Link building strategy - black hat or white hat?
-
I have a competitor who always ranks very on alot keywords relevant to our business and using Open Site Explorer I note they have a tremendous amount of links. I also noticed that it appears their web company has gone out and set up numerous websites with relevant content, and then have linked back to the competitors main site. Is this kosher? I ask because before I settled on my current domain name, I purchased several keyword rich domain names; should I be thinking of setting up websites with relevant (and original) content and link back to my main site?
-
We've seen a great potential here with some of our projects' competitors and are also thinking that there's a point to go for this strategy ... as long as you're not promoting one site that then links to your main site, but use your satellite sites to promote the main site, I believe there's a good potential.
-
I would agree but I'd add a limit to how many satellite sites you create. Google is a registrar and they could possibly find out about these sites. So don't use this as your main link strategy by any means. We usually create 4-5 satellite sites (wordpress blogs) and do what the above poster suggested.
-
That depends on your time and resources to build and market them - better to go with a solid single one then 10 weak ones.
Best scenario is 10+ solid ones
-
great advice, how many satellite sites would you recommend?
10 or so?
-
Thanks everyone for the answers; they were all extremely helpful.
-
Its all natural to me, I think that a white hat, gray hat or black hat depends on the intention of the webmaster. If those micro sites don't encroach on any google guidelines then it is okay. ^_^
-
Not black hat, but on the other hand, perhaps not worth it - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/whiteboard-friday-the-microsite-mistake
But if you go for it, then eyepaq has a lot of good advice.
-
I am doing the same thing for several projects. If done with extra care there is nothing wrong with it.
There is no black and white hat seo - there are no clear rules - we're all cowboys.
There is nothing white with anything we do - [natural links] is ... white - and that is not sustained by anyone - it's just natural - it happens. If you have the best site ever you don't need SEO to improve the traffic and make it look natural as you force it
If you have good domains you can build quality content sites and use a solid and not aggressive link building techniques to your main site. You must however host those satellite domains on different hosting accounts (different IPs).
In my opinion this strategy works and works great. It will give you more options in the Search results, options that you can control and it will rise your main domain because of the links that will point to this domain.
However is time consuming as you need to do SEO sessions for each satellite but is worth it, especially if you have great domain names for those satellites websites.
There are a few things you should consider (again, this is just a suggestion):
1. Don't host the satellites on the same IP class.
2. Don't use one page / Landing page and link to your main domain.
3. Treat them as independent projects with separate accounts on Social networks, blogs, submit articles to digg or whatever in each site name.
4. Build links to those satellites - you can risk some shady techniques as the risk is not as high as with the main brand.
5. Don't place junk or duplicate content but if you do make sure it's from your competitor as maybe you will outrank them in the future - just kidding on the last part... or not ?
I don't think this technique can be called spam if you do build good content sites on those satellites and use the juice to boost your main brand.
-
I would certainly rate this strategy as grey if not black and avoid it. This is one of the area in search marketing where lot of sites tend to get away with but may soon face consequences. SEO / Link building companies mainly located overseas rely on this technique heavily.
It is definitely painful and unfair when a competitor with spam links ranks well for highly competitive keywords set while a professional SEO spends months working hard playing the clean game. However, the reward from white hat is unmatched.
One last thing that I would like to point out is links from website hosted on the same IP blocks are less valuable links from different IP blocks. This is same as the domain diversity concept.
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
-
How do I find and can I trust link building companies
I'm finding it hard to build quality links. I don't want to employ a link building company as I can't find anyone I can trust. I also don't know what is a realistic rate of pay for link building work.
Link Building | | mark_baird0 -
How to make directory submission & link building easy
Hi guys, sometime ago I found a website who submits my website to few 100 directories for lessthan $100. I cant find the link anymore. Can you guys please tell me how to get my site submitted to many directories easlilly? and if someone can think of a service provide? Thanks guys.
Link Building | | Uds0 -
Link Building Ideas?
Hi everyone, I am currently working on a site where people can buy mail-order bagels, i.e. the bagels are shipped via postal mail. It's a good alternative for places that have no good bagel stores nearby, especially in small, rural towns. I am about to launch a link-building campaign for the website, but am a little stuck as to where to begin. My first thought was guest posting, but it seems like the vast majority of food blog owners are very protective of their blogs and rarely, if ever, allow guest posts. I also thought about doing sponsored reviews (i.e. sending mommy bloggers free samples in exchange for a review), but that's essentially a paid link, i.e. a no-no. There are of course generic web directories, but those only get you so far, and article marketing is out of the question (too spammy). Was hoping I might be able to bounce off some ideas off of you all. Any thoughts? Thank you in advance for whatever tips/ideas you might be able to share 🙂 Lukas
Link Building | | TampaSEO0 -
Link Building Template
Hi all, I am looking to find an actionable, easy to use, link building template to be used by myself as well as across office/clients. Key subject areas for link building have been defined but I am keen to apply a template to past and future link building opportunities as I build on the link building tactics I have a number of link building targets e.g. form competitor analysis, existing links from websites and looking to reach out to amend their anchor text, prospect websites Does anyone have a good insight into categorising the different link building targets by sector? Many thanks Simon
Link Building | | simonsw0 -
What are your favorite link building tools?
I know there are a bunch out there, but I'd love to hear your guys thoughts. The more tools you post, and the more unknown they are (i.e. everyone knows OSE, Raven Tools, Buzzstream, Ontolo, etc.), the more I'd love the answer. Also, it doesn't have to be a comprehensive tool. Even if it's a bookmarklet, or something that solves one specific tedious task, I'd love to hear about it! 🙂
Link Building | | pointblankseo0 -
Link Building strategy between domains I own?
I am in the somewhat unique position of owning and administering around 300 websites that each have their own unique domain names. We have a corporate website and then many individual websites for hospitals and nursing centers that we operate. My question is how would you recommend using these sites to build good incoming links between all the sites? Should I take every opportunity to find as many places to link from each site to all the other sites that are owned? Is there anything I should avoid that Google would penalize me for or discount the links all together? Sorry this is a such as long question... but wasn't sure where to start. Thanks!
Link Building | | KHCreative0 -
Best Link Building Practice
Are there any articles or tutorials here about how to build links? The only two methods I've been able to uncover are using OSE to analyze competitors backlinks and directory listings. I'm thinking there must be other ways.
Link Building | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Link building tools/sites
I am looking for a way to share my content in multiple locations to build back links without having to upload one at a time per location. For example- if i write an article and i upload it to ezine articles and then post it over on my blog- it will then post over on my twitter and facebook and linked in. However- how i can also get this article with back links into shared sites, bookmark sites, and other locations online to help build my inbound marketing for back links. I'm trying to find a way to save time while building out the links.
Link Building | | LauraThomas0