When assessing backlinks, a Domain Rating (DR) of 45 can look respectable at first glance. But don’t be fooled—spammy backlinks and link farms can seriously inflate Ahrefs metrics like DR. If a domain is packed with low-quality or spam domains, it might be using a link farm or other manipulative tactics to boost its authority.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through how to spot a link farm on a site with a DR around 45. I’ll show you practical steps using Ahrefs Site Explorer and the “Best links” feature, explain how spam backlinks inflate DR versus real linking quality, and why you need a combination of filtering and disavowing instead of relying on a single approach.
Why DR vs Quality Matters
DR is a handy metric that shows the strength of a website’s backlink profile on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100. But it’s important to remember what DR really measures: the quantity and quality of backlinks as interpreted by Ahrefs’ algorithm. DR is not a perfect indicator of link quality.
A website https://stateofseo.com/how-do-i-know-if-a-domain-is-a-pbn-network-site/ can have a DR of 45 because it has thousands of backlinks from domains that are either link farms or part of a Private Blog Network (PBN). These links inflate the overall DR but provide little real SEO value and could get your clients penalized if used as part of a link-building strategy.
So the key is to focus on quality over quantity. That means investigating the backlink sources themselves, especially on sites that don’t pass a natural trust signal or have spammy link patterns like:
- Many external links in site navigation Missing or poor contact page Spammy anchors and over-optimized outgoing links
Step 1: Load the Site in Ahrefs Site Explorer and Check Overall Backlinks
First thing—plug the target domain into Ahrefs Site Explorer.
Check the Referring domains and the Total backlinks report. For a DR 45 domain, you might see thousands of backlinks from hundreds or thousands of referring domains. But remember, the raw count is rarely the full story.
Metric Example Value Total Backlinks 162,673 Referring Domains 8,492 Spam Domains (Identified) 3,192
In this example, out of 8,492 referring domains, 3,192 have been flagged as spammy. That’s almost 38% of the domains linking in—too high to ignore.
Step 2: Use Ahrefs’ “Best Links” Feature Combined with a Custom Exclusion List
The “Best links” report in Site Explorer looks at backlinks that provide the most link equity — higher DR domains, powerful anchors, dofollow links. It’s great for highlighting the best signals.
However, beware: the “Best links” feature can sometimes include spammy sites with artificially inflated DR or link profiles. That's because spam backlinks inflate Ahrefs metrics, making them *look* valuable.
To combat this, always use a custom exclusion list when analyzing best links. This is a personal blocklist of domains you’ve previously identified as spammy, link farms, or PBN nodes.
Here’s how you do it:
Run the "Best links" report in Ahrefs Site Explorer. Export the list of referring domains. Compare domains to your spam blocklist. Filter out spammy domains by uploading your blocklist or manually excluding them. Look at the remaining "clean" backlinks to analyze true quality.This method lets you whittle down the backlink profile to its strongest, legitimate domains and spot if a portion of high DR backlinks come from dodgy sources.
Why This Matters
Because spam backlinks inflate DR, simply trusting Ahrefs’ filtered best links may underestimate the damage of toxic links. Eliminating spam domains helps you get a clearer picture of backlink quality.
Step 3: Save a Default View in Site Explorer for Consistent Filtering
One of the most time-saving tricks when auditing backlinks is to save your advanced filters as a default view in Ahrefs Site Explorer.
For example, you can set filters to:
- Exclude nofollow links Exclude known spam domains (using your custom list) Filter for DR 10+ referring domains
Then save this custom view. Now whenever you open Site Explorer, you instantly get a cleaned-up, more trustworthy backlink profile, avoiding manual filtering every time.
Saving default views reduces clicks and saves hours—trust me, I count every click when cleaning link profiles professionally.
Step 4: Look for Red Flags Like External Links in Navigation and Missing Contact Pages
Link farms and PBNs have some hallmark signs that you can spot with a simple site review beyond Ahrefs metrics:
- External Links in Navigation: Many link farms overload their navigation menus with external links pointing to client or money sites. This is done to spread PageRank and manipulate rankings but looks unnatural. Missing or Weak Contact Page: Legitimate sites almost always have a clear ‘Contact Us’ page or at least reliable contact info. Link farms often skip this or use fake contact details.
Verify these by visiting the suspect domains yourself or doing a quick scan of their UX. If you see a site with DR 45 linked heavily but missing basic trust signals and filled with navigational external links, it's a big red flag.
Step 5: Filtering vs Disavow—Why Both Matter
Once you identify spammy backlinks and links from link farms, your options are:
- Filtering: Use Ahrefs and Google Search Console to ignore or exclude links from your analysis temporarily. Disavowing: Submit a disavow file to Google to officially tell them to disregard those links when assessing your ranking signals.
Filtering is your first line of defense during audits so you don’t stress or get distracted by junk links. It lets you focus on the true, valuable links.
Disavowing
Note: Don't blindly disavow every suspicious link because some borderline cases might be natural or accidental. Use your curated spam domain list and analyze each carefully.
Summary and Final Checklist
Spotting a link farm when the site has a DR of 45 requires a mix of tools, experience, and skepticism. Here’s the no-fluff checklist I use daily:
Plug the domain into Ahrefs Site Explorer and check total referring domains. Identify spam domains from your personal blocklist and note the scale (e.g., 3,192 spam domains out of 8,492 total). Use the “Best links” report, but always apply your custom exclusion list to exclude spammy domains. Save this filtered, clean view in Site Explorer as your default to speed up future audits. Manually spot link farm signals like external links in navigation and missing contact pages on suspect sites. Filter spammy links in reports to focus on quality, then prepare a disavow file for long-term SEO health.Avoid the common trap of equating DR with link quality. Spam backlinks will inflate DR but won’t help your SEO in the long run.
Keep refining your blocklist, save clicks with default views, and always double-check suspicious domains in the wild for those tell-tale link farm signs.
Happy auditing! If you want a copy of my personal spam domain blocklist or tips on creating Visit the website one, drop a comment below.
