Could product sample giveaways be seen as 'paying for links'?
-
One of our main methods of advertising for my startup business is by sending samples to bloggers for review. I've read a lot of good things about this method and many of my competitors use it very well - I've even seen it suggested on the Moz blog several times in the past.
The one thing I do worry about is that Google may see this as a form of 'link purchasing', as I'm offering something in exchange for a link and some of the blog posts may reference that fact (or at least most likely use the word "Review" - Which could be some kind of footprint?).
We don't intend to ask for anchor texts, so at the very least that should look natural.What are your opinions? Could this be seen as paid linkbuilding or is it regarded as a natural marketing method?
[EDIT]:
One idea we had was to potentially offer bloggers the chance to earn a portion of their purchase back by writing a review on their blog. They'd buy from us and let us know they have a blog, then we'd reimburse them some credit towards their next order for every blog post they write about us. Does this sound like a good idea or is this potentially more dangerous than simply offering free samples? -
Hi Marie,
Can you please elaborate on what you think is a completely earned link as well as giving us some example?
I am in the same boat as azu25 - it is hard to earn links when you are starting off because no one knows you, so how do you go viral while avoiding link scheme penalties?
Other ideas I had:
1. Offering bloggers coupons that they can blog about. Their audience would be able to use the couple to buy form your store.
2. Offering free giveaways from your store. The blogger could blog about this. Could this be seeing as a "free" product form search engines??
What is your opinion on the two ideas above?
Like azu25 has stated, it seems that many domains with high authority do give away products to their bloggers, but are still ranking....it's hard to compete with 1000 monthly links.
Also, what is your opinion on building blogger relationship and asking for that blogger to blog about you once a month (recurrent blogs)?
Regards,
Carlos
-
Ok, What I'll have to try is our other marketing methods first and leave this to a kind of 'last resort' practise. If you think it's a bad idea, I'll steer clear as much as possible - It seems to be used by most of our competitors (especially our biggest one) so I suppose it's only a matter of time before they're penalised for this.
Thanks
-
I think what you are asking here is the same as saying, "How high above the speeding limit can I drive before I get charged with speeding?" If the limit is 50, then anything above 50 is breaking the law, but will you get stopped for speeding at 51? Not likely. 55? Maybe. 60? Some people can get away with it but you could get caught.
I think that if you are sending free product and hoping for a link you may get a few, but if you get enough links to start making a difference in rankings then you're probably crossing the line of unnatural linking. These days there are three ways to make links:
1. Completely self made links.
2. Completely earned links.
3. Links that are self made but you've tried your best to make them look naturally earned.
Google is very smart. If I were you I would not be risking a penalty but then I am biased because I work with sites who have been ruined by penalties.
I'm not sure that I have an opinion on the second part. It won't get you into linking trouble as no one is linking to you, so it sounds fine to me.
-
Thanks Marie for your feedback,
Obviously we want to be as squeaky clean as possible. Our biggest competitor is a very big and well-known company - they rank very well for some big keywords and one of their main sources of links at the moment is these product giveaways in exchange for a review and a link. I think any Googler could see that they are sending free products in exchange for links, as they're getting ALOT of links doing this.
I don't think I've seen that part of Google's guidelines about offering free products - I don't know how I've missed that!
It's a marketing method we can't ignore, so I'm trying to think of different ways we can do it so that it doesn't get too dangerous. Perhaps if we sent out maybe one free sample a week to a blogger who we know writes reviews, then rather than asking for a link, just ask for their opinions (as Chris suggested above) and hope for a review with a natural link, then that might be better, as there's no link being requested and it's not too aggressive on a large scale.
We'll try anything to make this method as natural looking as possible.Regarding the second note about reimbursing purchases - another idea we had for this was to do the same, but offer people the chance to write a review for us to post to our site. We could add a 'customer reviews' section to our blog and include those there, which of course would be more detailed and more engaging than the regular 'Write a review' section on the product pages. This doesn't involve links as the content would go on our site, so there's no risk of a penalty (that I know of, other than Panda, which we'd ensure it's good content first), so I was just wondering what your opinion of that would be?
Thanks very much !
-
Most of my work is on sites that have been dealt a manual unnatural links penalty. I have worked with a couple of sites who were penalized for exchanging free product for a review.
Here's one of the points in the quality guidelines under "link schemes"
- Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link
Now, there are ways that you can do this where an algorithm (i.e. Penguin) is not likely to pick up on what you are doing. But, if you want to be squeaky clean you have to build links as if you were comfortable with someone from the webspam team taking a look. To me, it's all about scale. If you have a small handful of links because you sent someone a product, this is probably ok provided you didn't ask for a link back. But, if you do it on a larger scale then it can easily look like a linking scheme and could open you up to a manual penalty.
Is it wrong to send free product to someone? No. Is it wrong to ask for a link from someone? No, provided you haven't exchanged anything for it. Is it wrong to send free product AND ask for a link? According to Google, yes. So the obvious question is, "How would Google know that I asked for a link? Couldn't I just send free product and hope that they write about it?" I don't know the answer to that question. But if I was doing this I would be careful. If there is any sort of insinuation that the free product comes with the expectation of a link then you're treading on thin ice. Similarly, in my opinion, if you send free product and ask for a review, you are essentially asking for a link.
"One idea we had was to potentially offer bloggers the chance to earn a portion of their purchase back by writing a review on their blog. They'd buy from us and let us know they have a blog, then we'd reimburse them some credit towards their next order for every blog post they write about us. Does this sound like a good idea or is this potentially more dangerous than simply offering free samples?"
IMO this is a paid link.
-
I might do a sort of A/B test with this kind of thing and see what happens - Ask 20 people for a review and ask 20 people (who I know already do reviews) if they'd like some free samples, to see how it goes. Probably a bit pointless, but if there's any way I can try to get our links looking as natural as possible then I'll give it a go
-
Understood. And I'm just saying that if you ask for their evaluation--without asking for the review--you may get the review anyway--especially if you're targeting those who have already shown they review or mention products online.
-
Hi David,
We'll be making sure to mix in plenty of other marketing so will hopefully be able to gain some links to water the 'sample-links' down a bit.
Thanks
-
Hi Chris, thanks for the response.
I actually meant that we would be asking for reviews, but just not for specific anchor text. So the reviewer could link to us however they want, or not at all - As long as we get our name out there.
We also had one more idea which I'll make a note of in the OP.
Thanks
-
I think you're OK if you're sending out samples but not asking for the reviews. Something like "here [blogger], I see you have an interest and an opinion on a number of similar products and I'd love to know your thoughts on mine."--kind of thing. The number of online reviews you get without asking might not be that different than the number you get with asking, depending on your niche. Also, no need to stick with bloggers. Anyone anywhere in social media who's mentioned a competitor's product can get the same type of communication from you.
-
Its some what of a gray area - I would recommend using it in conjunction with many other tactics to make it look more normal and giving you enough link diversity that google wouldn't penalize you for it.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the perfect strategy for a Brand that manufactures the product?
Hello Moz Community, I'm currently associated with one of the brands. It's a nutrition and supplement brand that manufacture supplements. Now, they are running an e-commerce website. Problem: It should be product based website, not an e-commerce website (Like Design, Look and Feel of it.) The problem with SEO: What do you thing like which will work better.
Branding | | Max_
1. Doing Perfect On-Page SEO? And building links for queries like: Best whey protein supplement in "Geo." Buy Protein Powder Online Buy Whey Online "Geo." Generic Terms Brand Name URL All the Remaining Keywords and Anchors OR 1. Doing a perfect On-Page SEO? and
2. Doing massive outreach like Inviting bloggers for guest post (Natural Anchor) Guest Posts (Natural Anchor) Mentions on social media Content Local Business about reciprocal promotions Email outreach Product Reviews Influencers content Link building as mentioned above Q. Tell me which will work the best?
Q. What I've to change in the strategy?
Q. Also tell me how to do a perfect keyword research for product pages? Thank you0 -
Lightbox to show our sixteen most popular products
We wish to create a minimalist Lightbox (without flashy transitions) for our home page that displays a matrix of 4 x 4 images - sixteen in all. Each image (approximately 240 wide x 360 high) needs to have its own descriptive text and a hyperlink to the appropriate page on our web site. We are trying to identify a simple yet effective SEO friendly add-on that will allow us to quickly change the Lightbox on a daily basis. Suggestions from the Moz community would be very welcome. Thanks
Branding | | JustInsulation0 -
Should I fix a high quality link when the website linking was complaining? What would you do?
While reviewing 404 errors in Webmaster Tools, I noticed that a client had a link from a high authority, well respected forum, to a page which no longer exists. When I checked out the linking post, it was from 2004 and showed a campaign against the company for it's advertising tactics. I'll spare the details but the company has since changed their ways. It's tempting to implement a 301 to get the link juice from this DA 80 post, but since the reason for the link is a negative one and the co-citations are not going to be positive, is it better to just let this link go? Or what about something more up-front, such as setting up a page which states the company's mission statement and commitment to quality and standards and 301 redirecting to there? Even if we let this link be broken, a potential customer could be put off, so it might be a good idea to address this past issue on site? Let me know your opinions on whether there is a way to benefit from this link or whether we are better off allowing the 404.
Branding | | McCannSEO0 -
What can i do to regain top 3 for local map listings if I already created a bunch of citation link to my site?
I got hit by a penguin refresh on Oct 5th and lost over 10 #1 rankings. I'm currently #4 on the places listing for my main keyword and really trying to regain top 3 position. I created a bunch of local citation with matching info and really piped out my map listing since it is 100% complete. I'm quite stumped on how to further optimize my map listing to where i can hit top 3 positions. Does anyone have any recommendations on this issue? Thanks Sam
Branding | | junkcars0 -
Is having two websites that sell most of the same products a good idea?
Hi - Please read this in full before you answer. I currently own a website that sells kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities that match the kitchens. This website has been operational since Arpil 2009 and we have built good rankings over the past 3 years. The site is operated on the Volusion platform (my mistake from the beginning, but we're kind of stuck now). We are in the process of designing a new website on the Magento platform - everything will be 100% different from look, speed, the way our customers shop, content, product skus, etc. The original plan was to keep the same domain but implement 301 redirects for subpages (subpage urls would have to change) and shut down the Volusion site and transfer the domain name to the Magento site. Our current website does make money right now and we would hate to lose rankings (even if only temporarily) during the switch or have something go wrong. What I am now thinking is keeping our current website on Volusion where it is currently making money and having the new Magento site have a new name/domain. The sites would sell most of the same products (the Magento site would sell more types of vanities and accessories though). The two sites would have different email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses. Is it a bad idea to try and rank two websites selling pretty much the same thing? We have competitors out there that sell the same products as us, I would just prefer to compete with myself rather then someone else. Another issue is our name, one of our competitors names is extremely close to ours and we rank for pretty much all of the same keywords and customers get us mixed up all the time. This other site would have a different name (one that makes more sense). I want to make a decision that will not come back and bite us later. I know there are a lot of bigger sites that operate tons of niche sites, and of these website could eventually be similar to that. I really appreciate your help and guidance! Thanks
Branding | | tyler7560 -
Has anyone had success with product page rel=author? Can I protect the content but dump the face on the SERPS?
Hi, Is there a way to get the benefits of rel=author for protecting site content but to disconnect that from the face photo on the SERPS? We added rel=author to our unique and individually written product descriptions and reviews. This has led to a decrease in click thru thus far. I suspect this is because when searching for a product to buy the user sees the face and thinks "review" or at least "not corporate". I don't nec. want to dump rel=author in the sea yet for our ecom pages, has anyone had success with product page rel=author? Four our keywords, we are the only company of 10 well known travel sites that have the face in the SERPS, far from improving our CTR, it has trashed it. Any ideas?
Branding | | xoffie0 -
How to increase the value of naturally created low value links
My site is starting to generate natural links (hooray!). Basically, as part of my client sign-up process, I encourage my clients (home improvement contractors, plumbers, roofers, electricians) to link back to their own profile page on my site from their own site, either manually or using a badge I've created and made available. I have 2 questions about this. First of all, the vast majority of these links are from seriously low quality sites with basically no backlink profile whatsoever. Many of these sites aren't even indexed. So I'm starting to feel like I'm doing all this hard work for nothing. Is there anything I can do to increase the value of these incoming links, without spending too much time or money? I'm thinking directory submission and/or link wheel gigs on fiverr (really crappy SEO, I know, but just to get these sites bumped up a notch, and hopefully not do any damage to my site, as they're a step removed.) Second question, the profile pages that my clients can create on my site includes a nofollowed link to their site. Does the nofollow save me from having all of my incoming links tagged as reciprocal? Is there anything else I should be doing?
Branding | | menachemp0 -
Video's Pros and Cons - YouTube vs My website or both?
This isn't really a question per say, but more of a request for advise. We are in the process of creating videos for our travel website. They are more informational and do not promote any products as such. I am aware of the options, and I am leaning towards creating a pro account with Vimeo so that the videos are available only on our website. The reason for this is so that we can at least get credit for our work, as when they are on you tube, anybody can syndicate the video without linking to our website. I am also aware that there are allot of searches happening on YouTube, and it may be worse if we choose not to upload our videos there as we would loose out on a big audience. it would be GREAT if we had the best of both options. And i had an idea i want to get your opinions on. Create the video and upload onto our website with "lower competitive" title / meta / body. Submit the video on YouTube with a "Higher competitive" keyword / title /meta and description. When someone finds our video, they might search YouTube to avoid linking back and wont find it, (although it is there getting traffic from a similar keyword) Branding is the number 1 objective for these videos, so you tube + many other video sites would be the way to go. However, i would also like our own "private" video blog on our site so that if web masters like the video, we can give them the option of embedding it on there site (like SEOMOZ do it on there whiteboard Fridays) Your comments and suggestions will be muchly appreciated. Greg
Branding | | AndreVanKets0