Does this link building actually work?
-
Doing a small SEO project for a local dermatologist and when reviewing competitor link profiles I found one site that was earning a TON of links from other doctors throughout the country.
From what I can tell, it looks like this web development company builds medical practice sites, then puts a page on each site that links to all other practices they created site for.
Does this actually work? What would the name of this be? Recipricol links? Link farm?
http://www.raleighsportsmed.com/ypo-showcase.php
Thanks!
Ricky
-
Does it work? Yeah, probably. For now.
Should it work? Probably not. I obviously haven't seen the sites, but if they're hosted on the same hosting account with the same IP address, then it wouldn't surprise me if this was eventually hit. And if it was reported, it definitely would not pass a manual review by the Google spam team IMO.
As others have said, it's super risky. Just a few weeks ago I didn't let someone join my platform to provide local SEO services specifically because they are doing this sort of thing as their main link acquisition tactic for their clients, and while it works right now it's definitely very grey hat and will stop working at some point. I've spoken with people who used to operate Personal Blog Networks like this, and they always get hit eventually.
I'd also hate to be the SEO brought in to clean this sort of thing up and get the clients that this company loses ranking again. Lots of small businesses sound like they'll be harmed because of this, unfortunately.
Hope that helps!
John
-
That SEO consultant or agency is buying all the tickets for a penalty.
Too old school, too early 2000's
-
Wouldn't you hate to be the SEO consultant who had all his clients penalized at the same time? Sheesh!
-
Oh man! That looks reaaalllly dangerous.
I am confident that this type of approach has been on the Google Spam Team's radar for at least a decade. I will be surprised if Google has not at least devalued these links, if they have not demoted some of the sites in the organic rankings - but I don't know what type of negative impact this would have in the local search results.
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
-
A Safe Place for Link Building
Are there any trustworthy link exchange forums? I have over 20 PR 4-8 links
Link Building | | 01023450 -
Gained my first quality link, was it worth 2 hours of work?
Hello,
Link Building | | wppseo
I'm a newbie. I'm building a brand new site. In a niche service business, worldwide.
Today I gained my first link, I tried to reach to the highest qualify link I could identify.
I'd like to know if you think my two hours effort was worthy, or laughable. Because I can gain other 3 or 4 links from other domains working like that. I tell you where is my first link: the top domain is in the same niche business, DA 79
My link is in a subdomain page (always in the same niche business) that has: 20 other links (mine is the only external dofollow) Domain Authority 79 /100 Page Authority 31 /100 Page Link Metrics Just-Discovered 79 in 32 Days Established Links 1 Root Domain 4 Total Links the homepage of the subdomain has Page Authority of 66 /100 Page Social Metrics 0 0 0 0 0 I'd appreciate any feedback.0 -
What do you use to gather and build Links?
I was just wondering what do most people use for gathering and building links? Is OpenSiteExplorer enough? When I am analysing competitors, there are literally thousands of links, how do you scan them and select the ones you want to use? Any other tools?
Link Building | | moneywise_test0 -
Link Building for lower budgets that work on 2012
Hello, I think many of us have re-plan their SEO strategy since the latest updates from Google and we all saw that coming anyway. We already know that link building using Directories, Article sites, Link exchange, profiles, footer/side links, paid links, press releases and other have been devalued or not working at all. For low budget websites and websites that cannot afford fresh/valued updated content or other link baiting techniques there arent much left. I my self found that Social Media and Blogging (Guest posts) are they only techniques left for websites that cannot manage to get natural links. Also i have realized that On-page optimization is getting more attention again. We all have great ideas of acquiring links but what we do when time and budget is limited? Google promotes natural link building but how you supposed to get natural links from a new low reputation website? I kinda of like the new approach since it will make SEO work a lot of harder and eliminate the easy path success. It will also focus the SEO job more on On-page and on great content. But this is getting a lot of harder for new websites with lower budgets and lower time to consume on SEO. I deeply know the answer of my question but i would like your opinion also and of course if anyone would like to share some ideas or know-how to discuss is welcome.
Link Building | | Lakiscy0 -
What are the best SEO agencies for link building?
I am not looking for a full service SEO agency. I just want link building. Not paid links, not link networks, not blog comments, not bookmarks...real, legit, decent links. Does anyone have any experience working with an SEO agency that helped them develop their link profile positively and at a reasonable price? I'm willing to pay for the service, I just want to work with someone who won't buy links or send a bunch of spam our way. If anyone has worked with such an agency, please let me know so I can contact them for more info. Thanks!
Link Building | | DanDeceuster0 -
What is the best company to use when building links to feature on multiple directories online?
I am looking to build links for my clients who are in a very competitive industry 'airport parking', can you advise where I can submit their URL to generate good quality links without being penalised?
Link Building | | shami0 -
Link building, does query string matter?
Hi All, We have some partners which link to our site, and they put "?ref=SITENAME" so we Can identify the source of the link....but does this matter to the search engines? Does this count as a different page than the one without the query string? -Rasmus
Link Building | | rasmusbang0 -
What percentage of my links should be directory links
I feel a lot of my link building might be a bit heavy on the directory links side. Should I limit the percentage amount of links as a part of my overall link profile? If yes what percentage of links is ok to be directory links?
Link Building | | iSenseWebSolutions0