Dodgy link profiles?!?!
-
Just started working on a new pharma based client in the UK. I have been carrying out some link profiling on page one results for several key terms and have discovered that almost all of the sites ranking in top positions appear to have all kinds of rubbish links (links in irrelevant content / articles, links in forum signatures, single page blogs and sites that appear to have little association with their products). These links seem to be about the only links some of them have yet they rank top!
It seems a very difficult prospect to build a decent white hat link profile if everyone else is STILL capitalizing on the sort of rubbish links that Google is supposed to be getting tough on. Are online pharmacies the world that Google forgot or is this a really common issue?
-
Thanks for the insight guys. I think I am resigned to the fact that doing this white hat is going to be a bit of a slow burner. It will be an interesting one to see grow though as the site is more or less a blank canvass in terms of link profile. Trying to figure out a good strategy to beat the spam sites (and occasional authentic site) will be a good challenge.
-
Ah, I would say the pharmacy industry is probably one of the most competitive verticals in SEO, specifically due to the blackhat tactics you mentioned. The short answer is that obviously these kinds of dodgy link schemes are still quite effective but you are right that Google is definitely getting tougher on these kinds of links. My bet is that the sites that are currently ranking in the top spots for your desired keywords will be slapped with penalties and removed eventually but that a new group of sites with spammy links will soon pop right back up in those spots.
That being said, I don't think it's a lost cause to get your client ranking well using legitimate white hat links, although it's likely to be more of a gradual long term process. I certainly know how frustrating it can be to have to battle against these shady sites since I have clients in similar situations (mortgages and insurance), but over time, we have made steady improvements in the rankings by creating good content as well as utilizing press releases and social media which in turn, results in high quality backlinks from authoritative sites. While it does take time, it's at least comforting to know that it is highly unlikely that your client's site will be slapped with penalties and should gradually rise to the top as Google continues to work on weeding out the spam sites.
Also, try to focus on long tail keywords that the spammers are not targeting and make it a goal to increase overall organic traffic rather than simply ranking #1 for something like "viagra."
-
You did say you were working on a "Pharma" site right? What other types of viagra sites exist besides spam sites?...
Kidding aside, sites may rank in spite of their poor link profiles. Links are not everything. They are a lot, but not everything. If the sites are old enough and perform well enough, their history may outweigh the updates. If you don't want to follow the crowd then better for you. Your very own diversified link portfolio is better than trying to match another site's. Go for links a spam site can't get. Get quality Edu links. Put out quality content. Go for long tail search and rankings. Watch your site slowly pick up speed. It's a slow road, but has sure footing.
Or follow the crowd and go for that automated link building. Just remember, if you want a quick road to the top then you can expect a rapid decent as well.
Disclaimer, either approach could fail, either could win. Know your risks.
-
IME crap links still rank if everyone else in that niche has a tone of bad links as well (remember google need relevant search results for its users), but chances are little or no value will be flowing from thiose links. This is just my opinion... I have no evidence to back it up. Build some good links and see what happens....
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
-
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Ran a backlink competitor analysis and found that the competitor has their links coming from various linkedin and youtube posts but my client does the same thing and im not seeing any links coming from those sources for them?
Link Building | | Stongex0 -
Unnatural Links To Your Site — Impacts Links warning, Should I do something?
Hi, I got: "Unnatural Links To Your Site — Impacts Links Google has detected a pattern of unnatural artificial, deceptive, or manipulative links pointing to pages on this site. Some links may be outside of the webmaster’s control, so for this incident we are taking targeted action on the unnatural links instead of on the site’s ranking as a whole. " I don't see any dropping at rankings, could the best solution here to be, just to leave everything as it is and be more careful with the link building in the future? Or is there a danger that Google gives further penalties if I don't act on this one do something? I am little afraid that if I start removing links, my rankings will drop, even though they have remained same if don't do anything? Any help is appreciated.
Link Building | | pok3rplay3r0 -
To Fix An Incoming Link Or Not?
I recently received a unnatural link notice from Google. The thing is, I haven't done any link building in the last two years. So, I looked at my latest links report within Google Webmaster Tools and see where one of our dealer's website has been updated recently and now includes a site-wide link to us. Site note: My brand name as the anchor text ... no keywords nearby. I think this is what may be causing the problem because nothing else within the report really jumps out at me. Also, it lines up with the timeline. It looks like they changed their site to include the link at the beginning of April. Google was noticing the links throughout April and to the present. I got the notice May 19th. Now, I have a good relationship with this dealer and can have him change anything I want at the drop of a hat. The question is, by having him change it am I admitting to Google wrongdoing and thus hurting myself by inviting further scrutiny. Should I leave it as is since it truly is a legitimate link? Google having false positives like this really muddies the water. Thanks guys!
Link Building | | tatermarketing0 -
Link Campaign
I need to put together a link campaign, but am a new SEO in training. Any recommendations on how to start, even if it's just read certain articles or watch certain videos? Your help is appreciated!
Link Building | | cbeuoy0 -
Around 10% of our backlink profile is made up of branded links from one Japanese site, do we disavow?
We have recently changed domain names and all the links are going to the old domain. We are wondering whether we should disavow them all as they are the majority of our backlink profile at the moment.
Link Building | | cttgroup0 -
Internal links
It can be bad for the site if I use various items to create links to a page that represents a specific keyword? The articles are relevant and anchor text is not only done on the keyword, but also by using words near the keyword in question.
Link Building | | otimizador20130 -
Different Link Titles Linking to the same page
So I'm doing a lot of link building but my question is how do search engines treat different link titles to the same page. For example, my main page is www.musillawfirm.com If I have 20 links from 20 sites linking to it as Melbourne FL DUI Lawyer and 20 more linking as Melbourne FL immigration Lawyer and More linking as Cocoa FL DUI lawyer etc... what happens? Do the search engines just rank me higher for all the terms or would it be better to always just link to separate landing pages? Thanks in advance
Link Building | | musillawfirm0