Linkwheels = Dangerous?

mrsix

mrsix

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Recently read this blog post and it raised that question. Are link wheels a bad idea in the long run?

http://www.highrevenue.com/linkbuilding-techniques/i-hate-linkwheel-flowers

A few established SEO practitioners run this software that maps out a site?s backlink structure. These maps look very interesting, to say the least. Some look like a Carlos Castaneda flashback while others are so damn predictable it?s scary?specially for the clients of such SEO ?expertise?. Predictablity, in SEO, is the home of FAIL. Google routinely destroys the PR and link marketability of people who sell or buy links. That?s why SEO ?flowers? are so dangerous?

What are SEO ?Flowers??

Quick background: Linkwheels are Web 2.0 pages/blogs that are built specifically to pump up the Page rank of and pump link juice to a target site. Think of it as an amplifier for SEO. There?s many ?Get 10000000000 hits per day? huckster ebooks and sales pages pushing this concept. However, it?s very easy to do and anyone with some time on their hands for page building, content copywriting, and mapping can build these. The typical structure is SITE A links to SITE B and Target site, SITE B links to SITE C and target site, etc. It doesn?t take much imagination to see that this typical link map looks like a FLOWER. Indeed, that?s how it looks on a link mapping application.

While flowers are great for enhancing the ambiance of most rooms or as gifts for the object of your affection, they are DEADLY in the SEO realm. Easy to track (and easy to ban) link structures give the kiss of death to any SEO strategy. Make sure you DIVERSIFY your linking structure. There mustn?t be any readily discernible pattern in your link map or else your network and your target site might look like a daisy that got crushed under Google?s boot heel. Not a pleasant sight.
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is this so called "link flower" closed or it has an opening? Its really easy to track down a link wheel or flower if its closed.
 
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It is always good to build strong backlinks for your sites so that when the quick fixes like link wheels fail, you are protected. As we always discuss, if a simple link wheel would hurt you in the long run, we would all be creating link wheels for our competition and bumping them off.
 
might be true, i have been doing linkwheels since last 3 months, and they ultimately die within 15 days or so. Recently i modified architecture of my linkwheels to some alien pattern. they are doing bit good as of now. additionally i am doing some more linkbuilding around promoter nodes of target site. Promote the promoters.
 
the thing is, you dont have to wheel them in. just get them pointing to your main site and have them their own mini campaigns and your good to go.
 
Jagged55 said:
It is always good to build strong backlinks for your sites so that when the quick fixes like link wheels fail, you are protected. As we always discuss, if a simple link wheel would hurt you in the long run, we would all be creating link wheels for our competition and bumping them off.
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very good point

neoasthana said:
might be true, i have been doing linkwheels since last 3 months, and they ultimately die within 15 days or so. Recently i modified architecture of my linkwheels to some alien pattern. they are doing bit good as of now. additionally i am doing some more linkbuilding around promoter nodes of target site. Promote the promoters.
Click to expand...

mixing it up and adding in a random x number of new web2.0/social media sites would probably do good...
 
The traditional link wheel that Lemonarian intriced a while back has been way overused and abused by too many people that didn't know what they were doing. So it seems that Google is catching on to them, making it a bit harder to use link wheels.

I recommend a few things to help your linking campaigns survive:

1. Don't close the wheel.
2. Use a different type of linking pattern from the traditional link wheel.
3. Randomization. The more random, the more "natural" it will appear.
 
To some degree it is dangerous. Much like leaving a footprint, the more google notices it, the more chances of an algorithm to knock out sites with this structure behind it.

Feel sorry for those who base their whole campaigns around this build without proper randomization and always closing the wheel following it to the T. It is a logical concept, but needs it's twist like anything else to stay ahead without becoming part of the footprint that gets nuked.

You should always mix it up with diff accounts, ip site linking, username linking etc. if you want your campaigns to hold weight longterm.
 
These days we are getting a lot more clients asking for non-closed loop wheels.

For instance web 2.0 property develop is a WIN for sure.

So you might just want to do A > B > C . . . . D > E > F . . . etc.

Also tossing 1 high PR backlinks to each web 2.0 property is doing us wonders.

Kind Regards,
Michael
 
I advise just spam the heck!!

Linkwheels or whatever isn't going to work...

Forget this and move back people!!! Google is too busy to care so expect a slap or a boot
 
This is why it's important to use linkwheels as part of your over all linking strategy. If you have 400 links to your site and some of them are in a wheel shape, google doesn't give a rats ass. If you have 400 links and they are all in 40 replicating wheel shapes of course they will be noticed.

linkswheels can happen naturally, and they do all the time.
Would you be surprised to see this?
Facebook-->flicker--->delicious--->livejournal--->facebook
Of course not.

The only time a "penalty" is given is when its blatantly obvious. And the only reason its blatantly obvious is because you don't understand SEO. And if you are doing SEO without understanding SEO then you are learning. And if you are learning that means you must fail to learn. So learn from this post and get on with using linkwheels correctly.
 
I've commented on this elsewhere in the site but linkwheels effectively became redundant with the rise of the major Web 2.0 properties like Digg and Reddit. Their original purpose no longer exists as the sites themselves already have enough PR to meet the need.

To avoid algorithmic detection any wheels you do use need to be large but I personally haven't used them for years - they're just a penalty waiting to happen.
 
freller said:
I've commented on this elsewhere in the site but linkwheels effectively became redundant with the rise of the major Web 2.0 properties like Digg and Reddit. Their original purpose no longer exists as the sites themselves already have enough PR to meet the need.

To avoid algorithmic detection any wheels you do use need to be large but I personally haven't used them for years - they're just a penalty waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

If you use them incorrectly, definitely a penalty could be on the way.

But if you use them correctly, then they are extremely powerful.

The basic wheel structure was good while it lasted. They still do work, just not as effectively as before.

Focusing less on wheels and more on advanced linking strategies is getting much better results for me these days.
 
freller said:
I've commented on this elsewhere in the site but linkwheels effectively became redundant with the rise of the major Web 2.0 properties like Digg and Reddit. Their original purpose no longer exists as the sites themselves already have enough PR to meet the need.

To avoid algorithmic detection any wheels you do use need to be large but I personally haven't used them for years - they're just a penalty waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

Sorry but all this algorithmic detection stuff for linkwheels is rubbish

Think about how internal linking works, are google going to start punishing sites for linking internally in what naturally becomes numerous linkwheels

How about wikipaedia - they must be invloved in 1000s of linkwheels over time as many niches link to them and back again via other niche sites in the same networks

It could even screw up serps results within google itself based on how naturally occuring linkwheels will have formed over the years

Building linkwheels is the same as every other aspect of SEO, just dont make it so obvious, dont close the wheels as i have said many times before, use different web 2.0 properties and different IP addresses, dont set up things like 100 site link wheels and then have it being looked at by google analytics, would look odd if suddenly a 100 linked sites all started linking to your main site

just make it look natural and you will be ok
 
I totally agree.

Over-analyzing is just a waste of time IMHO as well.

I couldn't have said it better.
 
Don't be troubled my friends SEO is all full of myths & some pple will just come from the bush & start telling you stories about SEO & 100% sure that wheel is the best way to rank with your niche,if it wasn't important way would Google then have the wheel actually Guys lets get focused don't let your mind be redirected by some other pple ideas damn this guy will be upto lynching a pdf then he is pissin off the wheel lol who knows lets do our wheel is Black hat guys remember..........
 
If there was a penalty, I could be using a linkwheel against my competitors and actually harm them. Worst case scenario is that linkwheels just don't work. But they won't do any harm either.
 
hi, OP - we meet again :-)
my 2c - just be careful, minimize footprints, don't use any "techniques" on web properties you care about. also known as "common sense". some good advice above...

last, but not least - I took my time to read that website that caught your eye. I hope it's not yours and this a slick trick to promote it, so please don't take offense - because I cried "amateur" at the author. he's just learning the ropes, that guy posing as a team. has a PR1 on his page, and working so hard with his strategy of "unveiling the myths".... would not be surprised to find him on Twitter, among the twats offering free advice on anything. he's just another IM expert-to-be, ranting at something from a personal perpective and posing as a team of professionals. lame.
 
About the only thing I agree in that site's post is to diversify your linking.
If the ONLY links you have is a linkwheel then yeah you might look bad. but linkwheel + 100s of other links will help.

Its funny how that blog back in september gave a list of sites to use in a linkwheel then later on talks about how bad linkwheels are.
That site really is nothing more then an ad for webmasterlabor.c0m
That link comes up in each entry.
 
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