Multi Linking with Blogs vs Link Spamming
by Rick Hendershot
Linknet Marketing Resource Library
In this article I point out some of the pros and
cons of using blogging as a method of "multi linking".
Here's a brief summary...
- Blogs are easy to write, are updated frequently,
and are considered "content rich".
- Google holds blogging in high regard. In 2003
they even purchased a major blogging tool (blogger.com), and
its hosting site blogspot.com
and now make free blogs available to anyone.
- Google seems to spider blogs frequently and
is more tolerant of intensive linking in blogs than they are
in "normal" websites.
- Blogs have therefore become a major vehicle
for "link spamming". This involves creating keyword-dense posts
with many links just for the purposes of registering links back
to sites in order to enhance their Google rankings.
In this article I argue there is a difference
between "multi linking" and "link spamming".
I claim that "link spamming" is a shady practice* that
should not be encouraged, while strategic "multi linking"
with blogs is a legitimate tactic for enhancing a website's presence.
Link spamming with blogs
A recent issue of WebProNews
focused on how people are using Google's own free
blogging service to take advantage of Google's lenient attitude
towards link-heavy blogs.
As one poster put it, "people are using Google's
Blogger to set up dozens of free blogs and then setting up hundreds
of keyword rich anchor text links to point to pages."
What makes this a questionable practice is that
content like this is not intended to ever be read by anyone. It
is simply a bunch of keywords and embedded links strung together
for no purpose other than to impress Google's spiders.
Another term for this is "google bombing", and
for years enterprising bloggers have been pushing their sites
to the top of the listings for keywords like "Talentless
Hack" or "Operation Clambake".
The idea is to get lots of sites creating lots
of posts that pack lots of links together in content that focuses
on one or two keywords.
It was only a matter of time (probably about 24
hours) before this started to be used for commercial purposes.
One of the most striking applications of link spamming is the
program called "Search Engine Cloaker".
You can set this program up on any website and
it will spit out thousands of pages of jibberish stringing together
reams of keywords and building in hundreds of links pointing to
exactly the pages you want to promote.
Another example is your typical link directory
- page after page of links serving no purpose other than to give
outbound links in exchange for inbound ones.
Of course in theory a link directory is a "resource
directory" that gives web visitors useful information, and is
even a kind of "endorsement" by the webmaster. But in fact, most
link directories are never meant to be looked at.
That means they fail the same test we have applied
to blogs: this material is not intended to be read by anyone.
That makes it spam.
Multi Linking with Blogs
Multi linking is different.
As I point out in my FREE
Multi Linking Course, there are quite a few fairly simple
strategies almost anyone can implement that will give you lots
of high value links on high value sites.
These are sites with real traffic, so this content
is meant to be read. You can't post meaningless jibberish on real
sites. Webmasters will simply not tolerate it.
Of the four leading multi linking strategies outlined
in my course, the second easiest is creating a blog and posting
interesting content that is keyword rich and packed with links.
(The easiest is buying
links from high value sites.)
If you go ahead and try the multilinking blog
strategy, just keep this simple test in mind: "Is the material
I publish in my blog meant to be interesting to readers?" If it
is, then you're not engaging in link spamming. Go ahead and pack
it with your most important keywords. And build in as many links
as you can.
Rick Hendershot is a writer and publisher of the
Linknet Marketing Resource Library. He has produced a free course
on website linking called SuperCharge
Your Website with Multi Linking.