SEO. Harmful links

Every SEO professional knows that links (along with content) are the basis of SEO.

Links continue to be a significant ranking factor.

What happens when you get bad links on a scale that hurts your site?

Google may automatically downgrade your site’s rating, or, even worse, you will get a manual moderation.

Although Google claims that it ignores bad links, a large number of them may harm your site’s rating.

Below we will list 10 types of bad links for which you can be fined, and what you can do about it.

1. Links to press releases

Links to press releases were popular about 10 years ago.

These links were very easy to obtain.

All you had to do was write a press release and distribute it to hundreds of sites that distribute press releases.

Like any SEO tactic that once worked well, it stopped working.

Now, Google believes that press release links are easy to manipulate.

If you absolutely need a link to a website for reasons beyond your control, use empty or branded URLs as the main text and use only one such link.

2. Links to forums

To make it clear: not all links on the forums are bad.

If the link comes from a registered user and it belongs to a site with good content, is not spam, then it can be saved.

However, if you have thousands of links coming from foreign discussion forums, they are all low-quality links.

Any links that look like spam will not benefit you in the eyes of Google.

3. Links from foreign guestbooks

Such links are also manipulative.

Links from foreign guest books can be placed manually or using an automatic program.

Enough of them in scale can lead to a drop in the rating.

4. Many random links NoFollow

If you do not use an automated program, Google will be able to attack your mark.

It’s extremely difficult to create random tracks that you think Google won’t find.

Thousands of links from many different sites, which are all nofollowed, are an indication that they are spamming for Google.

5. Private blog networks (PBN)

PBN used to be a great way to build links to get a rating.

You could randomize your mark, and everything was fine.

Now PBN on a fairly large scale can lead to a loss of organic traffic.

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Google can detect and punish most PBNs. Some PBNs may take more time for it than others, but in the end, Google will catch you.

6. NoFollowed (& Followed) Social Bookmarks

Links to social bookmarking are also considered Google manipulative.

This can lead to trouble if you press them too much.

7. Catalogs

Directory services love to tell you that you will receive excellent support and benefit from their links.

“We will help improve your Google rating!” They will say.

However, nothing could be further from the truth.

Sending to poor-quality catalogs is likely to do more harm than good for your rating.

As with many things in SEO, there is an exception.

You can use relevant and targeted directories for natural link building - especially in local SEO.

8. Blog Comments

Historically, blog comments have been one of the most abused SEO tactics.

Comment spam is an ancient link retrieval tactic that should be avoided.

In fact, you can thank spam blog comments for introducing nofollowed links.

The goal was that spammers could not get the benefit of SEO by abusing the comments section.

But there is a correct way to leave comments on blogs. Leave relevant comments on thematically relevant sites.

9. Links from cheap link services

This is another SEO abuse tactic.

Google will not be difficult to set up an investigation protocol to register the accounts of these services, which often impersonate SEO specialists.

Just always remember that the person in the black hat with whom you regularly communicate on the forums may well be the representative of Google.

10. Links created by automatic link building programs.

Have you ever heard of tools like the GSA Search Engine Ranker, Scrape Box or XRumer?

Of course, these tools can create many links. However, in recent years, these programs have become less effective.

SEO professionals do not recommend using these programs for SEO.

If SEO thought about them, then Google is already a few steps ahead with its new algorithms.

In one of the following articles we will definitely talk about useful links.

We remind you that the company Futureinapps is engaged in the promotion of websites for business.

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