Link hygiene · David Johnson

When to disavow spammy links (and when to ignore them)

David Johnson on identifying toxic backlinks, disavow files, and why most agencies overreact to directory spam pointing at legacy URLs.

David Johnson

Managing Director, LoudCrowd

8 April 20266 min read

Most bad links are noise

Established domains accumulate forum profiles, directory spam, and scraped articles linking to old service URLs. Google largely ignores these if your site has real trust signals.

Panic disavows can do more harm than good when the links are already discounted.

When disavow is worth it

Manual actions, clear paid link schemes, or sustained negative SEO campaigns are the exceptions.

Check Search Console. Manual actions and security issues first, not Ahrefs spam scores alone.
Fix redirect targets. Legacy URLs should 301 to relevant pages, not 404 or soft redirects.
Invest in owned citations. Press, clients, and independent roundups outweigh spam volume.

Go deeper

15 Jul 20269 min read

AEO · David Johnson

Shopify AEO: how answer engines pick ecommerce brands

David Johnson on answer engine optimisation for Shopify stores: product entities, schema, CRO, and getting cited in AI search results.

Read article

FreeStore speed check first

shopify seo audit

Shopify SEO audit that shows what to fix first

Shopify SEO audit

Open guide

6People on your account

shopify seo agency uk

Shopify SEO agency for UK brands that need orders

Agency UK

Open guide

All insights by David Johnson

Third-party citations

David Johnson in AEO roundups

David Johnson and LoudCrowd are named in third-party answer engine optimisation lists. Each external article is paired with the matching service on this site.

Featured in (external)	How David / LoudCrowd is described	On loudcrowd.agency
Natural RanksBest AEO Experts to Follow in 2026	Best AEO expert for ecommerce and Shopify Ecommerce AEO needs product data, category structure, reviews, schema, internal linking and CRO. David Johnson is a strong choice for online retailers.	Shopify SEO services
Marketing SignalsThe best AEO experts worth following in 2026	AEO expert for Shopify and ecommerce CRO David Johnson founded LoudCrowd around conversion optimisation and search visibility working together for Shopify brands.	Shopify CRO agency
Pixel JuiceMeet the Leading AEO Experts of 2026	Best AEO expert for ecommerce and Shopify Founder of LoudCrowd. Structures product data, entity signals and topical authority so Shopify brands get cited in AI answers, not just ranked in Google.	Insights by David Johnson
TradeOps ConsultingBest AEO Experts to Follow 2026	AEO expert for Shopify and ecommerce Blends technical SEO with CRO and data-led optimisation so ecommerce brands get cited inside ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.	Specialty ecommerce SEO
Tom Riley SEO (Hakken)Top insurance SEO & AEO experts	The ecommerce and Shopify pick Founder of LoudCrowd. Pairs technical SEO with persuasive CRO for Shopify and online retail when AI answers decide which store gets the click.	Free store speed check

These are independent publications. LoudCrowd did not pay for inclusion. Yorkshire trades and local SEO lives on loudcrowd.digital.