Why Google Hates links…

Well Google doesn’t really hates, in fact it eats them for breakfast, most in the search engine optimisation society know that. However, recently there have been murmurings of websites tanking since Google updated its algorithm regarding reciprocal and paid links. One such post which got my attention can be found here: Authority Directory.

One issue I had specifically was that of paid directories. There are hundreds if not thousands of them out there, some niche, others more generic, however all have played a role in promoting websites whilst (hopefully improving their pagerank). After reading that Google now frowned upon paid links I shed a little tear, as I know it is one way to help give new sites a little shot in the arm. However it looks as though that tear was in vain as what you actually pay for on most directories is for someone to preview your site, and if they like it, add it to their directory – about as close as you can get to a paid link, without it “officially being paid”.

A lot of problems I found using and managing directories over the past has been the issue of reciprocal links. It has been one of the oldest forms of SEO – exchanging links with business partners or websites of a similar nature. However in recent years I know some websites have created massive pages dedicated to hosting all reciprocated links in one place. These pages are in fact a complete mine field of useless information, they may not be useless as such, but any human may have serious trouble trying to navigate or understand them.

So what? You may ask, well simple really all search engines have stated that we need to provide content for humans, not search engines – by creating massive lists with hundreds of URLs we are in actual fact creating links for the benefit of improving search engine results, and thus removing the human element from our website.

So while reciprocal linking on a smaller scale probably won’t hurt your site/business try becoming a bit more creative with your partner links. Consider dedicating a whole blog post about partners, adding the content is good for organic search results anyway, and try to get your linking partner to do the same back. This will create content that humans would more likely read, interact with and increase the chances of that link being clicked. Not to mention the old fashioned referral bit of business you have just created.

Additionally try and add links to your website in other ways. My site has a friends page, with companies I have dealt with or worked for, plus a few friends I want to link to. Whilst this may not be the best example out there, the fact that the page isn’t called links.html will probably slightly help those links somewhat. Additionally that page doesn’t contain too many companies, so it is easy for a human to digest the information.

If however, I were to suddenly increase the amount of links on the site, I would need to portray the information to make relevant and simple to use. And this is where the post comes full circle, the great thing about directories is that they are categorized in relevant, logical sections. So within each segment of a directory you always understand what the websites are about, and where they fit in context to the site.

I am a great believer in directories being fantastic additions to websites, even smaller ones. An example of a project where I implemented a similar directory as shown on Ipswich Central’s website whilst working for Jacob Bailey. The shopping category was broken down into niche sections, allowing the end user to navigate to the section which immediately interested them, grouping relevant links together. To extend the quality of this particular directory, each link has its own page, giving a brief description about the company, as well as additional contact information and opening hours. Whilst it is a bolt on directory to a successful site, it is also a great resource for the end user. It has also created over 300 extra pages which will no doubt help the site improve its traffic from search engines.

So that has to be the best way of working with reciprocal links, whilst creating an extension to your website which is both a resource to your users, and useful from a search engine perspective.

Filed under: SEO, PPC, Design by Moley
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