Multiple similar links without the penguin?

[Agguk]

Hi,

I´m working with a site where clients proudly will publish a link to us as sort of a sign/partner symbol for using our services. Potentially we could have thousands or at least hundreds of links pointing to us and we could tailor/provide snippets for the links that clients can use on their site.

I´m part of a team that just started working with this site and I realize this is a great opportunity that has not yet been exploited. I´m also a little paranoid that this tactic might be picked up by the penguin or that google sees it as black hat if not done wisely ?

But links will only come from respectable business sites although ranging from different genres both really big and small.
Today links are mostly leading to our frontpage from our clients but I would like to tailor links so that each client could link to a page that is targeted on the keyword/service they have been using (and awarded diploma for) I think this would serve both the client and our SEO better ?

I would really appreciate suggestions and comments on how to approach this best!

Here is my plan so far, trying to make good/right use of the opportunity without offending google:
-Most links will be through a logo/sign that shows the award/diploma earned through our service.
I think the "alt" -tag should include both our company brand name and the service/target keyword for the page it´s leading to.

-We could also provide a short text describing the earned award and our brand name and this whole text would also lead to the same page on our site.
...I guess using only the targeted keyword as anchor -link within the text would be a bad idea?

-Where possible I would also like to customize this short text a little for each client (although that will be hard and only possible to some degree).

As we provide "link material" for the client to include on their site, would it be wise to have them use an image that is hosted on our site or send them the image so they can publish that instead?

Grateful for any feedback on this!

Thanks!

[Agguk]

Thank you Jake!

I appreciate your input and do see your point but since the links are completely optional and the linked page at our site basically serves as further explanation on the subject and what the sign/badge stands for…also after watching this https://moz.com/blog/weird-crazy-myths-about-link-building-in-seo-you-should-probably-ignore-whiteboard-friday

I can’t help but thinking it would be overly cautious to explicitly tell customers to use nofollow

/Anders

[HiveDigitalInc]

Hi Anders,

If you are going to use the widget, it needs to have a very strong and justifiable purpose to be linked to..   You might consider the relevance of the page/site that will be linking to you, and no-following all placement except those you feel are highly relevant .. just to try and minimize risks.

Cheers,

Jake

[Agguk]

Thank you Jake!

So, do you mean that the js script should generate a personalized badge/image with a link to a page that has personalized info, on our site?
We have 6 different badges/signs to give out to clients for fulfilling different services...and I thought preferably with a link to it´s corresponding in depth page at our site.
Or would you not recommend using any standard dofollowlinks links at all?

/Anders

[HiveDigitalInc]

This sounds like a stereotypical badge linking campaign, and certainly carries some risk.  You are correct to assume you shouldn't use target keywords, etc.. in anchor text less you draw even more unwanted attention.   The "safe" practice would be to no-follow those links.

With the latest penguin update, the assumption is that these types of links, upon being identified, would simply be devalued, but the verdict is certainly not in at this point.

You might be better served, from a risk management standpoint, to consider giving your customers a js script code they can place on the site that shows off their badge, much similar to the way Google does this for their partners program, BBB does this for the live ratings updates, etc..     Then if you want to help your customers craft a blog post, or provide some additional information/resource they can write about in a blog/news section on their site, you might consider that in addition to the JS.

Cheers,

Jake Bohall