I was planning to follow up on a post I made a few days ago concerning a new backlinking system I have joined and as luck would have it one of my alert readers sent me an email this morning which couldn't have been more on topic.
First read the email and then I will fill you in.
Hi Grizzly
Firstly, I have a complaint to make. I have just spent the last 60 minutes
reading through your blog. My complaint, it is so damn good I didn't spend
the last 60 minutes working on my sites instead. LoL. great blog!
Secondly, you mentioned in a recent blog a new service you were trying out
that gives you the opportunity to post blog snippets that contain your
anchor text. I came across a similar service recently launched called
Backlink Solutions and wondered if it was the same thing? (It is
selling at $97/month while the one you mentioned was only $67/month.)
I also caught wind of another service similar to the above that is giving
out 3 Free PR6 links from various blogs called http://www.20LinksADay.com/ I have used the service and they also provide some Bonus links from blogs
which have lower PR too. However, I also heard from someone that the PR6
blogs may in fact have had 'fake' PR and there was a tool posted that could
allow you to sniff out Fake PR sites at
http://www.seologs.com/pr-check/pagerank.html
(Using the tool showed that all PR6 sites were in fact rogue and did not
have valid PR. If true it's a hell of a gamble as the reason they are giving
away the PR6 links is so that they can sell an enhanced version of the
service, which I am now assuming is something along the lines of
BackLinkSolutions and what you are also testing.)
I'm not hot on Fake PR etc but I just wanted to get your take on this sort
of stuff and if you will be reporting on your blog about these backlink
options, which I'll definitely use, then it may be worth noting there 'may'
be some rogue options coming onto the market.
Once again great blog. I love the mix of White and Black hat techniques
provided. I'll be back for more.
All the best from the UK
Paul
Thanks for the email Paul and the nice "Complaint". Who says nobody likes a complainer!
You are dead on mark in regards to Backlink Solutions - that is indeed the site I have been trying out. I didn't post the link as I am wary of people rushing off to join up before I have enough info as to whether this system will do what it says.
A quick recap of Backlink Solutions.
You can join up and post snippets of text to a current roster of 103 blogs in the system. The idea is to place your anchor text in each snippet which would then give you a backlink from each of these blogs. All the blogs have a page rank - most are PR1 and PR2 sites but there are a handful of PR3 and PR4 blogs as well. If this indeed works then this is a great way to get backlinks for your sites - including links to all your pages as well.
I was aware of fake PR sites who use 301 or 302 redirects that point their sites to sites with a high Pagerank. This trick has been around a while and is used by scammers trying to sell domains or backlinks from phoney PR sites.
The tool Paul mentions can be used to check the Page Rank of any suspicious site.
Fake PageRank Detection SEO tool
I wasn't aware of the 20LinksADay.com site so thank you for giving us all the heads up. From what you mentioned this certainly sounds like a scam.
I checked out all the PR4 blogs associated with Backlink Solutions and all came up clean as legitimate PR4 sites. Here are the PR4 sites if any of you want to see them. I have not hypertexted them as I don't want two-way links - they are linking to me already.
http://www.mosaicodelivrosfsm.org/ - valid
http://www.dc561.org/ - valid
http://www.indysoapbox.com/ - valid
http://www.visionsofthewest.net/ - valid
http://www.windowsembeddeddevcon.com/ - valid
http://www.clevelandgolfersclub.com/ - valid
I haven't had time to check out all the blogs so it is possible that there may be some fakes. I was encouraged to see that PR4 sites were real.
I am still on the fence about this system as I have yet to see any of the backlinks materialize using SEO Elite's backlink checker. Usually a link from a PR4 will show up on the search engines in quick order.
What I have found is that while Google has indexed the sites in the system it doesn't send the bot very often which is strange for the PR4 sites. These usually get visited daily if there are regular post updates - and there are. It looks to me that the fellows behind this have bought a bunch of expired domains which had existing PR. The problem with this is that these types of domains have been known to lose their PR after a change in ownership. The next Google PR update will be interesting as these sites may be downgraded. The few sites I checked had only 1 or 2 backlinks from PR3 and PR4 sites operating in Portuguese out of Brazil. This doesn't suggest a strong backlink model.
When I checked out if Google had indexed any of the PR4 sites I was dismayed to see that the only indexed links that pointed to my blog were from the category pages and not the home pages. All of the category pages in all of the blogs I have examined have PR0. Only the home pages have PR1-4. This would be fine if my posts to the main pages were indexed but they aren't and without this there is no point in joining this program. I don't need more backlinks from PR0 sites.
It has only been a week since this program started so I will give them the benefit of the doubt for a while longer and see if the promised PR4 backlinks show up. Until then I suggest that others hold off on this. As of this AM there were only 42 members out of a cap of 300 so I would advise to wait.
I noticed that they have increased the fee to $97 from the $67 I paid a week ago. This is wishful thinking on their part I think.
Thanks again Paul for the email and I will keep everyone updated as things progress.
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And now for something highly prickish - a backlink system that is not so much black hat as it is just plain ignorant.
You may or may not have heard of link exchanges.
These sites are set up so that like minded people can join up and swap links with each other. Most of you know my feelings about two-way links. Don't do it - you only want one-way links. So, can you get one-way links from these link exchanges? You bet.
Let's look at Brad Callen's Link exchange called Link Metro (http://linkmetro.com/).
Many of you know Brad Callen as the creator of SEO Elite and Keyword Elite. Well he and his brother Matt (HyperVRE) created this link exchange in order to make money from the paid members. You can sign up for free and use a limited version which works fine for what I am about to tell you.
When you register your free account you fill in your site details and provide the anchor text that you want other sites to use when adding your link to their site.
Next you are supposed to search the database and select all the sites that you want to trade links with. Once done the Link Metro software does all the work for you. It contacts the other sites and lets them know that you are interested in exchanging links with them. The thing is, you have to add the other sites link to your site before the software will contact the other site. The software will confirm that your site has put up the other parties link and then instruct the other party to add your link to their site.
Now in order to get one-way links you just have to do the following... Nothing.
After Registering do not select sites that you want to exchange with. You have no intention of putting any links on your pages to anybody. What you do is simply register your site (you can re-register as much as you like using a different site each time) and then wait for others to contact you about exchanging links. When you are contacted this means that the other person has already posted a link to your site and the Link Metro software has confirmed this or you wouldn't receive the request for a link exchange.
Now here is the ignorant part. Don't respond. They have given you a one-way link. If you don't respond, nothing happens. I have done this for a long time and rarely has anybody gone back and removed their link to me even though I have never reciprocated.
The reason is that the people who request an exchange usually have huge sites with massive link pages and they use automated software to do all the work. A human never checks on anything like completed exchanges. Their software gives you a link, Link Metro's software confirms their link and tells you to give them one back. If you did then link Metro would tell the other site's software that you did and deal done. When you don't provide a link, Link Metro doesn't tell the other site anything and the software at the other site never asks why. Your link never gets removed.
Keep in mind that most of these links are just crap and won't help you much. However there are a few decent links to be had that make this worth while. If you have no PR or just a PR1 then this system will get you a PR2 link easily.
Normally I would say stay clear of these link farms if you were two-way linking as you would be punished by google for linking to them. The nice thing is that Google doesn't penalize you for incoming links - after all you can't control who links to you. Since all the links you get will be one-way links the worst that can happen is that Google will just ignore the links from the link farms and credit you for the few good links you receive from some legitimate sites that give you a link.
If you register several sites you will quickly find out who all the link farms are as the same sites will contact you for every one of your sites regardless of your content.
This is the easiest way to get backlinks period. You might not get many decent ones but you will get some and the best part is you never have to do a thing after you register your sites. I get a dozen emails a week from Link Metro telling me someone has requested a link. Great I say - that means they have already given me a link and I don't even open the email much less go to Link Metro to respond. I just ignore them. Yea... I'm a jerk.
You can also do this with http://www.linkmarket.net/
Sign up for the free version and wait for people to contact you. There is a paid membership as well but you don't need or want this. When contacted you will have to respond that you do or do not want to exchange links. If you respond that you do want to trade then the other site has to give you a link first. Once they do it, Link Market software will confirm this and then tell you to give the other site a link. It gives you 60 days to do this before it deletes the request. You will, of course, not reciprocate. Eventually people will start to remove your link but not before the search engines give you credit.
The advantage of this site is that you can keep unwanted link farms from linking to you by simply telling them that you don't want a link when they contact you. This way you only get links from the sites that you want.
There are lots of link exchanges out there and most operate in the same fashion. To get one-way links just let others contact you - this makes them obligated to give you a link first. Just don't link back.
nuff' said.
Grizzly
Backlink Solutions and Strategies
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