Google won't buy link buying strategies

If you’re one of the sensible companies that realises the value of digital marketing in helping grow your business, then you will possibly have embarked on some Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) work for your website. If you have, here’s a word of warning.

The New York Times recently uncovered a huge operation involving American retail giant JCPenney. It found that someone paid to have thousands of links placed on hundreds of sites scattered around the web, all of which led directly to JCPenney.com.

JCPenney denied responsibility for the activity. However, Google immediately dropped its site way down the search engine listings, and the company subsequently sacked its SEO team. In 2006, BMW Germany were penalised for a similar exercise.

 But it’s not just the high profile super companies - or their SEO agencies - which are using these tactics. In the past six months we have identified two examples of this practice among our own unsuspecting clients.

Commissioning SEO work is like handing over the keys of your company car to a complete stranger for a weekend – you have absolutely no idea what they’re going to get up to with it and what state your pride and joy will return in.

 While your car is a commodity and can be replaced, your website is the public face of your business and if it’s an e-commerce site, it’s the lifeblood of your business.

Paying for links is deemed illegal in Google’s eyes. Basically it’s a cheat’s way of moving up the rankings. Google doesn’t like it and won’t allow it – your site is likely to be relegated or even removed completely – which actually equates to a company shut down if you’re an online business!



So before you put all of your faith into an SEO agency (don’t panic, there are plenty of good ones around) we urge you to please ask the questions – ‘will a linking strategy be used in my SEO campaign?’ and ‘If so, how will this strategy be achieved?’.



In the case of our clients, we managed to highlight the activity before it was too late and both were saved from the Google axe but you might not be so lucky.

 Ask the questions and check out the credentials of your SEO suppliers – digital marketing is a minefield, and it’s very easy to be taken in by unscrupulous ‘experts’.

Don’t let your company become the next victim, otherwise you could find yourself on Google’s blacklist.

Roberto Rodriguez
Online Marketing Consultant