In a thread over at the Google webmaster help group Matt Cutts has made some comments that pretty much put an end to using sponsored themes as a linkbuilding practice.
Some people have been aware that this tactic is classed as “buying links” for a while now but the practice is still going on. The worst offenders are using keyword rich anchor text while other people just do it for general link juice. In the second case a penalty is unlikely but in the first case I expect Google might take a dim view.
Here are some of the key comments Matt made in response to a webmaster who had been using this method and saw their rankings drop by 60 places:
ShyBoy, have you been collecting backlinks in any unusual ways? It looks like you may have, and I would pay special attention to that. For example, if you had been attempting to get PageRank via paid links on various templates, then when that PageRank stops flowing (e.g. if Google improves its detection in various ways), the fact that you have less PageRank can also mean that a site won’t rank as well.
The recommendation from your SEO guy led you directly into a pretty high- risk area; I doubt you really want pages like f**kingfilthy.com having sponsored links to your furniture site anyway. It’s definitely possible to extricate your site, but I would make an effort to contact the sites with your sponsored links and request that they remove the links, and then do a reconsideration request.
The issue here is one of scale – if the site had 100,000 natural links and added a few thousand using this method I doubt Google would even notice. However if a large amount of your links are either low quality or ones Google doesn’t approve of then it’s only a matter of time before something goes wrong.
Patrick Altoft is Director of Search at Leeds based digital & SEO agency Branded3. Patrick also runs Blogstorm.You can get our blog posts delivered for free by email every day - simply add your email address to the box below or alternatively grab the RSS feed.
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Oh dear!
http://www.site-seo.co.uk/optimization/uk-furniture-company.htm
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Not quite what you want on your testimonials page.
More comments from Patrick AltoftIt was only a matter of time, my biggest question is how to differentiate between “Paid” sponsored links and gratitute links (links the designers use to promote their services)?
I think that this could hamper design work and things like wordpress themes wont advance as quickly in design as they do currently as the designers links could potentially mean nothing.
If they are able to differentiate between the two then this could definately work and the quality could actually increase.
now sponsoring wordpress themes is an “unusual” method for building back links.
as if it does not take time and effort to make these themes, just like reporters agonize over their stories….
the attorney general should crack down on Googles disclosure policy just like they did to financial firms and investment banks.
their interests as an advertising agency conflicts with the position they hold as “information brokers”
coding is way harder than writing but valued less in our society. did Tom Brokaw ever agonize over a 10,000 line program?
has he ever had to scrap a story because one letter was in the wrong place?
So does this mean an end to free themes or what ! I think as long as the links look natural , there is no harm .But how can one differentiate them from others.
This is becoming very common now.Designers make templates with a link to their site at the bottom of the template and then offer those templates to others without any cost.
I also use one of those free templates.I wander what effect it will have on my link building strategy since this is only a single link
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A footer link in Wordpress isn’t ever going to be natural though.
More comments from Patrick AltoftDarnation!
I had only thought of doing this last week… Unbelievable.
Ouch! Do you reckon they can get a refund?
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