In using and applying SEO (Search Engine Optimization ) to
get more traffic to any website, I am always testing new
ideas and tools that are provided to help you get the work
done faster.
In some cases these tools border on the line of what Google
approves of.
Recently I got to try one of these tools out. It was not a
free test but at $47.00 per month. The tool (or service
really) was around the concept of 3 way linking. 3 way
linking can be explained like this:
I have a 2 websites. (A and B) I want to get links to one
of these websites. I want one way links to my site.
So I contact a webmaster (site C) and ask if will link to
Website A, while I will link back to him from site B. Thus
creating a one way to my site.
Many times, webmasters will set up a second site, just for
this purpose. It's not a new concept. There are few
downfalls with this idea:
1. You may get a link from a junk site which has no traffic
2. Its hard to monitor 3. Its seen as linking purely for
search engine results 4. It's not hard for Google to find
5. Its time consuming to set up and monitor. 6. Most of the
time the second site is just another domain on the same
hosting which is not the best look (same IP address)
Recently a service was set up to cover these areas with
99% automation. The service allowed you to put one file on
your site, and over the period of 3 months, 250 links would
be generated from the other members of the service. It also
mixed up the link text too.
It would be humanly checked to ensure only quality sites
would be included. It could be used on up to 50 of your own
sites. The reason for the lag time for the links was to not
ring any alarm bells from the site which had zero links one
day and 250 links the next - making it look suspicious….
This service was provided and tested out with several beta
testers. The site actually had a link to email all of the
testers, so I contacted them to ask of what type of results
they got- most were happy apart from a couple who didn't
like the customer service.
So I applied to one site over the 3-month period. The site
had a ranking which was in the top 20 for it's keyword, I
just wanted to kick it up slightly ;) without doing the
work.
It was doing well in Yahoo, just not so well in Google.
I applied the tool and uploaded the single page to my site.
I also submitted a few sites of my own and had a couple
rejected for not enough content.
I was happy that the human edited part was working. I
watched as the sites were added to the new link page on my
site.
In checking my stats a few days later, I found that my site
have jumped up a little, not a lot but some. I was excited
that I had maybe found a way of helping my site rank better
Then within 30 days later, I found my site had dropped out
of Google. In giving the service a chance (and still
getting sales from Yahoo)- I left it, while I worked on
other projects.
At the 3 month point, I decide that this was not going to
work, I removed the file from my site and all parts of the
service was taken away. This was also around the same as a
google update was going on ( I was watching another site
jump up)
Within a few days my site again sat at Number 12 in Google.
It was trial and error- you have to try out new ideas to
see how they work out.
It may have been fine when it was first released however
Google is constantly changing. The final point is that my
page rank did not change but simply did not exist in the
top 10 K results.
Now the site had no other changes made to it. Also part of
the service was an article service tool, which I couldn't
get my head around how it worked.
In conclusion this was a test that had only one element
applied to it, if I had made other changes then maybe the
result may have been less than clear.
And what was the service?….. I can't say exactly the name
as I would rather not be directly attaching another
business…if you search for "3 way links" you may find it.
----------------------------------------------------
Paul Easton is a self confessed online marketing nut- who
helps from an "in the trenches, doing it" point of view.
Search engines and linking for long term traffic a
speciality. Working out of New Zealand, he focuses on Niche
US markets. Get a Plan for free web Traffic here:
http://www.SEOTrainingLive.com/
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