Why You Can’t Game the System with SEO…and Succeed
Plenty of people have tried, but almost all have failed to get around Google’s pretty strict rules. All search engines hate to be made to look stupid, they dislike even the notion of another individual profiting from breaking their rules. Therefore they work doubly hard to detect such issues and are inclined to punish suitably.
So how might you consider gaming the system?
How about getting a few sites ranking for the same phrase? Clever in principle, horribly transparent in reality.
Don’t waste your time buying up domains, creating near replica sites and then targeting just one phrase. If Google were that stupid then you wouldn’t be able to type in any major search phrase without encountering the same content over and over again. They wised up to this years ago and people still try; but success is unlikely as it only takes a slight suspicion (think duplicate contact address or hosting server) and it’s lights off for all your sites.
On a similar principle, you might consider building other websites just to harness PageRank. You can simply build dozens of little satellite sites, interlink them all and then plug it into your main site before hey presto, you’re top of Google. Wrong.
Again, Google have wised up to this. Whilst many providers will ask for links back from clients, the unnatural way in which satellite sites appear and then link to all the same sites make it a far bigger SEO faux pas.
You have to remember that search engines follow links. They investigate their source, where they’re going and look for any abnormalities. If you have 50 sites, each with 50 links pointing at one another they are probably going to notice. Your links will be worthless, your sites downgraded and ultimately all that work will have been in vain.
The most commonly attempted way around the search engines’ rules is to buy links. Okay, this is one area where you can just about get away with it, but the benefits don’t always outweigh the potential issues. If you get rumbled, Google won’t be pleased. Your link will immediately either be removed or become poison, so that there is no benefit to be had from hosting it. You will lose your money and your ranking if discovered, whether you are prepared to take that chance is entirely up to you.
What else is available then? How about keyword stuffing? Absolutely not! This isn’t 1998, you can’t get yourself to the top of Google just by repeating the same term over and over again. You also can’t try to hide it within white text, the all seeing Google eye will see and you will be punished.
Worse still anybody that does manage to find you will be confronted with a site that is barely legible and offers nothing useful. They won’t hang around for long.
Ethical SEO techniques can get you a long way. There’s no need to try these madcap schemes to get yourself a quick boost up the rankings. If you do decide that you want to take the gamble, you have to be prepared to accept any losses you endure as a consequence. Most of the time you’ll fail and it will not only cost you visibility but also a great deal of your own resources.
Is directory linking the same as buyng links as most directories will want you to pay to be listed within thier lisitngs? What is the best way to aquire backlinks if not through directory linking? I don’t think blogs are the answer either as most blogs seem to assign the “no follow attribute” within their links.
9 June, 2010 12:15 am | Comment by tutor guy - chad wallsDirectory linking isn’t quite the same as buying links. It is a strange one; some directories will ask for a payment, but they get around the paid link issue by saying that all submissions will be reviewed and aren’t guaranteed. I know, not exactly a massive difference though is it?
As for link building, well there is always article marketing. Submitting your articles to Ezine Articles or Buzzle will get you some decent links to deep pages on your site. But the quality and relevance of the links won’t necessarily bring a huge amount of benefit. In the same vein you can also try submitting Hubs on the likes of HupPages or Squidoo. These can help attract targeted traffic and can get rankings in their own right, plus there’s the link strength too.
Sometimes you do have to go out there and ask though. Clients, associates, suppliers, buyers; whoever might be able to provide a link through to you, just ask. Then we’re back to directories, free or paid, there are plenty and many will be prepared to accept you.
Thanks for the comment Chad, hopefully that has given you a few ideas. With links always remember that it is about quality, variety and relevance though, so don’t waste too much time hunting for weak links that won’t add value – certainly don’t buy them either if you can avoid it.
9 June, 2010 3:09 pm | Comment by Ben Norman