We used to sell links ...
-
We used to sell text links on our site WebDesign.org , I told about that via Twitter in public, Google penalized us and here’s the history of the issue in more detail. I write it here to ask if you guys know how to sort out this issue coz I’m not exactly sure at this point.
Before I tackle the issue itself, here's some background.
OUTBOUND LINKS ISSUE
Jun 22, 2013
We received an Unnatural outbound links penalty (Manual spam action message in our Google Webmaster Tools account) from Google
July 1, 2013
We nofollowed all homepage links and submitted a reconsideration request
July 10, 2013
Google replied that we still violate their quality guidelines
July 15, 2013
We removed links to low quality and irrelevant sites (such as Chinese stores, etc) and submitted another reconsideration request
July 22, 2013
Manual Spam Action revoked
INBOUND LINKS ISSUE
November 8, 2013
We got a message from Google about Unnatural links to your site - impacts links (Message in our Google Webmaster Tools account)
November 27, 2013
We Submitted a Disavow file with Deadly Risky links (found via generating a LinkDetox report) and submitted a reconsideration request
December 15, 2013
Manual Action revoked (main keyword ranking got from 41 to 4)
February 6, 014
And here's the actual issue:
OUTBOUND LINKS ISSUE (Again)
I told via Twitter in public that our site sells links. Matt Cutts noticed that and we got another Unnatural outbound links penalty (Manual action). Main keyword ranking decreased from 9 to 65. We removed all outbound links on the homepage and submitted a reconsideration request.
April 15, 2014
Google replied that we still violate their quality guidelines. We nofollowd all outbound links with JavaScript (wrong move because Google did not take it as nofollowed) and submitted another reconsideration request.
April 19, 2014
Google rejected our reconsideration request and said that we still violate their quality guidelines.
April 23, 2014
We nofollowed properly this time (with PHP) and submitted another reconsideration request.
May 4, 2014
Google replies that we still violate their quality guidelines.
So, at this point I’m kinda lost in terms of what to do next because we've nofollowed all our outbound links (both paid and natural ones).
What would you recommend?
-
Woot! Congrats! And thanks for letting us know.
-
Brilliant, glad to hear it!
-
Thanks a lot you guys. We've have it revoked !!!
-
Thanks Marie, I can't believe that I overlooked it Taking care of tht now
-
I'm still seeing followed links coming from your author bios in guest posts. For example:
http://www.webdesign.org/5-web-design-trends-to-remember-fall-winter-2013.22364.html
http://www.webdesign.org/the-most-popular-psd-to-html-services.22404.html
-
Hi Vince,
Being publicly outed for selling links (or buying them) can result in harsh sanctions that seem to go above and beyond fair, although every case of this happening is anecdotal. Google has been known to suspend or ban people's entire networks for publicly flouting their guidelines. They're certainly not above making an example, and being publicly noticed on Twitter is a tough way to go.
If all outbound links that could be considered commercial have been nofollowed, I see no reason why you need to worry about outbound linking anymore. Andy may have a good point about ads on the page, but the ads I see are fairly nonintrusive. You may want to try serving them as banner ads with JavaScript, like the "links" created by ad networks (was this how you did it before, when it wasn't good enough for Google?).
-
Hi Vince,
The page layout algorithm is more about ads and placement than no-following of links. The first thing someone sees when this come to your page, is an ad for someone else.
Also, I think we are looking at different pages - the example you gave me was this page:
http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-fails.22423.htmlOn this page, there is a Wix banner at the top. This could be the problem from an algorithm point. However, there is definitely no nofollow attached to this.
The second is the Bluehost banner on the left of the page at the bottom. This is another ad that is has no no-follow.
-Andy
-
Thanks for your assistance Andy.
Do you mean to say that even if links are nofollow, the page layout can still impact us?
I'm not exactly sure what you by by a wix banner, but the "Get Domain!" button is nofollow. At least, that's what I can see in my browser. Please see for yourself.
-
I wonder if this could be the page layout algorithm? You can read more about that here. This effectively goes after sites / pages and "downgrades the ranking of a web page with too many ads at the top or if the ads are deemed too distracting for users."
The problem might now not be to do with links, but could be something else - or a combination. The Wix banner doesn't appears to be no-followed either.
Bluehost at the bottom left (image link) also doesn't appear to be no-followed.
-Andy
-
Sure, here's one of my pages:
http://www.webdesign.org/web-design-fails.22423.html
Yes, it has the rel="nofollow" attribute and you can see is as red in seo-browser.com:
-
Hey Vince,
I remember reading that when it was posted.
Do you have an example if a page with an outbound link that has been nofollowed? I would like to take a look at this myself. Do you have a rel=nofollow tag on the outbound links at all?
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Internal Links from Blog
Quick question. In regards to linking to products from your blog. I've read recently that linking excessively between your site can be a bad SEO habit. So, I was curious if anyone else has heard of this. Plus, if you have a blog, how many internal links should you have going to you pages on your site - other blogs, products etc? Thanks.
Content Development | | Kdruckenbrod0 -
Need advice on internal links
I run a couple of gadget/technology based blogs, which essentially has news based articles and long form articles such as reviews, tutorials, and tips. Looking for some advice on the strategy for internal links: We have been using internal links in the following ways in articles so far: Links to the category pages at the end of the article (we call it related topics) Links to category pages wherever relevant preferably in the first paragraph. The logic here was that if we can add the link to a category in the first paragraph, which appears on the home page and category page, it will pass the link juice to the category page. Link to relevant articles, mostly by using the full title of the post as we thought that it stands out. Issues with the current strategy: In the case of the 1st strategy, it doesn't seem that natural, so we are not sure if people actually end up clicking them. In case of the 2nd, we have couple of concerns: it could result in linking to a category page twice. One within the article, and the second at the end of the article because of strategy 1. Because the first paragraph also appears on the category pages, it would mean that in some cases we will be linking to the same category page (recursive). In the case of the 3rd strategy, the problem is it does not appear natural so we are sure if it increases the value of the content. I was wondering if we should adopt the following strategy: Get rid of category links at the end of the article. Avoid linking to the category pages in the first paragraph, instead link to the category pages after the first paragraph, so we don't end up with the issue mentioned in b. i. Alternatively, we could remove the excerpts from the category pages so we don't hit the issue of linking to the category page from the category page. Add links more naturally. So have a sentence which talks about the related article and link to it using partial match (keyword phrase) or exact match. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Content Development | | Gautam0 -
Blogging , do I create a huge blog which links to all my sites
Blogging , do I create a huge blog which links to all my sites or do i create a blog on each site, or do i guest blog to each site from other peoples blogs 😞 which is best ?
Content Development | | SocialAssist1 -
Why Moz use mz.cm for social link ?
Do you see that ?
Content Development | | Natifs
When you click on facebook post of Moz, the URL is domain is : MZ.CM ans after 301 to moz.com/article... Why ? Thanks2 -
Can someone PLEASE help me find a solution to use a custom search engine for iPhones?? Thanks in advance!
Hey mozzers, I'm in quite the pickle today and would really appreciate some help! i need a way to have my members set their default custom search engine on their iPhones and androids to our sites search engine. Google chrome does on desktops but not iPhones. Thanks for your time/help, Tyler Abernethy
Content Development | | TylerAbernethy0 -
How does one write different pages of their website that are very similar in nature with using too much duplicate content?
We are a service provider and we have different links on our website to each of our services. The problem is the content that we would have for each is very similar. How can I ensure that it is not deemed duplicate content and ranked poorly because of it. Thanks
Content Development | | JayTurner0 -
Does anyone use rss feeds to attract more visitors
Hi, i am wondering if anyone uses rss feeds to bring visitors to their site. My site is www.in2town.co.uk and i am not sure if it would be worthwhile in using rss feeds to bring visitors to my site. I must admit i have never subscribed to any rss feeds so this has got me thinking, do many people subscribe to them these days.
Content Development | | ClaireH-1848860 -
How many words is suitable to use at a title photograph?
Hi! I don't have any idea about how many keywords is appropiate to include at a photograph's title, alternative text and description and how much does it affect to SEO. Could you help me? Thanks.
Content Development | | juanmanolo0