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Link Building Networks Fall to the Mighty Hand of Google

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Link Building Networks

Last week we saw some big changes from Google as they continue to update their algorithms and the way they rank web sites. The most recent news and discussion was on the dismantling of BuildMyRank completely shutting down. For those of you who don’t know about Build My Rank, it was an extremely large and successful network of high Page Ranking blogs that made up a content link building service. Someone would join BuildMyRank, pay a monthly fee and contribute articles to the network of sites. For ever 150+ word article you provided, your content would then be posted on one of their network sites.

The concept did extremely well and was a very successful business for BuildMyRank, that is until Google de-indexed nearly all of their sites. There wasn’t much BuildMyRank could do and with all of their sites being de-indexed, it only made sense for them to close shop and move on to something new… which is exactly what they did.

The takeaway is that Google can simply make or destroy existing businesses and wipe out millions of links in the matter of a few moments. Whether it’s them disabling your Google Adsense account, or completely removing your site from the search results, Google makes the rules and forces many people to play by their rules. For any sites that were relying heavily on link building through BuildMyRank, they have probably dropped drastically in search engine rankings. This is why it’s important to always focus on creating a diverse collection of link building methods.

Effective Link Building for the Future

While there are still plenty BuildMyRank alternatives out there, it’s wise to focus your efforts on link building efforts that will stand the test of time and continue to grow your sites with not only inbound links, but also quality traffic. If you aren’t already focusing on your link building efforts, here are a few ways you can start building quality links that stand the test of time.

  • Guest Blog Posting (Top Choice!)
    One of the most effective ways to build incoming links while also hitting a target audience is through guest blog posting. In addition to building quality links, you will also be gaining new readers as they click on your author and content links which will send them back to your site. Another huge benefits of guest blog posting is that it’s free, but instead of costing money it will take time and effort to find quality blogs to write for and creating killer content. If you’ve ever take a look at the majority of guest blog posts out there, many of them will focus on targeting long tail keywords in their author/footer section.
  • Press Releases & Article Marketing
    There is a lot of debate in the air about how well these two methods work for increasing your results in the search engines, but they are still both effective for getting your site links out there. Article marketing directories were hit hard during the last Google update, and most Press Releases are no-follow on the links inside the postings. Either way, links are always great to have and these are two more sources that aren’t going anywhere any time soon.
  • YouTube and Social Bookmarking
    The power of social networks, bookmarking and video are always going to be on an upward trend. There are plenty of social bookmarking sites out there that can help with getting your blog posts and content noticed. YouTube is also an excellent way to upload videos and include your site URL in the description area.

As you can see, there are plenty of link building methods when it comes to gaining exposure and SEO for your site. The best way to find success with any blog or web site is bu focusing on creating real content that people want to read and share, but also expanding your link building efforts to different sources and not just relying on one method.

We all know that Google can drastically swing the search engine results with just the flip of a switch. It’s important to keep an eye on the growing trends in SEO and link building and what is on Google’s radar. The current focus is on link building and the de-indexing of fraudulent link building methods.

Image © froxx – Fotolia.com

About

Zac Johnson is a online marketer with 15 years of experience and also a blogger at BloggingTips.com and ZacJohnson.com, as well as the author of Blogging Tips: Confessions of a Six Figure Blogger on Amazon.com.

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{ 27 Responses }

  1. Yassin Madwin says:
    Well they've done something terrible to get busted, they've had to clean their trails! Google Cannot detect a well structured network
  2. Lakhyajyoti says:
    Wonderful post. I think blog commenting and Guest posting both are the best way to gain quality backlinks for your blog.
  3. Arman says:
    Nice post. Yes i agree with you that to find success with any blog or web site you must expand your link building efforts to different sources and not just rely on one method.
  4. Sergeo says:
    Thanks for this post. To my knowledge, guest posting is by far the best way to add backlinks for your site/blog.
  5. Ryan Howard says:
    It's fine for Google to eliminate junk blog networks, especially if the content there is worthless or written solely by non-native English speakers. Actually, a lot of the good blog interfaces have survived mostly unscathed. Those are the blogs with good content to begin with. The main issue I have with the updates is really the quality of sites showing up now. Not in every niche of course, but it seems the algo update has actually hurt search results. Who say having an SEO, working diligently to create good links and good content won't create a better site than an individual just posting content randomly. Well, Google does.... The last algorithm update was targeted not just at external factors (link) but also at on-page stuff. Sites with random internal linking and very "natural" (which to most would just seem messy) site structures are ranking like gang busters right now. I'd expect another update fairly soon to balance out the recent extremes of the last update.
  6. Rashmi Sinha says:
    I am quite confused about what Google did. On the first hand, it is good to have a company that is protecting its customers from sparing money to business that might prove your pageRank, but nothing is certain. On the other hand, It was a good way to get some traffic in your blog if you could afford it.. I think that it is a two sided knife and we have to accept the fact that we have to fight our way up to the top!
  7. John says:
    There has been many of these blog network sites shut down or de-indexed recently. It was only a matter of time before the big G got round to sorting them out. I'm sure these type of sites got some people some quick results but they'll be back to square one now with all their links gone. Like everyone is saying, the best long term solution is to stay diverse with your link sourcing. I see Google are also planning to attack over optimisation too, with notifications in Webmaster Tools for any offenders.
  8. Vijayraj Reddy says:
    Guest posting is the best way to gain quality backlinks for your blog, dont go for any kind of paid links, Google will ban all of them one day...
  9. Daniel Nathan says:
    Definitely guest blogging should always be the very first alternative. The problem is finding websites that both have a high PR and allow for guest blogging! I just found that sometimes it's worth sending an email to the blogger asking to write an article for them. You will be surprised by the amount of websites that actually accept them! Just remember to be personal and courteous...
  10. Nick Stamoulis says:
    You always want to play by Google's rules. They outline them in the Webmaster guidelines. Ignoring the rules and using black hat tactics may work for a little while, but it will catch up with you eventually.
    • Robert Peterson says:
      yes i totally agree with you. It may be beneficial for some time but eventually google will know you and blacklist the site..
  11. satrap says:
    The new changes (if we can call it that) shows once again that diversity is the key. I mean, I just dont understand why lots of people are complaining now that they have lost everything, well, of course you did. I mean, if you are relying on one source of backlinks that you actually knows is not the kind of backlinks Google wants you to have, sooner or later you are gonna lose them all. Another lesson is that you should never rely on Google to mark a living. There are many other ways to get traffic beside the serps.
  12. TacklingOurDebt says:
    I agree that one of the best ways to build backlinks is through guest posting, as well you can sometimes become a staff writer on other blogs and still link back to your blog in your profile. I find that works very well. Also leaving good comments and networking with other bloggers as often as you can, can also increase the number of backlinks to your blog.
  13. Andy says:
    Indeed, I'm getting the best results with writing guest articles. If only it wouldn't be so much work...;) Networks like BMR were so much easier, but unfortunately also a lot unsafer & unstable. It hat to happen at some point, so (luckily) I decided against using them, as I'm in for the long haul...
  14. Steve says:
    Good post Zac, As a user of BMR I am sad it is gone. It was damn effecitve. But as you pointed out, ANY backlinking method should only be a part of a system, and good quality content and links from a wide variety of places should be at the core of any strategy
  15. Sarah says:
    Wow, Google isn't playing games they are really clamping down. Thank you for the advise, would hate to get shut down.
  16. Sara says:
    Google is powerful but I also believe that BMR had an expiration date.Link building cannot be relied on only one way, and of course a blogger should adapt new ways to his strategy.Thank you for the info!
  17. saha says:
    Google is the king of search market. We have to follow the rules of Google. It's always risky to depend on some link networks for links. It is important to do link building in effective way. Social media can be very helpful if used in proper way. Thanks for sharing this good post.
  18. Gerald Weber says:
    The only thing I find surprising about this is how people are acting so shocked and surprised by it. lol. BMR was an easy target for Google. The only way I see this really impacting anyone's business very much (aside from BMR of course) would be if they relied heavily or worse yet soley on BMR. and it's always a very bad idea to rely on 1 source for links or traffic for that matter.
    • Zac Johnson says:
      Definitely. Relying on one source for anything is always a bad idea!
    • Michael says:
      i heard about what happened to BMR and this whole dilemma that happened in google lately. Yes, you're right. People were actually shock. We actually stopped using BMR because of what happened. Anyway, everything in google, or the internet, is dynamic. So, as always, we should be as well.
  19. Bishwajeet says:
    Link building via link networks is always a threat for any business as it builds a pattern,which any spider can catch that these types of links are going out from these particular pages and there might be some selling and buying involved in this.
  20. Jeremy says:
    BuildMyRank surely knew their time was going to end at some point. They likely had a plan in place for this kind of thing happening. They had to have known that their business plan was infringing on Google's guidelines regarding buying and selling text links that pass PR. So it's not like they were some innocent victim in it all. It is an ongoing war between seo link builders and the engineers at google. Link builders will keep finding ways to build links and exploit the algorithm, meanwhile google engineers will keep finding ways to combat those exploits. The true long term strategy is to improve your site and content enough that it actually gets natural links and social sharing. Even that can be faked though. User metrics are a lot tougher to fake and will likely be more important going forward.
  21. Samuel says:
    Google is so powerful. You're right. Google can make or destroy anything they want, anytime. I can't believe that they shut down BuildMyRank. Was it because they were doing something Google didn't like? Or were they doing something of one kind, too much? I always make sure to have a variety of links for my blog, and am glad I could start this type of way at the beginning, hence my blog is new. :)
  22. Dave Lucas says:
    The BuildMyRank shutdown is awesome news for hungry, struggling bloggers! We should all celebrate this event! Google has pledged to smash the guru-driven SEO blog culture, and this is only the first step! Sorry to throw a wet blanket on your article, but the "guest-post" is also high up on Google's target! More welcome news for weary bloggers who have been misled into knocking themselves out, falsely believing guest-posting would thrust them to superstardom. Pinterest and twitter are the "new kids in town" that can genuinely boost blogs and bloggers! (Of course the gurus are trying to figure out exploits. But until then...)
  23. Zac Johnson says:
    Thanks for posting, it will be interesting to see how all of the different blog networks try to update and change their platforms to last through the latest Google updates and de-indexing. Article marketing and link building will always be around, it's just a matter of what works and who can do it best.
  24. John Rampton says:
    Great post Zac, crazy how many sites have been shut down in the past week