Unnatural links are referred to as manipulative backlinks. These are the links that are created to artificially boost search rankings, and they violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. These links are not editorially placed or naturally earned that is the reason they are termed unnatural links.

Examples of Unnatural Links

• Paid links that pass PageRank.
• Excessive link exchanges or guest posts are used for ranking purposes.
• Over-optimizing the anchor texts stuffed with keywords.
• Adding Hidden, automated, or low-quality backlinks from spammy sites.

Google’s algorithms detect and devalue unnatural links. The use of such links can result in penalties or ranking drops.

How to Identify Unnatural Links?

• The high volume of links from the same domain.
• Too many links from low-authority or irrelevant sites.
• Keyword-stuffed anchor texts and over-optimized across multiple domains.

Should You Remove Unnatural Links?

Google often ignores unnatural links, but manual penalties may still occur. If your site is impacted, use Google’s Disavow Tool to remove harmful backlinks. Adopting white-hat link-building strategies ensures a healthy backlink profile and long-term SEO success.