if their raw spam score is moderate. Flag any that are both off-topic and low-authority.
4. **Check velocity for unnatural link patterns.** Go to the top-right header (apps-grid icon) → **More Features → Backlinks (Backlink Research) → Backlink Velocity**. A sudden spike in link acquisition — especially from low-quality domains — is a common trigger for algorithmic penalties. Note any spikes that coincide with ranking drops.
5. **Build your disavow list.** Compile all domains flagged in steps 2–4. Export the data and format it into a Google Search Console disavow file (one domain per line, prefixed with **domain:**). Submit this file through Google Search Console to signal to Google that these links should not be counted against the site.
6. **Begin a targeted link-building campaign.** Use the top-right header (apps-grid icon) → **More Features → Backlinks (Backlink Research) → Link Gap Analysis** to find high-quality, topically relevant domains that link to competitors but not to your client. These become your outreach targets to replace toxic links with authoritative ones.

## **✅ How to Confirm It Worked**

Re-run **Backlink Research** on the client's domain after 4–6 weeks. You should see:

- A measurable decrease in the average spam score across referring domains — compare the new figure to your baseline from step 1.
- Fewer flagged high-risk domains appearing in the filtered view (spam score above 30%).
- Backlink Velocity showing a stabilised or positively trending link acquisition rate from higher-quality domains.
- If rankings were suppressed, expect gradual recovery over 8–12 weeks once Google re-crawls the disavow file and indexes new quality links.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.