SEO services are all geared towards increasing your business’ ranking with search engines. Essentially, your online presence is being optimized to gain the most possible credibility with search engine algorithms (whose requirements and qualifications are constantly changing!) Credibility is practically a currency when it comes to your online presence, and as you might expect, there are entities out there working to try to steal it from you!
First, we will cover a very effective and established SEO strategy: backlinking. A backlink describes when a website features a link to another website for one reason or another. Essentially, a backlink tells search engines that other websites find your website valuable to them. The greater number of sites linking to your site, the more evidence search engines have that your site is live and available and should be indexed. This will result in getting your site higher in the ranking such that it’s near the top of the list presented to users. That is, the greater number of backlinks to your site, the higher your site rank becomes and the larger your search visibility.
So, how could someone go about interrupting this exchange of value to get something for themselves, you ask? Here are a couple of strategies designed to capitalize on your hard-earned reputation with consequences that could leave your credibility stranded:
- Link Farming
Search engines have become very keen on inauthentic methods being used to obtain credibility over the years. This works to keep their own reputation in the green since people using the search engines want relevant results and will likely stop searching if the information they receive is useless or off base.
A link farm refers to a website or collection of websites that were created only to increase a secondary website’s page rank. Not intending to offer quality content, a link farm site links to a secondary website from many different pages within its own site, hence the name link farm. Naturally, Google prohibits this kind of action for generating credibility with their search engine. This can lead to a deindexing of the site or sites and a reduction in any rank that was achieved. This can also mean penalties for any other sites associated with this practice (yes, this means the websites that are unknowingly being linked to!).
2. Private Blog Networks
A little more complex than a link farm, a Private Blog Network branches out into many different websites. These sites build the links that generate authority and pass that authority to a single site designed to receive the benefit. They can also link back to one another to spread the authority, however, either way, search engines also refuse this practice as legitimate. Some media sites are structured out through multiple websites, and indeed link back to one another, but have separate link profiles and a purpose that sets them apart as credible. This is not the case with a PBN.
Fortunately, with a professional online reputation management service like ours here at Online Capital Group, you can know when there is a strategy being put to use to gain your credibility. Our tools and SEO services detect shady business being done with your name and give us the ability to correct it. We can also boost your reputation using credible methods that search engines reward highly.
Give us a call today at (904) 600-3600 or visit our website to learn more today.
FAQs – SEO and Online Reputation Management
What is the ultimate purpose of SEO services?
SEO services try to push your business to the top of search engines. SEO services optimize your online presence to become authoritative to search engine algorithms, ultimately growing your visibility online in search results.
Why is credibility vital to your online standing?
Credibility is an online money since it decides how search engines rank your website. The more believable your site appears to search engines, the higher it ranks in search results, which means it appears more frequently to users.
What is backlinking, and how does it help SEO?
Backlinking is a great SEO technique where other websites link back to your site. This informs search engines that your website is valuable to other sites. The more backlinks, the more evidence search engines have of the activity and value of your site, and the higher they will rank and appear.
What are the consequences of your online reputation being damaged?
When your online reputation is damaged, your website rank and visibility may suffer. This may be brought about by unethical methods like link farms and private blog networks, which will result in penalty as well as deindexation by search engines.
What is a link farm and why is it damaging to SEO?
A link farm consists of websites that are created specifically to increase the page rank of another website. They are not good sources of content and can land their owners in trouble and get deindexed by being penalized for their artificial method of acquiring credibility.
What is a Private Blog Network (PBN), and why would it not be advisable in SEO?
A Private Blog Network (PBN) is a set of sites that generate links for the purpose of building authority and transferring this authority to an anchor site. This is deemed unethical by search engines as it is an attempt to manipulate ranks, hence possible penalties and credibility loss.
How is an online reputation management company going to safeguard my online reputation?
Qualified online reputation management companies like Online Capital Group possess the tools and expertise to identify and reverse nasty things that will damage your online reputation. They can utilize legitimate SEO methods to promote your online reputation and have your website rank higher on the web.