Power Linking with Blogs vs Link Spamming

In this article I point out some of the pros and cons of using blogging as a method of "power linking".

Here's a brief summary...

• Blogs are easy to write, are updated frequently, and are considered "content rich".
   
• Google holds blogging in high regard. In 2003 they even purchased a major blogging tool (blogger.com), and its hosting site blogspot.com and now make free blogs available to anyone.
   
• Google seems to spider blogs frequently and is more tolerant of intensive linking in blogs than they are in "normal" websites.
   
• Blogs have therefore become a major vehicle for "link spamming". This involves creating keyword-dense posts with many links just for the purposes of registering links back to sites in order to enhance their Google rankings.

In this article I argue there is a difference between "power linking" and "link spamming". I claim that "link spamming" is a shady practice* that should not be encouraged, while "power linking" with blogs is a legitimate tactic for enhancing a website's presence.

Recommended Blog and Blogging Resources Follow my "Blogging Experiment"- I create a network of Business Blogs, try various methods of maximizing the "Power Linking Potential" of them, watch the PR grow. My Marketing Blog Site (Marketing B.S.) - This is the original blogspot weblog, started in mid October, 2004. Check it out and see where it's at. Advertise on a Network of Blogs - You get regular blog posts, optimized and maxed out for links pointing at your sites. This is an incredible deal. The ultimate "Power Linking" Strategy. Become a Linknet Blog Partner.

Link spamming with blogs

A recent issue of WebProNews focused on how people are using Google's own free blogging service to take advantage of Google's lenient attitude towards link-heavy blogs. As one poster put it, "people are using Google's Blogger to set up dozens of free blogs and then setting up hundreds of keyword rich anchor text links to point to pages."

What makes this a questionable practice is that content like this is not intended to ever be read by anyone. It is simply a bunch of keywords and embedded links strung together for no purpose other than to impress Google's spiders. Another term for this is "google bombing", and for years enterprising bloggers have been pushing their sites to the top of the listings for keywords like "Talentless Hack" or "Operation Clambake". The idea is to get lots of sites creating lots of posts that pack lots of links together in content that focuses on one or two keywords.

It was only a matter of time (probably about 24 hours) before this started to be used for commercial purposes. One of the most striking applications of link spamming is the program called "Search Engine Cloaker". You can set this program up on any website and it will spit out thousands of pages of jibberish stringing together reams of keywords and building in hundreds of links pointing to exactly the pages you want to promote.

Another example is your typical link directory — page after page of links serving no purpose other than to give outbound links in exchange for inbound ones. Of course in theory a link directory is a "resource directory" that gives web visitors useful information, and is even a kind of "endorsement" by the webmaster. But in fact, most link directories are never meant to be looked at. That means they fail the same test we have applied to blogs: this material is not intended to be read by anyone. That makes it spam.

Power Linking with Blogs

Power linking is different.

As I point out in my FREE Power Linking Course, there are quite a few fairly simple strategies almost anyone can implement that will give you lots of high value links on high value sites. These are sites with real traffic, so this content is meant to be read. You can't post meaningless jibberish on real sites. Webmasters will simply not tolerate it.

Of the four leading power linking strategies outlined in my course, the second easiest is creating a blog and posting interesting content that is keyword rich and packed with links. (The easiest is buying links from high value sites.) If you go ahead and try the power linking blog strategy, just keep this simple test in mind: "Is the material I publish in my blog meant to be interesting to readers?" If it is, then you're not engaging in link spamming. Go ahead and pack it with your most important keywords. And build in as many links as you can.

--Rick Hendershot Linking Strategies, Free Web Tools, Online Audio and Video

*You may have noticed that I don't come right out and condemn link spamming. Many people consider it "unethical". This sounds a bit self-righteous to me. I tend to think it is no more unethical than lining a construction site fence with election posters. In fact, as far as I know, the comparisons with advertising practices have not been adequately analysed, and I will attempt to do so in a future article. In my opinion these practices are not so much "unethical" as they are pointless, inefficient, and often counter-productive.

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Rick Hendershot is the administrator of www.click-partners.com, and publishes numerous websites including Online Marketing Resources, The Web Traffic Advisor, Real Estate Radio, Full Color Vinyl Banners - USA, and Trade Show Displays.
 

Recommended Blog Marketing Resources

Website Promotion and Link Exchange - Increase your website traffic, and pump up the effectiveness of your website with link exchange and website promotion programs from www.small-business-online.com

For more information about the linknet website promotion opportunity, see our website. You can place your link, or your text ad on at least 30 pages just like this — on at least 15 different websites for one low annual fee. Getting links like this is a great way to increase the Search Engine ranking of your website.

Blogging, Blogs, Weblogs, Bloggers, Business Blogs, Free Blogs, Power Linking.