Google have recently been coming down pretty hard on blog networks, and deindexing a vast majority of some pretty popular networks out there. In this post I will discuss what I make of all this, and what the future of blog networks is.
The main network that got hit hard recently was BuildMyRank which a lot of affiliate marketers have used. They got pretty much all of their sites deindexed from Google, and I’ve heard some estimate it to be in the 10’s of 1000’s of domains. They are not the only one that got hit hard, others such as SEO Link Moster and Authority Link Network, plus others.
Blog networks are an easy way to get backlinks to your sites, however Google doesn’t like this type of link, as they do see it as paying for links, which we all know they frown upon, even though Google themselves have done this sort of thing!!
Google sent out over 700,000 notifications over the past few weeks to webmasters, warning them of unnatural linking. The result of this warning is varied, but I can say that one of my sites had this warning, and has consequently had a minor drop in rankings, but nothing too major at all.
Why is Google doing this then?
Well the short answer is that Google wants all backlinks to sites to happen naturally. Matt Cutts the head of anti-spam at Google says that all you need to do is put up good quality content and let Google do the rest. This really doesn’t work though, as you need to do a lot more than that, especially when their is so much link buying going on. My point is that Google is trying to level the playing field all the time, by removing any source of paid links, and blog networks are a prime place to target.
If you had all your eggs in one basket and got all your links for your sites from say BuildMyRank, then you would not be having a very nice week, as one can only assume your rankings will soon, if not already, drop and your traffic and income with it.
However I don’t consider spreading your risk as simply joining more blog networks, as these may also do the same way as BuildMyRank, the way of the internet grave yard. The problem with neworks like BuildMyRank is that they own all the domains in the network, and hence a footprint, or pattern, is much easier for Google to spot. This is made worse when these networks get more and more popular.
What to do now?
In order to best explain what I think is the best solution to do if you have been heavily using blog networks, I’ve recorded a YouTube video for you below.
Essentially it comes back to quality, because if you have higher quality sites, it opens up many more opportunities to gain backlinks. If you have a good quality site, you will to a certain degree get people naturally linking to you, this blog does. Not only that, but you will also get a higher percentage of people that will be willing to accept a guest blog post from you, which they will publish on their sites, and of course there will be a link in that to your site. Social links will come more easily when you have a great site too.
These changes at Google just further reinforce to me that gone are the days of throwing up lots of low quality sites, that really solely on forced link building methods. Google Panda was the first big wave from Google to clean up their results, and this backlinking move is yet another wave. The sooner you move away from the mindset of trying to trick Google so much, and move towards giving Google what they want, then you will be in a better position.
I personally have scaled back massively on the number of sites I focus on now, because in order to do sites the way Google likes, and the way they should be done for that matter, takes more work, and therefore I find managing less is best. You have to manage Facebook fanpages, Google Plus, create quality content, etc…a lot of this was what Lisa Parmley spoke about in her recent webinar.
I see these changes at Google as a good thing, as if you stick with it and build good sites, which most people are too lazy to do, then you will win out big time folks, plenty of opportunity out there in SEO.
YouTube Video Below
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Hey Matt,
Yea, when I heard about this I really wasn’t to surprised with everything else that has been going on lately with Google. I did feel for a few of my fellow marketers out there because I know that they got hurt. I personally look at this as a very positive thing for me. As someone just getting back into the business, it does give me an even playing field to play. No tricks, if you can put the quality out there then you can have a fair shake.
TTYS
Shaefercd
Matt Carter Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
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Thanks Shaefercd
Matt
My SEO service are 90% from blog networks, hopefully I will not loose clients with this latest update from google.
However I think because I have lots going on, like Traffic Kaboom, Unique Article Wizard, Article Ranks and Free Traffic System. I think I have varied my link getting strategies in a way google will like instead of hate.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 27th, 2012 at 3:46 pm
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Yes perhaps, but that is not a good way to operate, as your need to get more diverse links that this.
Matt
I have subscribed to BuildMyRank and Traffic Kaboom, and already I have known that blog networks will be having trouble with google’s latest updates. They said that they will open their doors again if they sort their problems out.
But there is a good news even with all of this. Google is now tracking social signals. That is why I and many other internet marketers have already started making facebook fanpages.
you mentioned about a new membership later on, is it SEO Experts Academy?
will the SEO Experts Academy membership be opened again
got to improve my site rankings after several hits by the Panda
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 6:36 am
..
Hi
No I am opening an all around IM training membership, hopefully next week, it is based around a forum which I will be involved in heavily, it will be my main way of coaching from now on.
Matt
Hey Matt,
I could feel this freight train coming for a while now. Essentially, blog networks like BuildMyRank are truly ‘gray-hat’ in nature and those of us using it knew in the long term that Google would get wise to this type of back-linking. In many ways it was a cheap way of doing article marketing with very short content length (between 150-200 words).
That said, article marketing will have to substitute for now. However, I also posted on my blog that a small group of users should be able to create meaningful topic-oriented blogs that can gain rank without trying to span any and all markets. The key would be making it truly human readable (by that I mean – someone would really want to read the article).
– Don
Back to basics, this is probably a step in the evolution of Google tracking the system violators, i believe that if we just take our time building quality sites and integrating more of the social aspect rankings and traffic will come.
Great info once again Matt.
http://www.riflesandscopes.com
Hi Matt,
I guess this is the sign of sign of things to come as you rightly point out that Lisa has been doing for years, according to the recent webinar.
Joe
I kinda gave up on the whole SEO thing.
I thought things would go from bad to worse.
I don’t think any link that people aren’t clicking through to your site will do any good.
If you think about it a link that nobody is useing is like a door that never gets open. What could be so great behind the door, that no-one goes through.
Since a large number of people that are searching the internet are signed into Google, Google can tell how long some one stays on your page reading. I am sure that this is a factor too.
As far as book markeing, I think google knows if someone actually went to your site, read the page, and hit the book mark or share link. (At Least the people that are signed in to Google)
Matt, I am sure you will stay on top of things and pass along the very best information to you subscribers, but I for one am bailing out of SEO.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:08 am
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Fair enough, some people will bail, which is what Google wants, but I will not be, as there so much money to be made, its just a matter of adapting and giving Google what they want, and that can mean big changes for people.
J.C. Dean Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:48 am
Alot of money to be made in PPC and PPV too.
Best of luck to both of us.
Hi Matt,
Thanks for all the great ideas you share with us. I have learned a lot from your blog and the RPF program.
At least within my niche, Bing does a far better job of giving the top positions in the SERPs to sites that make sense to be there, as far as content. Google talks about content, but looking over the top pages in our niche it looks like total backlinks to a domain get pages much higher in the results than anything else.
For a site to earn links naturally takes time, and exposure. You can not get exposure from the search engines, if you do not rank on the first or maybe 2nd page. Since so much weight has been put on the number of back links, it seems as if Google has created this problem with their ranking algorithm.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:33 am
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Yes I agree
Although I have never used the Networks you are referring to, I have used SubmitterBot, not sure if they will be affected. Other than that company, most of my other links (228) have come from other blogs I have commented on. Plus, I tried some autoblogging early on when I started in Nov, 2010, but didn’t like the quality at all, so I have been primarily offering better quality content, with my rank at 264,000 and 67,000 in US, I’m not the biggest fish in the pond by any means, but I am trying to do the right things!…:)
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:33 am
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great Dan, just remember to diversify your links too
Matt
Glad this all came out now before I signed up for linkbuilding!!
Think i’ll put the hard work in and build links naturally..
Matt what do you think off ping services sites? Do you think they just lead to spam on your site?
Ps. got your videocommissionformula 🙂 thumbs up
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:32 am
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Cool James, hope you do well. Pinging is not that effective and you wouldn’t have to worry about this being flagged
How do you think this will affect YouTube videos in regards to backlinks?
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:31 am
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I haven’t seen any effect on YOutube at all
Matt you do a great job of covering these topics! Despite Google’s claimed attempts at cleaning up the searches it still continues to return old and poor results on the majority of searches I do trying to find information. For example if I search for top do follow article sites then i see blog posts getting top rank from 3-4 years ago that are no longer relevant. Until Google starts to understand what relevant is in accordance with the times and the search performed it is all just grandstanding for appearance.
It’s still very easy to spread the so called forced links around and “Fool” Google into thinking you have the most relevant material on a topic. Slow and steady at the right places win’s the race rather than going after the quick rank fix type networks and anyone who had sense when these networks started popping up should have known they would get the smack down eventually.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:31 am
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Good points Ben
It is not so easy anymore getting a site setup, and getting traffic…these days its certainly difficult. I would bet if any popular site started a new site without using their brand, then they would have a hard time also, these are different days from 10-15 years ago, and no matter what topic you get into, then most likely it has already been accomplished, and people tend to stay with the most popular sites anyway, and google is just getting started in cleaning up the trash…people just want to setup a site, and get fast links to success, those days are certainly over too, and I can understand both sides, who wants to wait years for natural link building? and unless you got traffic pulling content, and most dont, then it could take years for a site to build, and people say content is king, that is true and false, yes google likes fresh content, but if you put non-interesting content up, google may index, but people may not come, so take care of google’s needs, and put up what people want to see, then they might come, but sling shooting articles across the net these days do not get you very far…The best thing a site can do is put up great stuff, and the nature take its course, you will either make it or you wont, but the road to riches using quick links is coming to an end…and if you get de-indexed by google, then your future has pretty much come to an end…
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:30 am
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To a certain degree I will agree with you, but I don’t agree that you just put good content out there and let nature take its course, as no one will ever find your content. You do need to get links and exposure, and sure after you gain momentum, if your stuff is good people should share it and help propel your site.
DavidS Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:32 am
exactly, the problem with this; You just can not put up content and it will work out, but google does not want you to do much of anything else…aka they want you to build your site natural, to me that means you are not joining Blog Networks, Article Networks, linking schemes, as all these are not natural link building methods, and sure, once you get going, no problems, but getting going is the hardest thing for any site. If you follow googles rules; you most likely will never get off the ground, and if they find out what you are doing, they will likely kick you back to the ground, then de-index you, then kick you some more….
Matt,
This is why SEO is such an arbitrary way to go after traffic. Google likes to play by their own rules. Rules you hear about, but don’t know for sure how they affect you, until they “affect you.”
They have their own SEO listings above other major players and they got CAUGHT manipulating comparison search results by the US senate.
You can read the whole thing here: http://www.affhelper.com/googles-hypocrisy-exposed/
These guys say one thing and then DO THE OTHER. It’s not worth chasing after rankings. Let your readers know – I think they’d be interested in that link.
Best
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:25 am
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Yeah I know, but they happen to have a vast majority of the search traffic, so we have to play by their rules. I think the company is corupt for sure, but what can we do!
I believe I totally understand Google’s game and in an ideal world it would have to be agreed that leveling the playing field and providing better search results is great.
HOWEVER…this can only be achieved when Google stops pandering to the needs of the big corporations and comes down on them with the same levels of retribution, unfortunately I think this will never be the case!
Or am I just a conspiracy theorist!
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:40 am
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I agree with you, a lot of big brands buy links all the time and spends a heap on it, but Google turns a blind eye…like I said I think Google is corrupt, but what else are we to do when they have 80% search market share
Matt
This is a very informative blog post.
I already knew this was gonna happen sooner or later, so I didn’t even bothered in getting into no blog network.
But now I’m EVEN more sure to don’t waste my money in any of these things!
Thank you, Matt!
Hey Matt,
Well I have been building my blog’s backlinks manually and by the rule and since the latest Google update, my site fell from 88K to 100K on Alexa’s rankings.
I am not going crazy about it but I hope this does finds a sweet point where I can balance what works and what doesn’t.
Sergio
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:29 am
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Manually is ok but just make sure you look at the kinds of links you are getting also.
Matt
Thanks for the update Matt. Yes, I think it is a good thing in the final analysis for Google to get rid of the low quality type of sites. The Internet should provide a service to the community – not just an opportunity to rip people off.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:28 am
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VEry true Bill
Matt
Hi Matt,
One of my sites got hit too. I was using BMR. My question is how do we react to Googles request to take down the links and re-submit your site for re-consideration? My rankings have slipped but too far yet.
Thanks
Gregg
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:28 am
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I wouldn’t reply to the message myself, as you just don’t know what Google is playing at here, and I have read that many peoples rankings come back after a 30 day period
Matt
This only means more traffic for those of us that have been using SEO so I am happy. =)
Thanks for the video Matt. Have been out of touch the past week (new grandson 🙂 and was surprised to see that BMR had cancelled my account. After some investigation understand why and explains my quirky results in BMR a couple of weeks ago. Appreciate the guest blog sites you mentioned and the quick review of backlinking methods.
Now off to create my first video after going ‘thru my “Video Commission Formula”
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:27 am
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Goof stuff Linda
Matt
Hey there Matt,
I have recently subscribed and been taking your free course (thanks a lot! Really helped to motivate me, still in the midst of it :)) to get myself started with my website and passion, rather than targeting specific products I am going for the goal and *fingers crossed* leaning towards a multitude of options (so as to appeal to more of a crowd of different genres, hopefully).
I just got this article in my email, and I’m a little worried. I am extremely new to this sort of thing, SEO, Affiliate Marketing, etc .. So I am getting information from all over the place and trying with my best judgement to weed out bad advice (hence why I stick to this site often :)). Anywho, I’m not even sure what a blog network is! I did however think today to myself that maybe I could submit my site to some sort of place where others would be interested in the same content I have provided. I did not pay to do this, it was specifically at blogged.com (found through simple search of “Where can I submit my blog”). Being so fresh into the “game” I would absolutely hate to be taking the wrong path and I am wondering if this is going to affect me in a bad way ?
If you could offer your thoughts and expertise I would extremely appreciate it. I try to do things the correct way the first time.
Thank you so much for your support, continued research to help others and for taking the time to read this, I greatly greatly appreciate it!
Sincerely,
Anna
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:39 am
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Welcome to the journey Anna. The best advice I can give you is read my posts and at the end of the day you have to start somewhere and you may not get it right first time, or 2nd or 3rd, but thats ok its all about learning…the biggest key is to plan and make good quality sites for the user, so people enjoy your site and want to share it with others, if you do that you are on the right track
Anna Betliskey Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:58 am
Thanks! I will continue to do just that, I panicked at first! lol .. But once I calmed back down I realized I already do that, so god willing I’ll be okay 🙂
Does anyone know if AMA has been hit by Google’s decision?
How about Blog Underground or UAW?
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:37 am
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AMA is ok as far as a I know, Blogging Underground not so good I don’t think, UAW is not a blog network, its for articles, but again it is forced linking and perhaps something not to lean on too heavily. Maybe send these links to good sites that then link to you, a layered approach
I wrote a blog post about this last week. It comes back down to what I have said all along. IMHO if you use quality content and don’t go for mass linking you will have a site that people want to read. Give Google and the other search engines what they want and you will be fine. Again it is my opinion, but I do believe that only people that get hurt by these types of things are people that try to scam the system by using less than white hat techniques.
Great article. I noticed Google is getting much harder to fool and knew this was gonna happen some day. I am glad I don’t waste my time with trying to game the system. Best to just write quality!
Hi Matt,
The reason I buy your products and read all your emails is that I get good content from you. This video is one that keeps me up to date on Google and I appreciate all you do.
Thanks,
Marty
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:35 am
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Thanks Marty
Matt
I build all my backlinks naturally. I’ve always been warned to stay away from the “network” of backlinks….and…..so said….so done!
So what are your thoughts on backlinks from sites like Fiverr? I have used that a few times and I’m wondering if I’m going to end up doing more harm than good in the future? Is there a gig on there that you would recommend to get targeted traffic to an affiliate offer?
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:35 am
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Fiverr has all sorts of offers, so I can’t say. I encourage you to get guest blogs links.
Matt
Filipe Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:05 am
95% of backlinks that you can buy on Fiverr are purely garbage, especially now that blog networks are losing their importance. Paying 5 bucks for 20 or more backlinks is tempting, but I just gave up doing that. There is still a lot of great stuff that you can buy on Fiverr, but I don’t recommend anyone to use it to get backlinks – mainly because they are now harder than ever to get, nobody will give them away for $5.
But hey, this is just my opinion and advice 🙂
So do blog networks include sites like Linkvana and Unique Article Wizard? I am new to all of this and was advised to try marketing on those 2 sites. I am worried about using these alternative sites but really need my new website to rank soon.
Any insight you can offer would be helpful.
Thank you!
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:57 am
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LInkavana does for sure, so I don’t use that, UAW is different and is ok as far as I can tell for now.
Cheryl Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:16 am
Thank you!
I think everyone in IM is missing the point of the recent Goggle update. I suspect it is more financially motivated more than anything else.
Yes, I do believe the “gaming” and lousy, duplicate and crappy spun content by IMres are partially to blame, but let’s face it, Goggle is a For Profit, publicly traded corporation with shareholders who have invested and want to continue to see the share prices of Goggle stock increase and therefore increase the value of their portfolios.
As such, I believe this is Google just forcing more businesses into PPC type advertising to make money, plain and simple Essentially they are forcing businesses into PPC by making it much more difficult to rank organically through SEO.
I haven’t heard anyone else voice this concern,yet ,so Is it just the cynic in me or what?
Best regards,
Steve H
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:04 am
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YEs of course they are, I agree
I wrote to several blog network services after the demise of BMR and asked for an honest answer about what they thought about the future of their site as per google and they all wrote back giving me reasons as to why their particular network is different from BMR and how because of that they would be okay… yeah right.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:03 am
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Yeah they will say that, but really they are all very similar, and the more popular they become the more risky it is
Hi Matt,
Thanks for the info.
You definitely make your own content interesting and informative. It is no wonder you are a well respected member of the online marketing industry.
My questions relate to the SEO Experts Academy Course. I am sure that the majority of the course content is still valid and will be for a long time but is there anything in there that is adversely affected with this latest Google attack on blog networks.
Looking forward to your new membership site. I assume there will be an affiliate program attached. If so, where can I join?
Have a Great Day!
Cheers
Alex
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:57 am
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Main thing is to mix up your anchor text more and focus on getting links from more whitehat methods, guest blogs, social links..
Hi Matt,
I was wondering what your thoughts are on submitting a reconsideration request for sites that got the message from Google? Some of my sites show the ‘unnatural links’ message and have dropped in ranking, but they’re still indexed. Would you recommend submitting a reconsideration request or should I carry on link building but obviously diversifying and hope the rankings come back?
Thanks
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:56 am
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I personally wouldn’t as by doing so you are asking for a manual review of your site, so if Google find anything else they don’t like things might get worse, however if you are confident you can remove some links and show them and have a good site, then go for it
Hi Matt,
I have a question which I have wondered about, but have never seen an answer to. Do links that you embed into email marketing campaigns that go back to your site contribute to link building other than the consequent time spent on page?
Meaning, can I gain support links through embedding links into a email marketing message/newsletter?
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:54 am
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No these links are no indexed by Google so they can’t count
Using underground paid blog networks is obviously trying to game the system. We all have our techniques, but I would say that gaining links on sites unseen by humans, only for the purpose of boosting your rank is borderline blackhat, and I for one am glad to see the ‘big guys’ get taken down a few notches for using this technique. I like the idea of fair game, and underground networks is (was) definitely not fair game.. it was cheating.
As for anyone considering themselves an SEO company, charging companies for services that should have been based on educating the client and building quality content, well, shame on you in the first place 🙂
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:02 am
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Fair comment Chris
Matt
Hey Matt,
Thank you for this great and helpful post. I’ve always appreciated your incite even though I’m hardly on your blog these days.
I am a member of Traffic Kaboom which is a great blog network. But now I’m scared since Google made this move. I’m thinking seriously about terminating my membership…What would you do? This service isn’t cheap either.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:02 am
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Well it is a tough one, as it is a blog network, so it could go the same way of BMR, so I am personally not sending these links directly to my target pages anymore and use them as a 2nd layer of links
Go read Matt! I had been reading about this over the past week. Just picked up my copy of VideoCommisionFormula. Just as I got the to section on Blog Networks, your email highlighting the above entry popped up. I see from a previous reply that you didn’t feel this is going to effect YouTube videos, however, any prediction as to how long until it will? Or is there something inherently different regarding video that this would not be the case?
Always an interesting read while grilling on my Kamado!!
Mike
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:01 am
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Hi Mike
All I can say is YouTube is not effected and not sure if that will always be the same, but right now it is.
Matt
Hi Mat,
Thanks for the warning. One of my Blog Network link building was taken down and I noticed the impact. Good video to focus on natural links. Need to sharpen up my social sites and all the good tips on this video.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 8:00 am
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Thanks Trevor!
Matt
Wow, thanks for the news. I agree… Google’s move was definitely a positive thing for us…
Let me ask you something… When you say quality site, do you mean just high quality articles/videos? Or do you think eventually the site design has to be high quality too?
And btw, since I’m here, have you found any good results from your .cc domain testing?
Thanks again buddy! 😉
~ Omar
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:59 am
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By quality I mean you WHOLE site, that includes the design, and the layout, the topic coverage etc…
Hi matt thanks for the information. I have just started trying to build websites to make money online but have appeared to become involved at a difficult time.I have done some of your courses to learn seo and link building.Will be interested to follow your ideas and hopefully things will work out.
Matt Carter Reply:
March 28th, 2012 at 7:58 am
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It is an interesting time with Google, been like this for a good 12months now, but just hang in there and keep learning, that is the key
Matt
Hello Matt.
Have just got your video Commissions Formula system.
I am a bit concerned that the various methods that you suggest for getting Videos ranked (Traffic Kaboom) etc. is all really artificial link building, and exactly what Google does not like.
Can you please comment on this.
OH NO, I have just joined AMA in the last few days after you recomended it to me. Should I pull out?
Nice post Matt.
I agree fully! Diversification and natural, and unfortunately, some real sweat equity (or outsourcing) by real people is key.
The entire ‘link bait” idea is great.
Continued Success,
Patrick Batty
After initially losing only a few spots in rankings after the ALN de-index my site was penalized one week later – pushed to 100+ for all keywords and all pages.
This site was 4 months old so I think that Age is a big factor on whether or not Google just devalue the links or whether they punish the site.
I had another site using ALN and it was an older site – this site had a bit of a drop – but only 5 spots or so and was not penalized. So from my experience in these two similar situations – Age was really the only difference.
Google wants online marketers to make money only if they buy traffic through Pay per click. They dont want people buying links and getting’ Free” traffic. Its sadistic but that is the way it is. Google would be happy if all affiliates vanished.
So the best thing as Mark says is to play by the rules until Google domination comes to an end.
Thanks Matt for concise & valuable information. We are not IM, in fact in the construction industry but trying to self educating on all things (if this is at all possible!) in the IM world – hence I have been “lurking” on your site for a while and learning, learning.
So now concerned with our SEO guy (!) who only yesterday ( and this google slap was already all over the web) who gaily told me was working on back links for our site – do I go whoa there – stop – slow down – what the heck are you doing…..
Our construction site ( like many in this industry has been set and forget- I want to change that) currently has next to no back links and poor SEO,page 5 google for main keyword – so do we still start a backlink process to kick our seo off the gound……
So for a struggling site – tho one who is going to commit to the long term qualitycontent factor as well – Can you still start SEO with a back link process?
– is there white hat seo that gives at least some short term results while the long term strategies are going on ?
How do I even know where our SEO guy is going for our baclinks – and that maters now.
Great post Matt.
Cheers Alison
http://www.waterproofingfew.com.au
Hi Matt,
No one can say that the writing wasn’t on the wall because it’s been coming for quite some time now! I believe that one needs to be very diverse in their link building strategy, a little here and a little there. You need to have a good mix including, article directories, directories, blog posts, forums and of course the social aspect. Also you need to be using a variety of anchor text pointing to multiple pages deep within your site not just the home page. With diverse link building at an even pace and a quality site I think you can weather the storm.
I had a feeling that Google would soon commence on another campaign of deindexing websites and it is here. I here a lot of good blog writers saying and Google as well and that is to write good content… well just what is that as the web is so bloody confusing how in hell can a blogger like myself find enough to talk about online that is worthwhile when he can’t find much less offline.
Kenneth C Young
One thing about Google is that if you do what they ask you to do, whenever they “drop a bomb” e.g Panda, it never affects you. They say build quality links, “yes Google easier said than done”. If i had a bomb I would certainly drop it on them (Google).
Not to go off topic Matt but SEO Experts Academy has been closed for a while. I just needed some link building coaching and I don’t know how else to contact you for help. I’m sure you have videos and manuals somewhere in your arsenal and would like to get my hands on them. There is no contact form or email address here. I’m sure you can see my email address with this post reply. I know you’re a busy man, but’ i’l pay if i have to. You are one of the best. If you have to, please delete my reply if you can contact me. Thanks.
Further: if Google is now tearing down all the blog networks with its deindexing then what is next. What is called “organic Indexing” today may very well not be tomorrow.
I hate to sound like the negative guy but I think Google will end up destroying all the websites out there and anything you try to make money online will eventually be deindexed by Google
Sad but that is the way I see it going
Kenneth C Young
Yes Matt, you are right, I have heard something about this and really I was not to surprised with everything else that has been going on lately with Google. Thank you very much for the advice and the post.
I dont think it so bad it is levelling out the playing field and for the newbies it opens great door for you.I think we can look at some other ways to get backlinks 301 redirects would be the most powerfull tool and if you have a small network link exchange, matt coarse with terry kyle has some gold nuggets in their.If we sit and ponder we go nowhere the key is to keep the wheels rolling
This has been a long time coming. Actually I think it is a good thing that levels the field. But I do feel for those who lost money and links.
Google is not dumb and they know every loophole. But now following Panda they have the ability to close them. If you are building crappy sites or using automated tools be afraid, very afraid.
Of course we all want to rank and make money but what about old fashioned hard work,quality content and putting users first instead of gaming the system? As the saying goes “Easy come,easy go” If the idea is to build sites that last and become assets there really are no shortcuts.
I’ve been watching this story or stories unfold for about a week or so, Big G has stuck again.
Hi : Matt
Thanks for the great post, the tips and strategies you discussed are
spot on and very straight to the point.
We up and coming marketers are learning a great deal from a Successful honest marketer like you. The way to go is still to use the old way of writing Articles, as well as trying to use the tips you share here.
I highly agree with you, especially on the point of Social Marketing Back links tips you share, as I forsee this as the way the Internet is heading in the future.
BMR being dropped is nothing fairly new. I seen a post the other day that was posted last year, and it clearly stated that BMR was dead…this tells me that BMR was losing rankings for months up until google de-indexed their entire network..so this de-ranking was not something that just happened overnight, and I have also heard that some networks even still charge, even though they are no longer indexed, taking advantage of the newbies i guess.
Matt,
I have a small number of blogs that I use for my own sites. I am keeping them and slowly build up pr with them.Do you think this is also one of the things Google will hit hard on?
Great video and content as always.
Will you update seo-expert-academy?
Thanks for the info
Eddie
This is good news as far as I’m concerned. This is a great time if you’ve been playing by the rules. My sites and my client’s sites have been showing improvement after every algo tweak past year or so. Especially my old domains, with very few links they are at the top and seem to be only getting stronger. This just proves what I’ve been saying for years and years… don’t waste your money on gimmick SEO “tricks” put that money into a premium aged domain and high end web dev… you will always come out on top in the long run. I tell my premium clients to set aside $2k+ or so just for the domain name, and look at it as a long term advertising expense… one that will save you from having to even think about playing in the spam blog BS sandbox with all the other warrior forum hacks.
Hi Matt,
I am going through your video marketing course “Video Commission Formula” which I bought before Google came down on blog networks.
In the course, you have heavily advocated getting backlinks from places like AMA, Traffic Kaboom,SEO Destiny, Affiliate Link Network, etc using spun articles as well as doing Social bookmarking using both automated desktop and online means.
In the wake of the present developments, what changes would you advocate to bring and traffic to videos. Hope you will update the course ASAP to reflect these.
Sasikumar R
Matt,
Great observations and thanks for the work you put into this. Oddly, search results are not much better than they used to be for certain things. I think one possible reason is that Google has morphed from a search engine company to an advertising company.
Frankly, Google really doesn’t care about content or quality. I believe statements by Cutts on this subject are mostly smoke and mirrors to keep us scurrying about trying to decode their algorithm.
As affiliate marketers, we are their competition. Recent changes to page one results above the fold show that Google is slowly trying to squeeze organic results down the page, making it more and more difficult for independent affiliate marketers. They want to put us out of business.
Like you said earlier, it’s absurd to think any website will generate traffic by “natural” linking. Let’s face it, many affiliate marketing self-help products do not generate natural links.
Can you imagine anyone sharing websites with their friends about them having sweaty armpits, acne, yeast infections, warts, or male impotence? It’s ridiculous. However, Google can certainly advertise for these products right on top in large ad boxes.
I’m afraid this business model is in serious danger of being totally taken over by large internet commerce companies, similar to the way big box stores undercut mom and pop shops here in the USA several years ago. Without further legal intervention, we are finished, sad to say.
We try to play by the rules and follow a particular online marketing code of ethics which basically means we make use of white hat techniques only. I for one say balderdash! This Google monster is out of control.
I’d suggest people use every available method to promote their websites, black hat or not. It’s survival. There are people around that have developed systems that use every available method to game search. I say hurrah!
Matt, they didn’t just discard those links. They actually issued penalties. I can tell just by monitoring my site’s rankings. Negative SEO looks real to me.
Hi Matt!
Thanks for the update and all that you do…
I was about to start using the blog networks until Google went on their rampage…but I’m not upset that Google is targeting those type of links (well yes I am, because I had to alter my SEO plan lol), because it really is about the users experience.
One of the best thing we can do is obtain the mindset of giving Google the things they ask for…Yes, it may take time and more work, but at the end of the day your sites will be safe for the most part…
And…
I totally agree with you here:
“I personally have scaled back massively on the number of sites I focus on now, because in order to do sites the way Google likes, and the way they should be done for that matter, takes more work, and therefore I find managing less is best.”
Also, what are your thought about Pinterest? I’ve heard it could become the “New Facebook”…and according to the “social media experts” it has breaking number surpassing Facebook, twitter and Google+…
– Marc