If you've just onboarded a client with a high spam score, Search Atlas gives you the tools to audit their backlink profile, identify harmful links, and take targeted action to reduce that score over time. This article walks you through exactly how to do that — including what the data means and how to confirm your efforts are working.

## **🛠️ Step-by-Step**

1. **Open the Site Explorer tool.** In the left sidebar, go to Site Metrics → Backlinks (Organic Research) and open it. Enter your client's domain in the search field and run the analysis. This pulls a full picture of the domain's backlink profile.
2. **Navigate to the Backlinks report.** Once the domain analysis loads, find the Backlinks section of the report. This lists every detected inbound link pointing to the client's site, along with associated metrics such as domain authority, spam score, and anchor text.
3. **Sort or filter by Spam Score.** Find the Spam Score in the Domain Metrics panel (Site Metrics → Backlinks (Organic Research)), shown as a domain-level metric rather than a column in the backlinks table. Sort by this column in descending order so the highest-risk links appear at the top. A spam score of 30% or higher on a linking domain is generally a strong signal of a toxic or low-quality link source.
4. **Identify toxic link patterns.** As you review high-score links, note the following red flags: exact-match anchor text repeated across many referring domains, links from domains with no real content or clear link-farm structure, and links from domains flagged across multiple spam indicators simultaneously. Prioritize links where spam score is high **and** the linking domain has very low authority.
5. **Export the toxic link list.** Use the export option in the backlinks report to download the list. This file will serve as the basis for your disavow file or your outreach-for-removal list.
6. **Build and submit a disavow file.** For links you cannot have removed manually, compile the domains (not individual URLs, unless needed) into a disavow file formatted to Google's specifications. Submit this file through Google Search Console under the Legacy Tools and Reports section. Note: disavow file effects are not instant — allow several weeks for Google to process the file and recrawl affected pages.
7. **Use Authority Building to strengthen clean signals.** In parallel with link removal, build high-quality backlinks through Search Atlas's Authority Building features to improve the ratio of clean links to toxic ones. A stronger clean backlink profile helps dilute residual spam signals over time.

## **✅ How to Confirm It Worked**

Return to the Site Explorer and re-run the domain analysis for your client after 4–6 weeks. Compare the current spam score reading against your baseline from step one. A successful cleanup typically shows a measurable reduction in overall spam score and fewer high-risk domains appearing in the backlinks table. Additionally, check Google Search Console for any manual action notices — if a manual penalty related to unnatural links was present, you should see it lifted once the disavow and removal process has taken effect. Track domain authority trends week-over-week as a secondary indicator: stabilization or improvement suggests the profile is recovering. If the spam score remains unchanged after 6–8 weeks, revisit the backlinks report to check whether new toxic links have appeared, which may indicate the client's site is still being targeted by negative SEO.

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.

## **Additional Notes**

Topical Relevance sub-tool: links from topically unrelated domains compound spam risk even if raw spam score is moderate. Backlink Velocity sub-tool: sudden link acquisition spikes from low-quality domains can trigger algorithmic penalties; correlate spikes with ranking drops.