I'm sure most of you who run a business website won't need me to tell you that having a link back yo your site is a good thing?
Getting good links from reputable websites is like currency in the online world and if you are careful and sensible in your link building programme, your own site may get a boost up the rankings. However, get link building wrong and things can change dramatically.
This appears to be the case for one major UK landscaping brand that has "used a variety of questionable techniques to secure links to our website."
I received an email from an SEO consultant company (full email published below minus identities) asking that I remove links on a certain page because, as implied, that the previous SEO company had paid me to place the links "with the intention of manipulating search engine rankings."
Overlooking the implication that I might have been party to this underhand manipulation, this looks like s serious matter for this well known landscaping brand. They appear to be taking urgent action to try to undo any damage which may have been caused.
Search providers take a very dim view of paid-for links and take an even dimmer view of outright attempts to manipulate their search engine page results.
I don't sell links but I do, on occasions, allow guest post on Landscape Juice; when I do, I add a no-follow attribute (rel=”nofollow”) to the link. This attribute effectively negates the link from a SEO perspective.
Here's the email less the identities:
We are sorry to bother you with this and would like to apologize up front for the inconvenience.
We have discovered that a previous SEO consultant we hired to help promote our website www.xxxxxxx.co.uk have used a variety of questionable techniques to secure links to our website. These links were placed purely for SEO purposes, with the intention of manipulating search engine rankings.
We believe that these links have been placed or requested by a third party. The presence of these links is harmful to our site's good standing with search engines, and unfortunately, retaining them may also be potentially harmful to your own website's reputation.
The links we have found are as follows:
http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/12/xx-xxxx-x-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xx-xx-xxxxxxxxxxx.html
http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/12/http://www.landscapejuice.com/2009/12/xx-xxxx-x-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx-xx-xx-xxxxxxxxxxx.html?asset_id=6a00d8345192c169e2012876235e3e970c
We would greatly appreciate your help resolving this problem and the urgent removal of the links. Can you please let me know once the links have been removed by return email. If you need more information, please email me and I will be happy to assist. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you and do appreciate your help.
Sincerely,
xxxxxx
xxxxxxx Ltd
www.xxxxxx.co.uk
This post was first published on the Landscape Juice Network 02 October 2013
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