SEO for Affiliate Websites – Don’t Get Links from a Cemetary!
A few days ago, Jeremy published a post over at Shoemoney titled: SEO Has no Future. As you can imagine, every time he posts about SEO… the comments tend to carry on for several days during a sometimes heated debate, this was definitely no exception! The problem with his post is that what he talks about has very little to do with actual SEO and more to do with search engine marketing, or SEM.
SEO itself is considered as EVERYTHING you do to help your site rank better in search engines. From your initial research to layout of your content and ultimately, developing a link strategy to gain more pagerank, everything you do on the site to attract visitors from search engines is considered SEO. By saying that SEO has no Future (great linkbait title) as he does in his post, it would be too easy for someone to think they can just put up content, get some social bookmarking love and succeed. I hate to say it… but it’s wrong!
Looking at every aspect of SEO and in our case, how it can affect an Affiliate Website, there was one very valid point in his article… Search Engine Marketing, or SEM is likely going to be the first to die! If you have been following along this blog for a while, you probably noticed that I rarely talk about getting links from places like USFreeAds or other types of “Get links Quick” places. I think I posted one article about getting 10,000 links in one day as part of a test on one of my own sites and that is about it, aside from directory listings for BANS sites. The main reason I avoid these types of posts is that the practice of building links, just to have links, is a huge waste of timeand will likely become a non-issue in search rankings at some point! I cannot count the hours and days I have spent on inbound linking for various websites… only to have the links discounted in the longrun! At the time, I was getting links from pages designed for links to other websites which became known as link farms… today, you might as well call them link Cemeteries!
Google may not have a great way to do it yet, but you can bet that at some point, they will have fine tuned the algorithm to completely discount reciprocal or even one way links, that were created for the sole purpose of attracting search engines and increasing pagerank! In the Google Webmaster Guidelines, it even says so:
Don’t participate in link schemesdesigned to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or “bad neighborhoods” on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
I suggest everyone actually spend an hour or so reading through ALL of the Webmaster Guidelines, paying close attention to the sections on link schemes and affiliate websites. EVERYTHING you wanted to know about succeeding with a BANS site is listed in these guidelines… Some of the more notable guidelines that DIRECTLY affect BANS:
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Create a useful, information-rich site, and write pages that clearly and accurately describe your content.
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Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it.
- Make sure that your TITLE tags and ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.
- Avoid tricks intended to improve search engine rankings.
- Don’t participate in link schemes designed to increase your site’s ranking or PageRank.
- Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
- Don’t use cloaking or sneaky redirects.
- If your site participates in an affiliate program, make sure that your site adds value. Provide unique and relevant content that gives users a reason to visit your site first.
- It is not only the number of links you have pointing to your site that matters, but also the quality and relevance of those links. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the buzzing blogger community can be an excellent place to generate interest. In addition, submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.
Overall, SEO from a technical standpoint will ALWAYS be needed on every website and every page you create! SEM, or marketing of that website for inbound links on the other hand… has always been a waste of time!
The bottom line of ANY link building strategy… no-cost directory listings are GOOD! Directories actually have a purpose in that they help organize the Internet like a phonebook.
If you DO go out link farming, get those links from RELEVANT websites with existing pagerank and authority. If you are going to a site for the sole purpose of an inbound link, you are wasting your time! Don’t get links from a Cemetery!
Previously Published Articles You May Like to Read:
- MSN is Easy to Impress with Affiliate Websites!
- Thin Affiliate Websites are Dead
- Build a Niche Store Empire in 12 Weeks – Inbound Links Bring Spiders!
- Free One-Way Links – Add your BANS Site Now!
- New Resource for Links and Articles
- Do you Blog about Building Niche Websites?
- Links and Resource Cloud MOD in the Works!
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I have been doing my part to "Build the Internet" since 1994, when I built my first website! Since then, I have built hundreds of niche websites for myself and many others, focused on design, applications, ecommerce, search optimization and internet marketing.
Hi Mark,
This is a good article and your points are valid. SEM is actually marketing efforts like PPC and banner advertising, rather than link building, and the fact remains Google still looks at a site’s backlinks. I’ve lost backlinks on sites too when Google disallowed them, but we must still struggle to get links from relevant sites wherever we can, for as long as Google takes them into account.
I’m curious – you mentioned submitting your site to the Yahoo Directory. Do you find it worth the $299 to do that?
Kay
@ Kay -
It actually took me 2-3 days to complete this short post… for the very reason you give about SEM being PPC and Banner advertising, or “paid” search engine listings.
I have always felt that much of what is considered Offsite SEO is actually part of my marketing efforts versus optimization efforts.
I view it as a long scale, on the left side is SEO, on the far right is SEM, somewhere in the middle… there is a gray area during the transition from one to the other, where both occur together.
About YD, I have listed several sites in the Yahoo directory in the past, but not for one of my affiliate sites yet. The recommendation to list is from Google Webmaster Guidelines…
Great blog btw!
Mark
Link building and having a blog tied to the site seems to works well for me. Of course I do many of the other things like social-bookmarking but I seem to get the most consistant traffic from these two sources.
Mark,
Another Great Post! The webmaster guidelines sounds like a must read and is now on my planner.
Link building is one of my greatest weaknesses and would appreciate any recommendations for becoming stronger.
Thanks,
Jamie
Hi Mark,
I’ve been following your posts for a few weeks and have really learned a lot. Thank you for all of the info you give us.
Now, I’m a little confused as to where I’m going to get my 10 inbound links a week. I’ve been leaving comments on relevant blogs and thought that was one of the better ways to get those links.
Maybe I missed something? If not, could you please elaborate.
Thanks Again!
Mike
So submitting your websites to Free directories is fine? I was thinking about purchasing a directory submitting software to make it easier to do. Like Jamie, I too am weak in the link building department. Thanks for the usfreeads tip, now I can stop wasting $10.00 a month for backlinks to my sites.
@ All -
Just to clarify – Link Building with RELEVANT sites is a MUST…. link building, just for the sake of building links, is the time consuming waste!
Like Kay says in the first comment – what are we to do, since Google does use links as a valuable metric in the equation of site popularity! The answer… if you are going to develop a link building strategy for your site, skip right past all the “Get Links Quick” and “Get Links for Popularity” websites and manually find websites that would provide a mutually beneficial resource to users.
Post coming today…
Hmmm…I’ve never considered my account at USFreeAds to be a link building strategy. I’ve found it an excellent place to help my sites get noticed by Google very fast and also a great place to pick up customers. If I’ve done my keyword research, I have had my ads on USFreeAds get picked up by Google within minutes, and be in the top five on the first page for my keyword. It doesn’t stay there forever, but is definitely worth spending a few minutes to post an ad.
I don’t consider the 10 bucks a month to be a waste at all, it’s more than covered by the visitors I get that buy thru my stores or click on an adsense ad.
I’m hoping that USFreeAds will continue to be “loved” by Google for a long, long time! :-)
I can’t wait until my income alows me to use more paid services.. I realize what Mark and others have said, that you need to look at the long haul.. Right now I’m using the yearly subscription at USfreeads but would love to use the monthly paid service.. also I would love to use the Need-an-Article website to do my articles because i struggle so much with that.. but 20+ more bucks a month when i’ve only made 8 so far this month.. i guess it just kinda scares me with all the troubles going on….
@ Adrienne -
USFreeAds was just the place I chose as an example of a site that will be shortlived in the sense of relevance to search. I’m not saying there is no short term gain… but in the longrun, the time spent on posting to these places would be better spent on relevant link building.
Like any website designed for the sole purpose of allowing people to list items for sale, as long as the site is used as it was orginally intended, it will always survive! The issue right now with USFreeAds is that almost everyone in the affiliate marketing community uses it to promote websites for the purpose of the search engines, versus visitors.
Mark
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