11 replies to this topic

[MangoSango]

Our company mainly provides services for professionals who also own a website. Over time we have gathered a mailinglijst with over 4500 contacts (email). Should I take the oppertunity to send them all a simple email to ask them to link to my website? I would give them a link back on an external linkpage which I also own.

Is this a good idea or a SEO no-no?

[Jill]

Which sites you link to can be an important part of how Google decides if you're trustworthy or not. So linking indiscriminately to any site who will give you a link is often not the best strategy.

[MangoSango]

Which sites you link to can be an important part of how Google decides if you're trustworthy or not. So linking indiscriminately to any site who will give you a link is often not the best strategy.

Hi Jill, I will only link them back through another website (a link directory website which we also own). But I will have them link to my original website. What is your opinion about this plan?

[Jill]

Sounds like the quintessential trapezoidal linking matriflux to me. (Of which I own the t-shirt, but would not recommend using as an SEO tactic.)

[Mikl]

Over time we have gathered a mailinglijst with over 4500 contacts (email).

I'm not qualified to comment on the SEO issues, but I'd be worried about how you "gathered" those addresses.

If I'm one of the 4,500, I can save you trouble of sending me the email.

[smc_online]

I agree with Jill and Mikl.

IMHO, it appears to be more of a spam tactic than a well thought-out strategy.

[CeeJ]

Our company mainly provides services for professionals who also own a website. Over time we have gathered a mailinglijst with over 4500 contacts (email). Should I take the oppertunity to send them all a simple email to ask them to link to my website? I would give them a link back on an external linkpage which I also own.

Is this a good idea or a SEO no-no?

Why not send an email asking them for a testimonial or opinion about your services. Inform them that they will receive some minor exposure when you add their website/blog link to your testimonials page. Then, offer a discount or free report or free white paper if they add a text or button banner link to their saying "We got our BLANK services from YOUR COMPANY".

Since the testimonials provide value to your visitors and their endorsement (your text or button banner link on their site) provides value to others who may be searching for similar services. Remember too, that a good testimonials page can help boost conversions.

[rominosj]

Completely clean true tactic.

I sell dietary supplements, I have a list of 7,000 subscribers (buyers), and after 60 days of the first purchase from a new customer, we ask them how they like their product, if they are satisfied with customer service, and persuade them to give us a link if they own a website by offering them a 70% discount coupon for their next offer. Similar to link baiting. No big deal, works great, go for it!

[Jill]

persuade them to give us a link if they own a website by offering them a 70% discount coupon for their next offer

That's how Overstock just recently got penalized by Google.

[rominosj]

That's how Overstock just recently got penalized by Google.

I think the real reason is because they are directly competitors to Google shopping.

Again, the tactic is completely valid, because the customer will only give you a link if your product and/or customer service is good, the plus side for them is they get a discount.

Why would you want to get a discount for something you don't like in the first place?

Overstock was using .edu links, not personal sites which I am talking about, or commercial sites from small business.

[Michael Martinez]

If you have a mailing list, those people must see SOME value in what you have to offer. You should not need to bribe them for links.

Besides, what are you going to do with all those links anyway?

[PatrickGer]

Again, the tactic is completely valid, because the customer will only give you a link if your product and/or customer service is good, the plus side for them is they get a discount.

I may have misunderstood the context (not enough time to read through the other post...), but if I understood it well, then... giving someone a discount in exchange for a link is not really valid based on what I know about Google's algorithm (please dont mistake this for me believing google is God ;-)).

Google didnt seem to like the idea of people buying links (the whole "paid links"-thing). If you give someone a discount if they link to their product is this not a paid link? If the tactic actually works, then some people will give the site a link, that they wouldnt have given them without the cash discount. thus those would be paid links (a paid link, imho, doesnt necessarily mean the content that gets the link must be bad..... only that people had to offer someone money to get that link. then its a paid link.

Not that I care a ton about this (it may read like that I just have a habit of making long posts), but based on Google's theory and what Ive heard from them...they dislike paid links. and probably would strongly discourage people from getting links that the content wont get without them paying someone for it (and giving someone a cash discount seems to be "paid").

I can only stress that Im not trying to play Mr. Ethical SEO, here, but I dont think its a completely valid tactic *in the eyes of the google engineers* at all. In their eyes people would have to link to the page without some kind of paid incentive.