By now, everyone should be intimately aware of the recent Google smackdown. A few blog networks have been completely nuked, while others have shut their doors to new members.
Many are now struggling with unnatural link warnings, big ranking drops, and the new possibilities for negative SEO.
Face it. The SEO landscape is constantly changing. The first Google Panda updates hit sites more than a year ago. And there were plenty of algorithm changes, big and small, before that. Google is constantly changing its algorithms and if you want to keep ahead of the curve, then you need to start adapting.
So that got me thinking…
If blog networks aren’t working anymore, then what is?
My New Project
About that time when all these changes were starting to happen, I read this really great post by Eppie Vojt called How Garbage Ranks in the SERPs: a Case Study. It was a really fascinating post that generated a ton of positive (and negative) buzz.
What interested me most from the article though was the Link Detective tool he developed to analyze a website’s backlink profile and categorize the types of links that were pointing to it. It can identify many different types of backlinks, from footer and sidebar links, to comments links, profile links and even blog post links.
Although you can sign up for free, I didn’t like the fact that it would only work with backlinks download from Open Site Explorer.
Inspired by his idea, I decided to build my own version that incorporated my own custom link types and would work with any set of backlinks I could throw at it. I had my programmer work on this project, and a week later I had my own Link Classifier tool to experiment with.
The Case Study
While the tool is still a work in progress, I wanted to test it out with a simple case study and look at a couple of sites in niches I was very familiar with. More specifically, I looked at two high value keywords I saw ranking drops with on my own sites and examined the backlinks profiles of the sites that had replaced them.
My two favorite sources for downloading backlinks are Ahrefs and Majestic SEO. By combining the results from both services, I am able to build a more extensive backlink profile and get more complete results.
Keep in mind that my goal here is not to out any particular sites, so I won’t be sharing any of the urls. I am mainly interested in taking a more in-depth look at my competition’s backlink profiles to see what link building techniques they are using and see what’s currently working at this point in time.
Site 1
Currently ranks #3 for a very popular IM product name keyword.
Link Types
Comment – 44
Not Found – 69
Redirect – 1
Dead – 93
Unknown Links – 12
Total Links – 339
I was already quite familiar with Site 1 as I have observed this site on the first page of the Google search results for a long time now. While my own targeted post dropped down to the 3rd page of the SERPs, Site 1 has taken hold of the #3 spot for this very lucrative keyword in the IM space.
Site 1 is your classic sniper product review site with an exact match domain. Objectively, the content on the site is average at best, with no screenshots or video. There is no social engagement either. (0 Tweets, 1 FB share)
Site 1′s link profile is quite interesting to look at. As I take a deeper at the In-Post links, it is quite obvious that they certainly have used blog networks as a main component of their backlinking strategy. I was able to identify Authority Link Network and Article Ranks as two networks that were used for sure.
What is funny is that their In-Post links were definitely affected by the Google’s recent updates as all but 6 of them (94%) were de-indexed.
So what’s keeping the site at the top? If you look at the linking profile it looks like the blog comments are doing the trick. These are not your normal hand-written, thoughtful comments though…
Instead, it’s obvious from examining the comments themselves that Site 1 is using Scrapebox (or similar program) to find auto approve blogs to post their comments on. All of the comments I looked at were short, nonsensical blurbs of text. However, each one of them contained 2 or 3 anchor text keywords links in the comment body.
I was a bit surprised at the effectiveness of these types of links, but there doesn’t seem to be any question that they do work.
Site 2
Currently ranking #2 for a generic web hosting related keyword.
Link Types
In-Post – 84
Comment – 3
Forum Signature – 6
Sidebar – 8
Not Found – 54
Unknown – 28
Redirects – 1
Dead – 39
Total Links: 232
Site 2 is your standard web hosting review site. Web hosting is an extremely lucrative niche because of the high affiliate commissions you can earn from each web hosting sale. It is also one of the most competitive niches for SEO.
Site 2 really shows the linking power of relevant, paid links. Looking at the site’s backlink profile, I see a handful of paid sidebar and footer links combined with a large amount of paid In-Post links. They have also done a good job mixing up their link profile by throwing in some forum signature links, web 2.0 blog posts on their own WordPress.com created blogs and a few legitimate blog comments as well.
Drilling down into the In-Post links is rather enlightening. First of all, I see some really nice contextual links on real, legitimate websites. These are paid text links of course, but they’ve done a good job of making them blend in.
I also noticed some blog network post type links. Not paid blog networks mind you. But a private blog network only used by Site 2 and a few of their other sites. I can tell this because these blogs aren’t filled with thousands of posts covering random topics. Instead each blog has a handful of relevant blog posts that only link to a select number of sites.
Lessons Learned
Obviously, it’s hard to make any concrete declarations by cherry picking the results of a couple of sites.
Still, a few observations:
1) Blog comment spam works. I am actually quite surprised by this fact, as I thought this would be the first type of “unnatural link building” eliminated. Does that mean I’m going to start doing it myself? No. because even if Google hasn’t targeted these types of links yet, they can easily do so in the future. I’d rather focus on something more long-term.
2) Paid links are king. Google went to war against paid links long before the blog networks. But they still work, and they will always work as long as Google continues to place a heavy emphasis on link building. With blog networks losing steam, paid links are still the most effective “black/grey” hat links you can get.
3) Are Private blog networks the future? Will private blog networks become more and more popular? I’ve heard lots of chatter about people building up their own private blog networks. It’s an expensive, and potentially time consuming process to do it right so it will be interesting to see how effective they become in the future.
Got any thoughts on my experiment? What do you think the most effective links will be in the future?
Image source: mushroom-cloud-300×225 By Whatsername?
Jessica (6)
Sarah Harper (6)
Darcy (5)
AndyT (4)
Lee (4)
{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Chris. Some really interesting observations you have found here. My feeling is that Google is playing a never ending game of whack-a-mole. Each time they hit one target, another one will rise up to take its place.
By the way, are you planning on releasing your Link Classifier script? I’d love to get my hands on it so I can do my own experiments.
Hi Ron. I’m thinking about sharing the script to the subscribers on my list. So sign up if you want a copy. :)
When it comes to link building internal linking plays a vital role too. I should definitely cut out my mistake and establish a great internal linking strategy to beat the competitors.
thanks for the share.
Becca recently posted..Skip Bins Wyongah
I agree that internal linking can play an important role for good SEO. But the two sites I looked at for this case study are not doing much in terms of internal linking and I doubt it affected their rankings much, positively or negatively.
So apparently Google is making great strides to “improve” website content. It seems that link building and also “over optimisation” is being hit.
Seems like the future is grim for SEO.
Everything Hosting recently posted..Google’s New Algorithm penalizes over-optimisation to improve website
Great article, I just joined your list for the link building lab and found this site.
That tool you’ve built sounds really interesting!
Sean Kaye recently posted..SEO Services Business
Thanks Chris for your analysis. I think, better strategy would be Private Blog Networks (if done correctly :-) and Manual Blog Commenting.
Private Blog Networks still works, but you’ve to be more careful in choosing the right one and that will suites your niche. Also we cant ignore content quality as it is most important part of SERPs.
Sarah Harper recently posted..The Best Spinner Discount » ONLY $40!
Chris,
I’m pretty sure that blog comments of AA blogs with thousands of spam comments do not work still. I mean with a few exceptions, of course. But running conclusions based on just 1 site should not be the case.
Karan
Hi Karan,
You’re certainly right that I shouldn’t base conclusions on 1 site. The Google Penguin update hit the day after I published this post, so I’ll have to do some follow up case studies on more sites.
Hey Chris,
I’m wondering if you would be able to post their anchor text percentages as well (not the actual anchors, just the percentage breakdown). My site was recently hit by the “Penguin” update and I’m pretty sure it was due to having too much exact match anchor text in my links. It would help to see how well these sites are diversifying their anchor text and whether that has played any role in keeping their rankings. Thanks very much!
Hey Paul. Actually the conclusions to this particular post aren’t particularly relevant anymore since the Penguin update happened a day after I published this. But I will definitely be updating my tool to include this anchor text data so I can provide this info in a future case study.
Hi Chris,
Thanks for all the info. I definitely have been looking at my options. Have you heard of ABC3k. If you have, what are your thoughts?
Thanks,
Ever
Ever recently posted..Exciter Magazine WordPress Theme
Hi Ever,
I have not used ABC3k before, but I just watched the sales video and honestly, I’d be very skeptical about it. If you do give it a shot though, I’d love to hear how it worked for you though.
Hi, i love your posts and i learn alot from them.Do you have same case study post but then after the pengiun update?That would be great.
thanks
john recently posted..Is alkaline water scam or real
great analysis, is Googles` “improve” website content tactics going to us bloggers in any way i wonder.link building and SEO may be a thing of the past soon me thinks
I would say Google as a super power is doing it’s best to have some quality websites. You’re case study looks really good. But many be case studies on few mores sites can give us a better idea.
Dewalt DW716 recently posted..Top 5 Timber Floor Care Tips
Chris another great post. Glad to see you back after the latest update. I had just tried to sign up for some of the blog networks but got lucky and missed by only days LOL Thanks for all the great information again
Lesterd recently posted..Backlink Energizer
So for me the big question is should I continue, reading articles and posting relevant comments with links or not? :-)
I actually try to mix things as much as I can.
A private blog network actually sounds good to my ears….
Thank you!
My site was recently hit by the “Penguin” update and I’m pretty sure it was due to having too much exact match anchor text in my links. Thanks for sharing.
Claire recently posted..The Pregnancy Miracle
Hi Chris,
I agreed with you that Ahrefs and Majestic SEO are two great sources for downloading backlinks and thankyou so much for sharing the lesson you learnt especially about blog commenting spam and you are right we don’t know when google hit on it and I believe that if you are geniune and unique in your work then nobody could stop you from success. I really like your observation for site 1 and site 2.
Pete Goumas recently posted..What Is Mythology
What a great case study. It is encouraging to me that blog comments still carry some authority, discouraging however that spam/automated comments still seem to be making it through. I think the recent changes, although drastic and not perfect, are doing more good than harm to marketers who take the time and energy to provide value to their readers. In the back of my mind, I wonder how competing website masters can hurt each other with negative SEO. I hope google has the safeguards in place to counter that.
Terry recently posted..Film Posters Site
Like Ron I think the link tool sounds awesome. (The article was awesome as well! LOL)
I especially like the fact that you went out and had your own programmed to suit the case study! :)
Talk about a unique incentive to opt in!
Does it also show the location of the links?
Off to join your list!
I kinda have a beef with the idea of Comment Spam.
For example, I do SEO, and I read SEO blogs all of the time. Of course when I read an article I like, like this one, I’ll comment; and since we’re all linkbuilders, we all know that commentluv allows us a backlink.
But the idea of “spam” and its responsibility falls on the shoulders of the moderator. Network Link Building works, whether its spam or not :D
Pete recently posted..Denver SEO & CommentLuv – Proper Link Building
“Does that mean I’m going to start doing it myself? No. because even if Google hasn’t targeted these types of links yet, they can easily do so in the future. I’d rather focus on something more long-term.” I completely agree – I actually enjoy leaving “real” comments because I discover so much content that is great and informative; you can’t get this any other way :)
While worrying about negative search engine optimization is legitimate, there should be nothing to worry about if our content is sound. It is important not to bolster quantity while forsaking quality. If we consider our audience and serve them well, we should not fear negative SEO.
Chris I read somewhere that links above the fold are the best now. Have you heard anything like that. I am thinking that they are talking about contextual links maybe in the second paragraph
Lesterd recently posted..Momentis
I think it is pretty clear that Google frowns upon sites that rely too heavily on just one or two SEO/link building methods. I am guessing the best practice would be to aim for the broader, natural approach. It is nothing we have not seen before. Things work for a while and then the plug is pulled. However, the recent updates have also punished plenty of innocent sites who can feel harshly treated.
Sean Devlin recently posted..Oak Shillelagh Stick With Brass Inlay
I too have been hit hard by the Google algorithm changes. Even though most of my sites comply with what they are looking for with these updates, they still dropped a lot in the SERP ranking.
I’m kind of surprised just like you that blog comment spam still works as I too assumed that was the first thing they would root out. But you are right that that could change at any time.
-Jean
Jean recently posted..How to be proactive about used tire problems
Hey Chris,
I think the most recent Google updates have been more about “over optimization” and “anchor text” than they have been about link types. Of course you hear different things from different experts, but I’m still seeing tons of sites ranking extremely well with a ton of spammy blog comments, forum profiles, etc. From what I’m seeing, those tactics still work. You just can’t spam with the same anchor text over and over.
Your safest bet is still to diversity link type and diversify anchor text because you don’t know what the next algo change is going to bring.
Would I recommend spamming at all? Nope. If Google hasn’t hammered something yet, they eventually will so if you’re spamming, you’re playing with fire and it’s not a good way to build a long-term business.
Derek Maak recently posted..Where Can I Buy Text Your Ex Back By Michael Fiore?
I definitely agree with you Derek. A lot of the things I talked about this post (including comment spamming) have been cleaned up by the recent Google Penguin updates.
Hello Chris,
Thank you for sharing your great article. I am new to SEO and I want to learn what google panda is about. Thank you for your great explanations.
-Mercer
Great article. Paid links are still doing well in my case. It generates decent traffic for my website.
Interesting article, well-presented. I like blogs which use graphics like the ones you have used. Makes it more appealing and i am more likely to engage with such posts. Well done.
Elena Anne recently posted..Herbs for Relaxation and Sleep
Thanks for the really interesting analysis.
I’m still shocked by the effectiveness of comment spam though – apart from assuming that Google would spot it, I also would have assumed that those “auto” programmes would be sending so many spammers to the same sites that the link value would be next to worthless. Maybe Google aren’t quite as clever as we all think!
Kate recently posted..5 reasons why your Social Media Training will fail
The funny thing about all these Google updates is that Google is going to shoot itself in the foot to some extent here too. There are people who have been manipulating search results quite well for years now who do it with such stealth that only an experienced SEO person could really detect it.
By punishing amateur spammers for their link building instead of just nullifying the links, Google is going to actually force a bunch of them to stop spamming. However, I don’t think that the vast majority of these spammers are all of a sudden going to put on white hats and start towing the line. Instead, I think a lot of them are just going to migrate to doing what still does work which is to highly mask your best links by making them appear 100% natural.
Once everyone is doing that, Google is going to have its entire search results for any lucrative keywords completely dominated by people who can cheat well. And, Google won’t be able to tell who is cheating and who isn’t.
Ted recently posted..Why Most Make Money Online Programs Won’t Work For You
Thanks for the comprehensive look. I think we’re all better off paying more attention to the relevance of the content we share over optimizing too much for our own good. Link building can be tricky but when done properly, we can all expect a dramatic increase in the number of individuals who frequent our blogs.
Awesome post! This is wonderful post for me.I agree that internal linking can play an important role for good SEO. I just joined your list for the link building lab and found this site.
That tool you’ve built sounds really interesting.Anyways thanks to tell about all the information.
neha recently posted..Grade 10 – Science and Math Combo
Thanks for the in-depth look, this over-optimization penalty has definitely caused quite a stir among all so I’m trying to co-relate this with this post you published before it happened. To counter this, we must take a good look at where our anchor texts are.
The funny thing about all these Google updates is that Google is going to shoot itself in the foot to some extent here too. There are people who have been manipulating search results quite well for years now who do it with such stealth that only an experienced SEO person could really detect it.
I love (and employ) the “headline” concept religiously. Unfortunately, there are a lot of new splogs popping up on WordPress that “hijack” headlines – you’ll be searching and see them appearing in Google and Bing on the first page, but the post or article is either an ad or automated with no subject material relating to the headline.
Ryan recently posted..App Empire Review and Discount Rebate Offer
Thanks for the detailed info on links and their correlation to actual traffic. With Google playing around every few months or so it’s getting harder and harder to rank. Where once you were ranked at the top, you are lucky if you are on the first page at all…at least that is what I have found lately. But not on everything, just certain sites. So will be keeping an eye on your posts to see what else you come up with!
Ron recently posted..Hire A Ghost Writer MRR Ebook
People can speculate about updates and their subsequent results but not many/no one I’ve seen online have actually put legitimate statistics about real websites and real traffic. Panda/Penguin updates can throw curve balls but on the whole I feel if you’re building quality content and links at a natural rate you will survive and thrive in the long run.
Hello!,,
Great article, I just joined your list for the link building lab and found this site.
That tool you’ve built sounds really interesting!
Thank you for this post,,,,,
Kent Morris recently posted..Revitalize Your Life with 50 State Legal Herbal Incense
Thanks for the really interesting analysis.
I’m still shocked by the effectiveness of comment spam though – apart from assuming that Google would spot it, I also would have assumed that those “auto” programmes would be sending so many spammers to the same sites that the link value would be next to worthless. Maybe Google aren’t quite as clever as we all think!
Hi
I am worried about doing anything that is not manual as far as seo goes now I think now the long game player is going to come out on top. Back to the old days of business where he who puts most in will get most out.
Great stuff lee
Lee recently posted..Tummy Control Thong
Hi Chris … I remember reading this article about 8 months ago and wonder whether (in your opinion) anything has changed nearly a year down the line … particularly interested in your current view on paid links