How to Reduce Your Spam Score

If you’re serious about improving your site’s SEO, then understanding your domain’s authority and trustworthiness is key. One metric that often causes concern for site owners is spam score. While not a direct Google ranking factor, a high spam score can be a warning signal — to you, to other SEOs, and even to cautious link partners — that something may be off with your website.

Reducing your spam score isn’t about quick fixes or tricks; it requires thoughtful, systematic improvement of your site’s structure, backlink profile, and content. In this post, we’ll explore exactly what spam score is, how it’s calculated, and what specific steps you can take to bring it down and build a stronger, healthier website. Here’s my guide on how to reduce your spam score.

What Is Spam Score?

Spam score is a metric designed to predict the likelihood that a website could be penalised by search engines based on the presence of certain features shared with previously penalized domains. The score typically ranges from 0% to 100%. A higher percentage indicates a higher number of “spam flags” and, therefore, a higher potential risk of being seen as untrustworthy in the eyes of search engines.

This score is based on a set of common spam signals. If your site shares characteristics with low-quality or penalized sites, your spam score increases.

Why Does Spam Score Matter?

Even though it’s not a direct ranking factor used by search engines, spam score is a helpful third-party diagnostic tool. A high score can indicate vulnerabilities, poor SEO practices, or suspicious linking behaviours that search engines may also notice.

In practical terms, having a high spam score can:

• Scare off potential link partners or advertisers
• Indicate a toxic backlink profile
• Reveal problems in your site structure or SEO strategy
• Flag issues before search engines penalise you

Understanding the Spam Flags

While the exact algorithms behind spam scoring systems are proprietary, the general nature of the flags used is publicly known. Common spam signals include:

• Low domain authority
• A high ratio of followed to nofollowed links
• Use of thin or duplicate content
• Limited branded anchor text
• A large number of external links per page
• Matching contact information across unrelated sites
• Exact-match domains (EMDs) with little content variation

The presence of just one or two of these signals isn’t alarming, but as more of them appear together, your risk increases.

How to Check Your Spam Score

You can check your spam score using SEO tools such as MOZ, Domain Explorers or site audit software. These tools often provide details about which spam flags are being triggered so you can target them directly.

Once you know your score and which pages or links are triggering flags, you can begin fixing issues.

How to Reduce Your Spam Score: Step-by-Step

1. Audit and Clean Your Backlink Profile

The number one reason most sites have a high spam score is due to low-quality backlinks. Even if you didn’t build them yourself, spammy or irrelevant domains linking to you can hurt your score.

Start by:

• Exporting your full backlink profile using your preferred SEO platform
• Identifying links from sites with high spam scores, low domain authority, or thin content
• Disavowing toxic or suspicious links using Google’s Disavow Tool
• Reaching out to site owners to request link removal (not always effective, but worth trying)

Avoid buying backlinks or participating in link schemes, as these usually lead to more harm than good.

2. Diversify Your Anchor Text

Sites with overly optimised anchor text—especially exact-match keywords—are often flagged. Aim for a natural variety, including:

• Branded anchor text, (e.g., “Ashloves”)
• Generic text (e.g., “click here” or “read more”)
• Partial match anchors (e.g., “how to reduce spam score” instead of just “spam score”)
• Naked URLs (e.g., “www.example.com”)

Overusing the same keyword-rich anchor across multiple links is a common signal of manipulation.

3. Remove or Improve Thin Content

Spam score often correlates with low-value content. If your site has pages with:

• Fewer than 300–500 words
• No clear purpose or user benefit
• Duplicate or scraped content
• Excessive ads or affiliate links

Then it’s time to either improve or remove them. Use site crawlers to identify thin content. You can strengthen your pages by:

• Expanding on key topics
• Adding original research or media
• Answering common user questions
• Updating outdated information

Search engines favour depth, originality, and usefulness.

4. Build Branded Authority

Unbranded sites, particularly those with exact-match domains (like bestcreditcards123.net), are more likely to be penalised than trusted brands. If your site has an EMD, build credibility by developing a strong brand presence:

• Use a consistent logo, tagline, and branding across all pages
• Include your brand name in meta titles, social profiles, and your homepage
• Encourage branded anchor text from third-party sites
• Ensure consistent business contact details across your site and directories

Strong branding improves trust signals and lowers perceived risk.

5. Reduce Outbound Link Spam

Sites that link excessively to third-party domains — especially irrelevant or low-quality ones — are flagged. Review all external links to ensure they:

• Point to reputable, related sources
• Are clearly contextual and not excessive
• Avoid redirect chains or hidden tracking
• Limit affiliate links, and disclose any sponsorship

Linking to high-quality domains adds value, while linking to poor ones lowers your credibility.

6. Create a Transparent, Trustworthy Website

Spammy websites tend to hide contact details or appear anonymous. Make your website feel real and transparent by including:

• A complete About page
• Clear and consistent contact information
• Author bios on blog content
• A privacy policy and terms of service
• A secure connection (HTTPS with SSL certificate)

Trust signals benefit both users and search engines and are essential for reducing spam perception.

7. Fix Technical SEO Problems

Broken pages, excessive redirects, duplicate tags, or poorly structured site architecture can all contribute to a higher spam score. Use SEO audit tools to detect:

• 404 errors and broken links
• Crawl anomalies or redirect loops
• Missing canonical tags
• Pages without proper metadata
• Orphaned pages (pages not linked to internally)

Fixing these issues will strengthen your domain and signal ongoing maintenance and quality.

8. Avoid Duplicate or Scraped Content

Reposting articles without permission, copying product descriptions, or using “spun” content is a fast track to a high spam score. Even with attribution, unoriginal content does little for your reputation. To improve:

• Write all content in your own voice
• Include unique commentary or added value if quoting sources
• Avoid content automation or article spinners
• Add images, infographics, or case studies to distinguish your work

High-quality, original content is the best long-term strategy for lowering your spam score.

9. Build High-Quality Backlinks

After cleaning up toxic backlinks, replace them with legitimate, high-quality ones. Look for link opportunities from:

• Established blogs or industry journals
• Government, university, or nonprofit sites
• Partners, clients, and collaborators
• Resource lists, editorial mentions, or testimonials

Organic backlinks from trusted domains dilute the effect of poor ones and build long-term authority.

10. Monitor Your Progress

Spam score doesn’t change overnight. It may take weeks or months for major SEO tools to re-evaluate your domain. Track your progress by regularly checking:

• Changes in spam score
• Backlink additions and removals
• Domain authority or trust metrics
• Crawl data, indexing, and search appearance

Make spam score part of your monthly SEO audit routine.

What Is a Good Spam Score?

Spam score is typically rated on a scale like this:

• 1% to 30%: Low risk — minimal concern
• 31% to 60%: Medium risk — take a closer look
• 61% to 100%: High risk — urgent action recommended

A moderate or high score isn’t always a death sentence, but it’s a strong indicator of systemic issues in your SEO or backlink strategy.

Final Thoughts

Spam score is a valuable diagnostic tool that alerts you to risks in your website’s SEO foundation. It may not be used directly by search engines, but it reflects the kinds of patterns and signals that algorithms watch closely.

By cleaning your backlinks, improving your content, reinforcing trust and transparency, and monitoring performance over time, you not only reduce your spam score — you build a site that earns credibility, ranks better, and stands the test of time.

SEO is about consistency, quality, and trust. Reducing your spam score is one important part of that broader commitment to building an honest, useful, and resilient presence online.