Comments on: Linkfarming on the Rise in Automotive Internet Marketing

By: Troy

Troy — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:15:34 +0000

Check out this update http://www.automotive-search-engine-optimization.com/145/automotive-search-engine-spam-vendors/

By: Automotive Search Engine Spam Vendors

Automotive Search Engine Spam Vendors — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:10:44 +0000

[...] wrote in this article Linkfarming on the Rise in Automotive about this eventuallity. I called it linkfarming then, but as Google sets the standards, its more [...]

By: Doc

Doc — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 13:33:37 +0000

Everyone has their opinion on whats best and whats not.

Interesting article though.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 17:45:16 +0000

Thanks for weighing in. Controversy is good. In hindsight I could have written the article a bit clearer. But thats the way it goes on the Internet. Those words are permanent. Thanks for kind words guys

To clarify: the point of the article is not limited to inbound links, but rather about dealer awareness of networks built for the sole purpose of increasing search rank – that is explicit in Google TOS as cause for blacklisting. By definition this is still a linkfarm tactic.

I wrote this in the context of TK’s on-site SEO. That is what makes this network stand out. TK’s on-site SEO is (was) non-existent. Instead of doing search marketing the way professional SEOs would – on-site SEO first, off-site SEO last, TK had decided to take a short-cut. (After speaking with JD I now understand they do have an upgraded website in the wing that is improved for SEO. But I didn’t know that before writing this article. And I had asked for example dealer websites to evaluate.)

My concern is that dealers who buy into such programs usually do not know the details or ramifications of their vendor’s SEO package. And how long before one such vendor starts putting reciprocal links on the dealers site without that dealers knowledge? I can show you examples of that right now (re. VINsolutions) vendors placing links back from dealer sites to their (vendor) site without the dealer awareness. There go all your inbound-outbound link arguments guys.

Like I said, linkfarming is a seduction all SEOs contemplate. And everything is great while it works. But as these things take their course, competition being what it is, when will a vendor go over the line? And as a dealer, how will you know?

Do you have faith in the perception of a searchbot? That robot isn’t terribly smart and they don’t answer your phone calls when things go wrong. If the network is “perceived” by Google to be a linkfarm – throw away your domain. That is a devastating prospect for a dealer. Like I said, that is not a risk a prudent business person would take.

A well built website, good search marketing and ethical SEO pose no risk and will do more for a dealer’s bottom-line than having a vendor provided link.

By: Ben Skye

Ben Skye — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:49:28 +0000

I agree with Paul on this issue. Stick to social marketign techniques because this is evident that you truly do not understand SEO. Becuase if you did, you would understand that Google’s rules are applied to different levels of search terms based upon demand levels. I have a site that has a pagerank of 0 and has multiple top 10 rankings and a number of #1 rankings for highly competitive terms. So much for your theory that a page rank of 0 means your banned.

Matt Cutts has also stated on the record on a number of occassions that a site will not be penalized by who links to it…Better go back to school

By: SM

SM — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:31:27 +0000

Paul, the technique you’ve referred to is often used in negative SEO campaigns. Bottom line, if the SEO firm is claiming that linkfarms are quality inbound links then you’d be a fool to agree, right?

Although inbound links from linkfarms are not as devastating as outbound, the association with low quality sites may bring the search engine ranking of the page down. Any SEO should agree with this. This is what I think the author was trying to state.

By: Link Building Myths | Automotive SEO | DealerBytes - Online Automotive Marketing Solutions

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:14:15 +0000

[...] A false and misleading article was just published about using a blog network to build inbound links. Some of the misconceptions that really stuck out were: [...]

By: Paul Rushing

Paul Rushing — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:50:35 +0000

Your synopsis is way off base. If links from a blog network with poor content content, which this network does not have, was all it would take to get a site deindexed all you would have to do is create them around your competitors in bad neighborhoods.

Sure there are other ways to gain inbound links, but this method is not all bad…

By: JD Rucker

JD Rucker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:52:36 +0000

My number: 949.310.1727

By: JD Rucker

JD Rucker — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:52:12 +0000

I respect your opinion as a well-trained SEO, but I would disagree with your assessment. Feel free to call me at your convenience, as your analysis is incomplete and incorrect.