Link Building Scams: How to Spot and Get Rid of Them

Link-building schemes are dishonest and unethical tactics used to artificially and manipulatively increase the number of backlinks to a website. In simple words, they aim to deceive search engines into believing that a website has more significance and authority than it does. Your website’s reputation and organic rankings may suffer greatly due to these scams. 

You see, links are a key ranking element used by search engines like Google to assess the authority and credibility of a website. That’s where link-building services come into the picture. When other websites link to yours, it acts as an endorsement, telling search engines that your information is worthwhile and deserving of being displayed to users. Websites with a strong and natural backlink profile frequently score higher in search engine result pages (SERPs) and draw more organic traffic. 

So let’s set out on this adventure together, equip ourselves with insightful knowledge, and protect our websites against the murky world of link-building frauds! 

Types of Link Building Scams

1. Paid Link Schemes

Paid link schemes are a cunning link-building strategy. In these schemes, websites trade cash or benefits in return for backlinks to raise their ranks artificially. 

• Think of websites that offer to sell you high-PR backlinks to improve your search engine rankings. Doesn’t that just pique your interest? Be wary, though, as these paid-for-link tactics can backfire and are easily detectable by modern search engines.
• Despite the short-term benefits that certain paid link schemes claim to provide, they might have a negative impact on your site’s authority and search engine rankings in the long run. 

2. Private Blog Networks (PBNs)

PBNs are networks of interlinked websites created solely to manipulate search engine rankings. 

• Sites that use PBNs typically have expired domains or material that is irrelevant to the site’s intended audience. This masks their genuine aims while giving the impression of legality.
• To conserve resources, PBNs may distribute information across several sites with just minor changes. 
• Interlinking amongst PBN members is a common strategy for passing “link juice” and mutually boosting search engine rankings. Although artificial link manipulation can fool search engines for a short while, eventually it will be discovered. 

3. Link Exchange Schemes 

In these schemes, websites engage in reciprocal linking, agreeing to link to each other’s sites to inflate their link profiles artificially. 

• There are some websites whose only goal is to display link exchanges; these sites typically feature a “Links” page or footer. The lack of true linkages or topical significance among the links on these sites is a telltale sign.
• Websites involved in a link exchange scheme rarely have anything in common with one another in terms of content or viewership. 
• Instead of focusing on giving useful information to readers, the major goal of link exchange programs is to amass as many links as possible. Both sites’ credibility and authority are diminished by their preference for quantity above quality. 

4. Automated Link Building

Automated link-building technique relies on software or bots to automatically generate and distribute backlinks to your website. 

• Backlinks can be generated rapidly and in large quantities by automated methods. Quantity, however, is not always indicative of quality. Many of these links go to sites that are irrelevant and unreliable.
• Automated link-building needs little to no human engagement. Because of this, search engines may view the links as artificial and lacking context.
• Low-authority blogs, message boards, and comment sections are common targets for automated link-building systems. While these connections may appear like an easy way to boost rankings, they provide very little benefit to visitors and can even be penalized by search engines. 

How Link Building Scams Can Harm Your Website

1. Google Penalties and Algorithmic Demotions

Google and other search engines are quite harsh on sites that engage in unethical link-building tactics. They can implement both manual and algorithmic penalties, severely lowering your website’s organic search engine ranking. 

2. Negative Impact on Organic Rankings and Traffic

If search engines rank your site lower, fewer people will click through to your pages. Your online visibility, customer base, and advertising revenue could all take a hit as a result of this.

3. Trust and Reputation Issues with Users 

Successful websites are built on a bedrock of trust. Indulging in link-building can seriously ruin your online reputation. Users may lose trust in your website and brand if they learn of any unethical behavior on your part. 

You must consistently deliver high-quality information and services to gain your audience’s trust. It’s important to put in the time and effort to build trust if you want your relationship to last. 

How to Identifying Link Building Scams

Step 1: Look for unnatural link patterns 

1. You might observe sudden spikes in backlink numbers.
2. There will be irrelevant anchor texts.
3. You will witness links from non-reputable or unrelated websites.

Step 2. You need to check the quality of the links

1. Assess the domain authority and PageRank. 

You can learn about the reliability of the referring site with the use of tools like Moz’s Domain Authority and Google’s PageRank. If the figures don’t add up or seem too high for the caliber of the site, you should probably avoid it. 

2. Investigate the context and the relevance of the links. 

Let’s say the external link doesn’t have much to do with the keywords or subject matter of your content. In that scenario, it’s probably a manipulative link that doesn’t add anything.

Tips to Avoid Falling Victim to Link Building Scams

1. Learn more about the linked website by doing some background research on it. Make sure there are overlapping interests between its followers and your own.
2. Spend time making content that people will want to share and link to instead of looking for fast cuts. When other websites see value in what you’re providing, they’ll naturally want to link to your pages. 
3. Learn Google’s policies on SEO and backlinking, and adjust your link-building strategies accordingly. For instance, Google discourages employing automated link-building tools and the purchase of links because these methods go against their guidelines. 

Now let’s quickly hop on to how we can get rid of link-building scams. Prevention is better than cure, after all. 

How to Get Rid of Link Building Scams and Spammy Links

Step 1: Identify harmful backlinks 

Identifying link-building scams and spammy links is the first step in eliminating them. To examine your backlink profile, you can use Google Search Console or other third-party tools. 

Search for low-quality, irrelevant links or links that appear to have been gained through unethical ways. 

Step 2: Attempting to remove bad links manually

Once the malicious links have been found, it is time to take manual action to remove them. Get in touch with the sites’ webmasters and politely ask them to remove your connection. 

Politely explain the circumstance and restate your dedication to keeping your backlink profile strong. Even while not all webmasters will reply, reaching out to those who can help you clean up your links will only help. 

When contacting webmasters, it is helpful to include the URLs of the pages with the links as well as the anchor text used. Make it simple for webmasters to find the connections and remove them immediately. 

Step 3: Create a List of Disavowing Links

It’s possible to run with obstinate webmasters who refuse to take down malicious links. We have a backup plan if this one fails. You can advise Google to disregard certain connections when determining your site’s trustworthiness by using the “disavow” feature. 

You can disavow links by compiling a text file including all the target URLs or domain names from whom you wish to dissociate. Use caution and only add resources that you honestly tried to eliminate but couldn’t. The disavow file must use the Google-specified format. 

Step 4: Reporting Persistent Scammers to Google 

Do not hesitate to file a complaint with Google if you discover scammers who repeatedly attempt to infiltrate your site through the use of manipulative links. Google evaluates all allegations of possible spam to keep their search results relevant and useful for everyone. 

Key Takeaways

I hope this article equips you with the necessary knowledge regarding link-building scams and how you can identify and get rid of them. Remember that it’s important to take preventive measures if you have mistakenly inculcated spam links on your website. It will become difficult to build the credibility of your website once Google penalizes your website. 

Seeking expert assistance for impactful link building through professional guest post services? Contact us today.