Do "big" SEO companies remove links after termination of service?
-
Or worded differently:
Has anyone heard of "big" SEO companies removing links after termination of service?
I have a client who isn't particularly happy with the SEO he's getting from a big Aussie SEO firm, and he wants to terminate, however they've built thousands of links for him and he's a little concerned they might all get pulled.
Has anyone heard of this happening, or;
Do you think this is a legitimate concern?
I think its physically possible to remove backlinks like this because it seems the SEO firm in question is building links by using other client's websites.
I also wonder if they might have large content farm style sites where they place links for clients which might be quite easy to take down.
Please discuss!
-
Have I heard of this? Yes.
Is it a legitimate concern? Yes, but the impact of the links being removed depends on whether those links are "being counted by Google." If these "rented links" aren't being counted (or contributing very little), then their removal won't really matter.
Are the links indexed? Are they on domains that rank? What are the PA's & DA's for these links?
-
In my ten years, I have definitely heard of this happening. It's a bigger risk when your SEO provider has a private network of sites.Heck, I have even heard of people holding this over their clients; "If you quit you will lose all your traffic/rankings."
It's really no different than people paying YP for a directory listing, they are billed for "Search Engine Marketing" monthly and when they stop, the link is removed.
I view SEO similar to web design/creative -- if you pay us, it is yours, you retain ownership and that is the way it should be.
-
Has anyone heard of "big" SEO companies removing links after termination of service?
Some companies own or have partnerships with large numbers of websites and place links out there for clients. They control these links and can modify or remove them easily - with programs or with low-cost workers.
The monthly fee for SEO services is often a payment for paid links. The links are actually "rented" by the month.
Do you think this is a legitimate concern?
Yes.
I think its physically possible to remove backlinks like this because it seems the SEO firm in question is building links by using other client's websites.
That is really sleezy to use the sites of other clients. My bet is that they have bought a large number of websites that owners have gotten tired of for a couple hundred dollars each. Its pretty easy to buy websites that owners have not touched in a long time. They might have also grabbed expiring domains.
I also wonder if they might have large content farm style sites where they place links for clients which might be quite easy to take down.
There you have it!
-
If there is something in the contract that will affect the client negatively or if the old firm is suspected of being likely to cause problems then it may be that the clients best interest is suited by employing a reputable SEO firm to work on link building to strengthen the link profile before cutting ties with the old firm.
There will obviosuly be additional cost by following this approach however this would need to be weighed up against the possible rankings fall / traffic fall that might occur if the contract doesn't protect the client from the sort of situation described.
-
It depends. What's written into the agreement?
If they've built links on other people's sites then it will probably be too much of a hassle to contact all of them and ask them to remove it, so it will either naturally run out (if it's paid and you're not given the contact details) or remain there for the rest of it's natural life.
Alternatively if they run the sites they've been building links on (and it is the easiest way to guarantee clients will get links on sites) then they may remove them to make way for new clients links. I've certainly seen this happen.
It's important to note that Google doesn't overly care how quickly you get links, but it will certainly notice if you lose a lot quickly! Aa it means you've either bought them and they've expired or something has happened to make people lose trust in your site, either way it's going to raise some flags and possibly have someone look a little bit closer into your link profile.
Double check what's been agreed, find out who owns the sites the links have been built on and speak with the agency before you do it. If they're reputable I doubt they'll try and screw you over.
-
One would think that they have paid for those links to be built and thus own them, but I guess it's all down to what it says in the contract at the end of the day. I won't even touch on the ethical aspect of the whole question.
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
-
Where to Look for a Standard 9-5 SEO Job
Hello, I'm looking for a standard 20-30 hour a week SEO job. I'd like to make $30/hour. My resume is here. So far I'm making a list of all the SEO companies in Boise, Idaho. Then I'm going to also call up the larger companies in my local area. I'm interested in knowing how to best look for a job, and if there are any national companies where I could do work locally for. Let me know what other information I can provide.
Industry News | | BobGW0 -
SEO Risks for redirecting sites
Hey Everyone, I've tried searching for this question, but am not exactly sure what keywords to search for so I'm probably missing the resources if they already exist... My client has had duplicated sites for years, and after multiple penalizations of those sites I was finally able to convince him to consolidate them into a "mega-site". Currently, he has a main domain, a geo-subdomain for each office location under the main domain, and a geo-domain for each office location. We plan on redirecting each geo-domain to the corresponding geo-subdomain. So, the final result will be one main domain, and a sub-domain for each office location. I'm looking for any information regarding tracking SEO data after the redirects are in place, how to guard against potential drops in SERPs, what's the smartest strategy to implement, etc... My client is very sensitive to his sites' SEO data, so if anyone has any SEO-related advice regarding redirecting sites it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Industry News | | Level2Designs0 -
How should I outsource my small business SEO needs?
Fellow MOZers, I run a small ecommerce business called mrpearl11.com, and I need assistance in outsourcing my SEO. A little about us: We sell a variety of import merchandise, but specialize in closeouts (buying merchandise at very low prices) which can translate into some real exceptional value to our customers. The buying part of the business is strong, but our online presence is weak. We have a decent high-level understanding of SEO, but I do not have the in-house skill sets necessary to truly leverage the SEO tactics and strategies that I believe we need to integrate into our processes. Thus we have a very weak SEO presence. Basically starting from scratch. Right now, we are focusing on content. Item-level content. Subcategory and category level content. General website content (about us, contact us, the checkout process, etc...) with the goal to provide a great user experience. We believe we have the right prices on the right merchandise, and that if we can set a strong foundation of content so that the user experience is positive, our future marketing efforts will have a better ROI. However, keyword analysis and targeting, data-mining, A/B testing, link acquisition, etc etc etc, really don't exist as a part of our processes on a professional level. I could try to train my in-house crew, but I think that from time a time and cost perspective, we'd be better served by outsourcing. My question to the MOZ community is how should I address my small business SEO needs? There are probably a lot of ways to go from here, but I want to start with a person or an agency, build a relationship, and move forward taking one step at a time. I don't want to jump into some kind of commitment where we're spending big bucks out of the gate, but on the other hand if we can build a track record of proven results that have a good ROI, I'm not afraid to scale up. Please share your thoughts, and feel welcome to ask questions 🙂 Thanks! Adam
Industry News | | Adam-Perlman0 -
Is big Penguin update on its way
Just wondering, whether these updates have got anything to do with the next and the biggest Penguin update - Penguin refreshes and the launch of Disavow Option seems to be a bit correlated. It appears that Google might be testing its algo and the Disavow Link is launched so that website owners who might feel frustrated that their websites are wrongly affected can use this tool to exonerate from the penalty. Any thought?
Industry News | | Debdulal0 -
Outranking the big boys, how to protect position?
Hi We're an affiliate travel site, and not only are we outranking the site who provides the rates, we're also outranking some of the very big travel companies that provide rates to them. Of course, that's great. But it's also worrying, following the advice of SEOMOZ to the letter we've managed to acheive great ranking for product names and even cities/place, we've got 100% unique content (the affiliate site offer XML but we haven't taken it) with our own pictures, reviews and videos, but is this going to be enough? I'm concerned that, outrank these bigger companies on enough keywords and they will either a) complain to google or b) stop providing us with rates. What steps should I take in this situation? I feel it is our "competitors" job to up their game, rather than for us to try to sail under the radar, but unfortunately and I've been involved in SEO where this has happened before, if you start to rank well, they'd rather pull the plug on you than up their game. Is there any advice out there on this type of thing, how I can at least stay in Google's good books if a competitor does decide we don't "deserve" our ranking?
Industry News | | xoffie0 -
How do I "link" up with USA based SEO's
After 28 long years of wait this year I finally made it to the United States of America. I grew up on "The A Team" , "Knight Rider" and Mcdonalds cheese burgers from 2 years onwards. I am as American as a English person could possibly be. It wasn't until I arrived in Florida and spent two weeks in the great country that I understood the difference in the minds and mentality of people. People were nicer ! People on the whole had a can do mentaily. If your a success people congratulate you for it . Unlike the UK.... Plus people were not scared to make a fool of themselves... (People jumping up and down at traffic lights with advertising boards) Now to my question - I loved it so much I want to go back and I figured me and my wife and 3 year old may have a extended break next time where I can work on vacation maybe over a month or so. I would love to get to know as many SEO's and people based in the USA as possible please and introduce myself etc. Hey who knows maybe SEO Moz can change my future (fingers crossed) Thanks to all the people that get in touch !
Industry News | | onlinemediadirect0 -
UK link building companies?
Has anyone had any experience working with any? Are there any you'd particularly recommend/avoid? Thanks. 🙂
Industry News | | Alex-Harford0 -
Who would you like to ask a SEO question the most?
I was wondering about which people in the industry you'd like to ask a question the most in the q&a? On my list is Matt Cutts (obviously), Marshall Simmonds, Jimmy Wales and Biz Stone.
Industry News | | ThomasHgenhaven0