Negative SEO: A Dark and Evil Force

While watching the latest Whiteboard Friday on seomoz.org, Rand Fishkin introduced me to a new term in SEO, negative SEO. Negative SEO is the practice of trying to destroy your competitor’s SERPs rankings by pointing hundreds and thousands of spammy links back to your site using a competing keyword.  It’s a scary realization that others can affect your rankings with bad links.

Another scary realization, there are actually sites that exist that can be hired to purposely, as they put it “destroy your competitor”. That is the actual tagline of the site negativeseo.me . Tactics such as spam blasts, splogs, paid links, etc. are used to point bad links back to your site and make your rankings drop. Totally unethical and complete black hat spammy SEO stuff. People are essentially hijacking other sites rankings.

I was pointed to the Traffic Planet Forum where a case study was done to test whether or not it was possible for a site to rank negatively due to outsider influences. Between March and April they decided to spam blast two sites, one being Dan Thies’ site seofaststart.com and the second site being the site that promotes this tactic, negativeseo.me . After a month of negative SEO tactics directed at these two sites, the results are as follows:

seofaststart.com
dan thies – number 1 (still number 1)
seo – not in top 1000 (down from number 11)
seo service – not in top 1000 (down from number 34)
seo book – number 34 (down from number 3)

negativeseo.me
negative seo – number 6 (down from number 2)
destroy your competitiors – number 13 (down from number 1)

What Does It Mean?

Looking at the results from the case study, it seems that negative SEO is very probable and could destroy an earnest company’s website in less than a month, that is if a small amount of not so white hat links already exist.  However, Fishkin has some doubt over whether a wholly clean site can be taken down by these negative efforts. So he has challenged negative SEO guru’s to try and employ their tactics on either his personal blog or the seomoz.org site so that he can bring to light the plausibility of clean sites being hit.

The Red Flag

One of the leading indications that this might be happening to you is if you have backlinks that are unaccounted for from paid link sites and very spammy looking pages. However, what about the folks that do not have access to Webmaster Tools or some other software to show your backlinks? Well… it seems like they can wave goodbye to their virtual presence on Google. Destroying a small business can take as little as a month. Bigger companies may take a few months to a year to see the negative affects in their rankings.

The moral of this story:

Watch your backlinks! If something seems off and looks spammy, report it to Google Webmaster. In Google’s eyes, you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. But the proof is in the pudding, or the case study, negative SEO is real and it is happening. So my shout out to Google and Matt Cutts, start focusing your efforts to figure out how to combat this rising issue of negative SEO.

Is Google’s Penguin Update Turning SEO Upside Down…Again?

For those of you that do not know, Google announced recently that they would be going after over aggressive SEO tactics. On April 24th Google officially rolled up the Penguin update. This is by far one of the most aggressive stances on SEO we have seen. Forums and blogs have been alive with chatter from website owners who have been getting nasty emails from Google in their Webmaster tools accounts. Many are seeing their website traffic shrink by 50% threatening their very existence.

Now ask any seasoned SEOs and they will tell you that Google has been making these threats for years now with very little action. This has changed dramatically in the last couple years as the web spam team at Google has been hard at work adding ton’s of updates meant to clean up low quality sites and content farms. The web has been ablaze recommendations of how to avoid getting dinged with the over-optimization penalty. After last week it became painfully clear that nobody is safe from these changes after Seer Interactive received a penalty. These guys are a top-notch firm and their owner (Will Reynolds) is a constant speaker on SEO in conferences across the country. These guys are the definition of ethical SEO. Seer’s recent blog post was very humble in sharing their experiences with the rest of the SEO community. SEO professionals banded together to create awareness of the erroneous penalty and it was reversed within a day.

Although nobody can say for sure what exactly qualifies for an “over optimization penalty” several SEOs have stepped forward and proved some guidelines to follow. There are supposedly hundreds of factors that can trigger this penalty but here are a few things to look out for:

Excessive keyword usage

This is very commonly found in both title tags, meta descriptions and body content alike. Each page should target around 2-3 keywords tops and used be used appropriately throughout your website in conjunction with quality content. Write for people, not search engines and it’s important that understand that first page rankings are nothing without quality engaging content behind it.

Overused HTML elements

Overusing H1 tags as well as alt tags are an easy way for search engines to gauge over excessive tactics. Think is a how newspapers use heading on their stories. There is only one main heading used to describe the content. It should entice people to read through the article. Smaller heading attributes like H2 and H3 headings can be used sparingly to keep interest and attribute to the natural flow of the content.

Duplicate or weak content

Pulling in content from other sites, or respinning existing content is something that is pretty easy for Google to spot. Make sure your content is written to engage and convert your site visitors. Give your website a value proposition by offering unique content that gives the users something useful. Consider adding other forms of content such as video, whitepapers or visual aids like infographics. Please, Please, Please – Don’t dump a bulleting list of keywords on your page just to try and obtain a presence for these keywords. How does this help anybody?

Overaggressive internal linking structures

I see this all the time and it is so easy to avoid. Overaggressive internal linking schemes can include a singular anchor text throughout your site linking to your home page. Site-wide footer links targeting specific keywords are also a considered spammy and pretty useless to the end user. Internally link your content where it makes sense and avoid linking multiple links on a page to the same page targeting the same anchor text.

Excessive or “un-natural” backlink profile

Phew! Where do I start? Let’s start with bluntly obvious – Stay away from Paid links, links from spammy sites, blog networks, automated linking programs, link farms, reciprocal linking schemes and completely irrelevant sites. I always tell clients that link building should look like we were never there. Nothing stands out more that a backlink profile that goes from 100 links to 1000000 links in 6 months and then stops. Make link building a part of your overall web marketing campaign. Put your PR and social outlets to work for you cultivating valuable backlinks and social signals. This is the new SEO and it’s time to face the facts.

It’s important as search changes that you evaluate your SEO strategies to change with the times. Make sure you keep one eye open to the news in the industry and know when to adjust. There is also something to be said for a holistic, sustainable approach to SEO that is more about user experience and quality over cheap tricks and spammy tactics. Every situation is different and my only advise is to make sure you have a seasoned guide to walk you through the jungle that is modern SEO.

Did Home Depot Just Try to Pull A Fast One on Google?

Yes they sure did, but they got busted! The world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer recently was caught trying to solicit links from their network of nearly 2,000 service providers. However, this wasn’t another typical paid link situation like the JCPenney and Overstock cases. Home Depot deliberately provided false information to their vendors and demanded links from their sites.

 Home Depot sent out an email to their vendors who they recommend for installation projects. The email, written by a Home Depot Representative, suggested that the service partner place a link to a particular page with specific anchor text in order to “support” the Home Depot Company. Of course as the email spread, it was picked up by a few SEO experts such as Bill Hartzer and thanks to him, we have the email.

From: The Home Depot – Home Services

Sent: Monday, April 9, 2012 PM

To: [email address removed] xxxxxx

Subject: Online advertising for Installation Services

SERVICE PROVIDER COMMUNICATION

Date: April 9, 2012

To: All US Service Providers

From: Home Services Operations

Re: Online advertising for Installation Services

SUMMARY 

The Home Depot is in the process improving our online advertising efforts for our installation services. We are using our brand authority and marketing power to increase traffic to our site and convert customers. We would like to extend this benefit to all of our business partners and are requesting that you add a link on your site to relative key words that will aid our related installation page authority. Please note that the hyperlink does not have to be visually indicated.

Linking to The Home Depot website will benefit our business partners by increasing the page authority of your website.  Page Authority predicts the likelihood of a single page to rank well in search results.  Ranking high in search results will assist with driving more relevant traffic to your website.

We look forward to working with you on this mutually beneficial marketing endeavor. Please refer to “Action Required” for next steps and instructions on implementation.

ACTION REQUIRED 

*Create the link using the following format:

[Link Text]

URL:http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/ servlet/ContentView?pn=SV_HS_Home_Insulation

Link Text: “Carpet Installation” or your preferred text.  Please request the Keyword List spreadsheet for a larger sample of keywords to use for your preferred text. Below is a sample of preferred text to use for flooring:

Carpet flooring

Carpet install

Carpet installation

Below is an example of the HTML Code necessary in order for the link to appear properly on your web page:

Carpet installation 

*Ensure that the link is displayed in the correct format and located on the appropriate page related to The Home Depot’s corresponding installation category. Provide us with the URL of the page where the link will be once it is live on your site.

*Please send a confirmation email to xxxxxx at xxxxxx@homedepot.com once you have implemented the link on the appropriate page that includes the URL.

“On this mutually beneficial marketing endeavor,” yeah, I don’t think so. As you can see in the letter, Home Depot requires their vendors to place a link on their page that leads back to the Home Depot site. The company makes their vendors believe it is to their benefit by stating that they are making an effort to increase the Page Authority of all their vendors’ sites. As we know, it doesn’t work that way! If anything, Home Depot’s Page Authority would go up, not theirs. And then to say that the link doesn’t necessarily have to be visible…oh, here is where the Black Hat SEO occurs. Sneaky, sneaky!

After hearing of the situation, Google began investigating Home Depot and here’s what Google had to say…

“It’s simply untrue to tell vendors that linking to a specific page will automatically increase the vendors’ page authority. Likewise, encouraging websites to make hidden links to a website can lead to violations of our quality guidelines that result in demotion or removal of pages from our index. We will be monitoring this situation closely and taking appropriate action.”

Experts aren’t completely sure if Google will ban Home Depot from their indexes. It actually depends on whether or not the vendors implemented the links in the way Home Depot had requested. Google penalizes for hidden links, but Home Depot claims to have spoken with Google to rectify the situation and ensures that a follow-up email will be sent out to those service providers to correct the errors from the previous email. As you can see, you don’t want to try to pull a fast one on Google because sooner or later, they’ll find out. Stick to proper SEO tactics and if you want to make sure your site follows Google Webmaster Guidelines and never gets banned, hire a trustworthy search marketing firm.

Link Ninjas Top Secret Strategies

Writen by Miki Dehevan and Ray Carboni.

Here’s the story. You already work in Search Marketing and you are aware that this elusive thing called Link Building exists, and not only do your clients now know about it, but you actually have to do it for them. Not an easy, or time efficient feat. You probably know by now that not all link building is created equal and that to get the longterm effects you seek, you have to do the dirty work. Today we are going to talk about what to do when you are already in there, elbows deep in the muck of link building, so grab your rubber gloves ladies, we are going in.

squeaky clean link building

Evaluating Websites For Link Building

This is the first line of defense when considering what websites you should reach out to during the “cherry picking” stage of your link excursion. First you want to check out some of the website information to determine whether or not it’s a good fit for your client or product, and whether or not they have enough authority to be worth your time.

Page Rank – Ah, page rank. Like the mythical Yetti, we know it exists out there but who can tell me the migratory patterns and feeding habits? Page rank is the total authority that Google ascribes to a website based on how useful the provided information is and how many people link to it with relevant information. But searchers beware, the mighty Page Rank can be misleading, so please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and do not use this as your sole basis for choosing a site for link building.  Page Rank can change quickly based on a variety of factors, and you want to be sure that the site as a whole is quality, not just their PR7.

Hide Yo Kids, Hide Yo Wife!

Now, Site PR is a little bit different. If Google ranks an inner-lying page, deep within the dark recesses of the Yetti cave, this is a great sign that the website is authoritative and worthwhile. Feel free to feed it peanuts and that stale bag of candy corn you have left over from Halloween.

 Site Age – This is another indicator that the site you are looking at is worth those precious billable link building hours. The age of a site shows longevity in a field, trustworthiness in relation to a reliable source of quality information, and seniority on a topic. If that blog you are looking at just popped up in the last three months, Google sees that as either a micro-blogger, who creates and runs multiple blogs for the sole purpose of SEO-ing the bejesus out of it, or as someone new to the field and less authoritative on the subject.

If you think that a site is worth your efforts to gain a link but aren’t certain, keep your eye on it and give it time. If it is still around 6 months from now and has done some link building of its own then you can take joy in the knowledge that you were right. And then go home and rub it in your wife’s face. If its no longer an active website, then be glad you didn’t request that link to begin with because you would be doing that work all over again to make up for the loss of link juice when the site went down.

In Yo Face! Now stop telling your mother I am worthless.

 Cache Date – This lets you know the last time Google crawled the website, which happens every time the webmaster adds new content (that is, of course, correctly indexed within their own sitemap and linked to from other pages on their website). Regular-to-frequent updates are a good sign and mean that if the site DOES deign you worthy of their coveted links, Google will crawl it promptly, giving you a faster boost in your own rankings.

 Relevance and Content – This is your numero uno, most important factor to determining whether or not you should reach out to a website to request a link. The subject of a website should closely relate to the subject or industry that your client is within. If your client sells bicycles, no point in targeting websites that promote the benefits of filing for bankruptcy, no matter how indebted their deadbeat “occupied” customers are.

"The 99% buy their bikes at Walmart... I mean we stole them before stealing was cool."

Think of relevance like a tree. Your client’s industry is the trunk, and related industries are the branches. Bicycles may be the main topic, but branching off of that are physical fitness, health, cardiovascular health, fitness apparel, and fitness diet plans. These are all items someone who is interested in purchasing those bikes will also be looking at.

 Sites to Avoid:

Spam may be considered a delicacy by the Hawaiian culture, but musubi aside, spam on the internet is bad bad bad. Sites stuffed with Google Adsense exist simply to make money from showing ads, not by creating quality content. Avoid these sites, as they are often short-lived and quickly identified by the search engines as low-authority sites. These will pass on very little link juice, and since the end goal is to fill up that link cup, choose wisely!

Sites with porn or gambling are certainly entertaining, but will post links to absolutely anything. They are more hurtful to your client’s business than helpful unless your client sells assless chaps or poker tables. Or assless chaps AND poker tables. Despite your personal fashion and recreational tastes, these sites devalue your website’s credibility and should be avoided at all costs.

Wee doggy! Backless AND frontless!

Sites with a ton of outbound links are less than desirable as well. A site has only so much link juice to give. If a page has more than 10 links, Google will frown its giant Big Brother frown and give you less juice. Juuuuice give me juiiiice.

 Good Tip: If you have to think twice about whether or not a site is relevant or morally appropriate, pass it up. Your client may not thank you, but they also would never have to know you considered getting a link from HotGuysInTopHats.com.

Stay tuned for Part Two, coming soon!

And The Award Goes To…

Web Talent Marketing, obviously!

The rankings are in from TopSEOs.com and Web Talent Marketing is taking the online world by storm!

TOP 10 Ranked for Link Building – Web Talent Marketing is number 6, outranked only by the best and brightest in the business.

TOP 20 Ranked for Search Engine Optimization – Web Talent Marketing came in at number 17, up against search marketers from across the globe.

As always, we will continue to kick butt and take names.