Types of Links to Avoid with Google Penguin Update

The Penguin update on Google has crippled a number of websites whose search result rankings have dropped significantly due to their unclean link profile and direct black hat tactics. Many other websites have suffered lowered rankings because spam websites are linking to them. In order to survive in the social media world and within the new parameters of Google, websites must be able to identify negative links, so they can try to avoid them.

Below are some examples of the types of links that sites should avoid:

Blog Networks
Defined as a group of blogs connected to a single network, a blog network is widely used in black hat SEO because it can provide websites with a higher ranking in search results due to its deceptive authority.  The blog content is usually low quality, focusing only on the anchor text to generate links from different sites.

Paid Links in Selected Content
Generally speaking, Google does not like paid links. However, there are still blogs that offer paid links to their content because the paid links are often not identified. Learning how to be more careful in selecting paid links can give you peace of mind that Google will not punish you. But, keep in mind that if Google does discover the link, you and the rest of the linked website offering paid links can be affected.

Link Farms
A link farm is a group of websites that are linked to every other site within the group.  This type of scenario is designed to increase search engine rankings because, historically, search engines have given a higher ranking to sites that have a lot of links from other websites because it denotes popularity. However, search engines have since identified this technique as a form of spamming and that is reflected in Google’s recent algorithm change.

Blogs with Single Posts
Blogs with only a post or two do not offer any quality.  And, actually, there are sites that create blogs with only a single post simply as a way to use social bookmarking sites to link back to it.  Google wants a site that frequently updates itself with original content.

Low Quality Guest Blogs
Guest blogging is definitely a white hat SEO tactic and is not punishable by Google.  However, if you feature a guest blog that is of low quality, it may not be enough for Google and could even be mistaken as a spam.

In light of Google’s recent Penguin update, many SEO companies have been wary when it comes to SEO tactics for their clients. These agencies make sure that what they do conforms to the new rules of Google and does not affect their website rankings in a negative way. Working with a SEO company will ensure that your website continues to survive and thrive in the ever-changing world of social media and search engine marketing.