TheLinkGuy
Power Member
- Nov 20, 2010
- 634
- 130
Expert SEO's already know Google's glaring vulnerability so this won't come to any surprise to them. For some rookie and novice SEO's today's link network ?crack down? may have come as a surprise.
Paid links are Google's kryptonite and without manual intervention there's nothing Google can do to stop them.
Mates, if you haven't realized this already let me elaborate a little bit. Google has done a great job lately of identifying mass-produced low quality backlinks. Algorithm updates over the past year have been targeted at destroying lazy spray and pray linkbuilding and SEO. Long gone are days of taking a brand spanking new domain, setting up Scrapebox and Xrumer and blasting to the top of the SERPs. Sorry folks, those links are really far to easy to algorithmically identify.
However, Google's paid link kryptonite still exists. If paid links were not a problem Google wouldn't need to make a spectacle of networks being deindexed. If Google's algorithms were as sophisticated as believed to be then these networks could be quietly deindexed via a new ?insert dumb animal name here? algo update.
The fact is that Google cannot determine networks without manual intervention. Want proof?
Google would love to make their jobs easier and what an easy way to do so by telling SEO's that link networks should have full reporting. Is this guy kidding? Sure Anglo's network didn't have any reporting (which is how it should be!), but that wasn't Anglo's problem. Google needs a new target every few months and Anglo's greed got in the way causing them to be target #1. Chances are the other networks that Google supposedly took out were collateral damage. Nothing more then some intern at Google coming across other networks sites and mistakenly associating them to Anglo's.
Paid links will continue to work for quite some time, as long as being natural is the key. One link network I use has never had a website deindexed in the three years I have been with them. I can't say that for any other network I've used. But what makes them different? As far as I know they are the only network that has always had a zero reporting policy from day one. That even means with prospective clients as well. I've tested them by contacting them as a ?referral? and claimed to be a major SEO company that would love to use the network for ?all of our clients? but requested to see an example link. Every single time they told me to get lost and that they'd never provide an example link. Bad customer support, sure however they are obviously serious about protecting their network.
The second reason they are still around? They aren't greedy. I can't find a single advertisement anywhere and I only heard about them through a referral. This is the future of effective paid links. Jumping on your local link broker website that flaunts their link vendors domains is just asking for trouble. Ya those links may be easier to buy into but it's only a matter of time till Matt's team of unpaid interns targets those sites. Link networks are great because they are a one-time shop for effective links but you gotta be careful.
Buying paid links and using link networks has changed drastically. Don't have your site permanently damaged by not being careful.
Here are my top tips to slap Matt Cutts in the face with your paid links, dominate Google, and make bank in the process:
Buying into a network that will show you a demo link before signing up? Avoid.
Buying into a network that gives you a link report every week/month/day/minute? Run like the plague. Remember BMR?
Reporting makes Google's job easier. And you are in denial if you think they won't sign up for a network to get link reports. That just makes their job a whole hell of a lot easier.
While I love BHW, you need to be careful joining any network advertised in the marketplace and especially those advertised via banner or stickies. Google will target the more exposed networks first. Why target a private network with 30 or so clients? No one will have heard of them and they'll affect a much smaller audience. Find a network that's referral or not advertised.
These days you need to pay to play. Spun content from a crappy article written by some $3 article service won't cut it. Networks that don't even go through the effort of diversifying their Wordpress theme won't cut it. There's really hundreds of little tricks that network owners either don't know to employ or won't because it's too expensive. If you want link networks to work you will need to pay. In fact I expect the costs associated with joining a network to go up even higher as time goes on. Don't be caught off guard by networks that charge or begin to charge $500-$1k+ a month for serious link equity.
Paid links will continue to work for a long, long time as long as you don't make your link building glaringly obvious. Diversify your anchor text, pages you link and make things appear natural. Google cannot determine a paid link vs a natural link if some of the basics mentioned above are implemented. It's why they continue to deindex networks and make a public show out of it.
TL-DR:
Paid links and link networks work and Google has to take manual efforts to deindex the sites. Follow these quick tips when choosing a link network or when buying paid links and you can continue to rank.
Paid links are Google's kryptonite and without manual intervention there's nothing Google can do to stop them.
Mates, if you haven't realized this already let me elaborate a little bit. Google has done a great job lately of identifying mass-produced low quality backlinks. Algorithm updates over the past year have been targeted at destroying lazy spray and pray linkbuilding and SEO. Long gone are days of taking a brand spanking new domain, setting up Scrapebox and Xrumer and blasting to the top of the SERPs. Sorry folks, those links are really far to easy to algorithmically identify.
However, Google's paid link kryptonite still exists. If paid links were not a problem Google wouldn't need to make a spectacle of networks being deindexed. If Google's algorithms were as sophisticated as believed to be then these networks could be quietly deindexed via a new ?insert dumb animal name here? algo update.
The fact is that Google cannot determine networks without manual intervention. Want proof?
Google would love to make their jobs easier and what an easy way to do so by telling SEO's that link networks should have full reporting. Is this guy kidding? Sure Anglo's network didn't have any reporting (which is how it should be!), but that wasn't Anglo's problem. Google needs a new target every few months and Anglo's greed got in the way causing them to be target #1. Chances are the other networks that Google supposedly took out were collateral damage. Nothing more then some intern at Google coming across other networks sites and mistakenly associating them to Anglo's.
Paid links will continue to work for quite some time, as long as being natural is the key. One link network I use has never had a website deindexed in the three years I have been with them. I can't say that for any other network I've used. But what makes them different? As far as I know they are the only network that has always had a zero reporting policy from day one. That even means with prospective clients as well. I've tested them by contacting them as a ?referral? and claimed to be a major SEO company that would love to use the network for ?all of our clients? but requested to see an example link. Every single time they told me to get lost and that they'd never provide an example link. Bad customer support, sure however they are obviously serious about protecting their network.
The second reason they are still around? They aren't greedy. I can't find a single advertisement anywhere and I only heard about them through a referral. This is the future of effective paid links. Jumping on your local link broker website that flaunts their link vendors domains is just asking for trouble. Ya those links may be easier to buy into but it's only a matter of time till Matt's team of unpaid interns targets those sites. Link networks are great because they are a one-time shop for effective links but you gotta be careful.
Buying paid links and using link networks has changed drastically. Don't have your site permanently damaged by not being careful.
Here are my top tips to slap Matt Cutts in the face with your paid links, dominate Google, and make bank in the process:
1. No Reporting
Buying into a network that will show you a demo link before signing up? Avoid.
Buying into a network that gives you a link report every week/month/day/minute? Run like the plague. Remember BMR?
Reporting makes Google's job easier. And you are in denial if you think they won't sign up for a network to get link reports. That just makes their job a whole hell of a lot easier.
2. Look for Truly Private/Underground Networks
While I love BHW, you need to be careful joining any network advertised in the marketplace and especially those advertised via banner or stickies. Google will target the more exposed networks first. Why target a private network with 30 or so clients? No one will have heard of them and they'll affect a much smaller audience. Find a network that's referral or not advertised.
3. Quality is key
These days you need to pay to play. Spun content from a crappy article written by some $3 article service won't cut it. Networks that don't even go through the effort of diversifying their Wordpress theme won't cut it. There's really hundreds of little tricks that network owners either don't know to employ or won't because it's too expensive. If you want link networks to work you will need to pay. In fact I expect the costs associated with joining a network to go up even higher as time goes on. Don't be caught off guard by networks that charge or begin to charge $500-$1k+ a month for serious link equity.
Paid links will continue to work for a long, long time as long as you don't make your link building glaringly obvious. Diversify your anchor text, pages you link and make things appear natural. Google cannot determine a paid link vs a natural link if some of the basics mentioned above are implemented. It's why they continue to deindex networks and make a public show out of it.
TL-DR:
Paid links and link networks work and Google has to take manual efforts to deindex the sites. Follow these quick tips when choosing a link network or when buying paid links and you can continue to rank.
- No reporting
- Look for truly private/underground networks
- Quality is key
