The Google Blog Network Massacre - Blog Networks Deindexed

         

By Samuel Frost on March 29 2012 Mar 29 2012 140Comments

If you're anything like me then you love to keep your finger on the pulse of the affiliate marketing and SEO world. Just like you probably watch the 6pm news broadcast on TV, you should keep up to date with SEO current events. The biggest headline story this week has to be the deindexing of blog networks by Google.
Thousands have been affected by Google either partially or completely removing entire blog networks. When Google removes a website from its index, any outgoing links automatically become null and void. Also, it doesn't look very good if a big portion of your links come from services that Google dislikes.

What is a blog network?

In case you aren't aware what a blog network is, allow me to quickly explain. Basically, blog networks allow you to publish blog posts (read "articles") on different websites that are linked into some form of automatic content distribution system. For example, if I wrote an article called "5 Killer Guitar Solo Secrets", I could then submit to a blog networks and in theory this article will then be published to sites in the network related to "guitars", "music", "hobbies", and things like that.
Blog networks come in many different flavors and varieties, with the only real underlying similarities being they are a system for generating backlinks by submitting content, and there is usually a price for membership (I'll come back to why this is important soon) "Public" blog networks consist of blog owners putting their sites in the network to receive free content. "Private" blog networks are slightly different, because the administrators of the network actually own the sites to which writers publish their content.
The biggest casualty so far of Google's push against blog networks is the Build My Rank service. This was a private blog network, and the sites which made up the network have all been deindexed by Google. Any links generated through Build My Rank are now worthless, and the service has been closed down to new members. You can read BMR's statement about the closure of their network here - kudos to them for coming clean straight away about what happened too.
Other notable networks that have been punished include SEO Link Monster, Authority Link Network, and Linkvana.
If you want more evidence of this latest algorithm update in action, just search "blog networks deindexed" and see how many discussion results there are. Some of them are truly frightening - SEO companies relying entirely on blog networks like BMR to build links for their clients' websites, entire websites disappearing from Google's index; it's like Nightmare on SEO Street (I'm keeping the horror related quips going here!)

Why are blog networks being targeted by Google?

I see three principal reasons why Google has started to crackdown on blog networks, so let me run you through them:

1. Blog networks are a form of paid link building. Google's policy on paid link building is crystal clear, especially the fact that "buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines and can negatively impact a site's ranking in search results." The purpose blog networks is to facilitate link building, and these links are most definitely paid for in a slightly less obvious manner. Google penalized the website of their own Chrome software when it was revealed that a marketing company they used had employed paid backlinks; Google were hardly going to think twice about penalizing other paid link users were they?
2. Blog networks are a form of "link scheme". Just like paid linking, Google's opinion on link schemes leaves no room for confusion. They are not a natural form of link building, especially once blog networks developed the technology to allow you submit a spin-ready article to hundreds of different blogs in a short space of time. Nobody submitted to blog networks just for the sake of getting content published - it is and always was about generating links. Blog networks sold themselves on this basis of being a way to get unnaturally large amounts of links quickly, and it was only a matter of time until Google caught on.
3. Articles posted to blog networks tend to be low quality. The vast majority of articles posted to blog networks were low quality "filler" content that was only written to get backlinks. That might sound harsh, but the unfortunately the truth hurts. If the Panda update of 2011 wasn't a big enough wake up call, then hopefully the newest of Google's changes is. Google wants quality, unique content to populate its search index. Google wants you to create and distribute content for the purpose of providing value to readers, not just to build links. If you want high search engine rankings then you need to focus on providing value first, and link building/SEO second. I simply cannot stress this point enough! 

Are any blog networks still safe?

It's still early days with Google's latest rollout. Some blog networks, such as Article Marketing Automation appear not to have been hit yet. In fact, blog networks that publish content on member submitted blogs (as opposed to admin-owned blogs) appear to have fared better than other networks. However, that's not to say that more blog networks wont be penalized going forward, so proceed with caution.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket and rely on a single blog network as your main source of links. In fact, you shouldn't even rely on multiple blog networks for the bulk of your links. If you are going to use any of the remaining networks, it should be as the cherry on your SEO cake. The ball is in Google's court here, so you should be playing by their rules of natural link building and quality content.

What now?

However, there is one new blog network that looks quite promising - it's called The Content Facilitator. In fact, it isn't really a blog network at all because the articles you submit aren't automatically passed to sites in the network. There isn't really a network to speak of at all. Instead, I like to think of The Content Facilitator as a guest blogging marketplace. Bloggers looking for quality, unique (and non-spun) articles for their blogs can come and browse for content written for those who want to reach a larger audience and get some backlinks in the process.
The Content Facilitator also runs on a credit system, which means membership is free for both writers and those looking for content. Every time one of your articles is picked up by a blog owner, credits are deducted from your balance (this means you don't wind up with hundreds of articles being published at once, and an unnatural link profile) You can earn credits by referring new members to The Content Facilitator, and by publishing others' content.
My favorite feature of The Content Facilitator is the ability to set your article as "unique", meaning it can only be published by one member in the marketplace. Writing "unique" articles for The Content Facilitator therefore provides a strong incentive to other members to pick up your content and publish it before it's gone.

Mark has managed to organize a pretty sweet deal with the owners of The Content Facilitator, where you can get 100 free publishing credits by signing up here (you will need to use the coupon code TrafficTravis inside the members' area to get these credits) The Content Facilitator is in its infancy at the moment, and I predict it will get much bigger and more popular in the coming months; just remember that the early bird catches the worm!

 

Closing thoughts

One issue a lot of people are raising with the deindexing of blog networks is the theory that a competitor could simply submit hundreds of spun articles to networks, featuring links back to YOUR website. Think of it as a kind of "SEO sabotage". However, there is no need to worry about this - if a blog network is deindexed, the outgoing links in the network count for nothing, and therefore won't be able to affect your website. This is just disinformation at best, and scaremongering at worst.
If you've been affected by the closure and deindexing of blog networks, I'd love to hear from you. Just leave a comment below!

Cash Tips For Making Quality Blogs

Cash Tips For Making Quality Blogs:

Looking for information about blogging? You have clicked the right article. This article will give you tips on how you can earn tip on blogging. Blogging is the easiest way to gain money over the World Wide Web. It originated from writing hobbies and sometimes used to make it as their career. In many ways, people used blogging to earn much money online. There are obviously many ways to earn extra money through blogging. You can earn tips from blogging, but how are you going to get tips from it?

The answer is simple. You should give the people reasons to give you tips. This is done by giving the good information, reliable sources and highly entertaining that can make them feel that you deserve to be appreciated. In this way, you will be telling them to give you tips. To make your writings invite readers, you should put everything on it. Polish your writings by providing them with updates, keep your articles fresh, gives real information and writes interesting topics. It is very necessary for you to do well in your writings to be able to make money in this venture. In these ways, your audience will give you tips without you asking it from them.

Once that you have written a perfect article, you are now ready to promote it. You will need to expose your blogs to sell. Market it by targeting the search engines online. With you quality blogs, make sure you are going to get something from it. Register in the different blog websites submit your blogs to the different search engines and post it to other people's blogs. In this way, you are going to invite many audiences through your high quality, informative and entertaining contents of your blogs.
The next step after marketing your blogs, you will be ready for some tips. However, there should be a vehicle to which your audience can tip you. There are heaps of ways to gain money or to receive money payments online. There should be at least one way in which the reader can pay you anytime they want. Make sure that the way they are going to pay you will not give them more time. Very critical way of paying will make your readers think of not paying you anymore.

If you want to earn more tips, you can ask them to pay you in some ways. You can add post after a blog telling that tips are appreciated to fund the blogging services. In either way, you also have to state that the clients' generosity is also appreciated without sounding like you are in a bad need of money. Blogging can be so much fun, aside from making it a good business. You are sure to gain a lot of money if you are going to work hard for it. One way of making money is to gain tips from your readers. This will be a good replacement for the work that you have done and for giving them entertainment. By making sure that the content of your blog is of high quality, realistic and informative, you are sure to not only gain money but also positive reputation that can make you famous over the web world.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Article Writing

The Benefits of Outsourcing Article Writing: Have you recently learned that you can outsource articles to professional writers? If so, you may be wondering if this is an opportunity that you should try. So, is it? Yes. One of the many benefits to outsourcing your articles is that you can make money on articles you didn't even write. What could be better than making money when you, essentially, have to do nothing? Whether you just don't want to do the work or if you are pressed for time, outsource your work. In the end, you will be glad that you did. Another benefit to outsourcing your article writing is that it is easy to do. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of freelance writers looking to make money online. This means that you should have a number of quality writers to choose from. Many of those writers also charge affordable rates. Perhaps, the greatest benefit to outsourcing your articles is the freedom that you have. You are in control. You have the freedom to make as much money as you want. You also have the freedom to decide how you want to make money with those articles. As for how much money you can make, limit your expenses. You want to pay for quality articles, but don't pay too much for them. The less you pay for outsourced work, the bigger profits you will have. However, remember quality. A quality article is worth paying a few more dollars for. As for how you can make money, you may be surprised how many options you have. You can turn a series of outsourced articles into an eBook to sell. You can outright sell articles to other webmasters for a profit. They can be added to third party revenue sharing websites. They can also be used to generate traffic for a website or a blog that makes money through affiliate programs or the selling of a product. Despite the fact there are a number of benefits to outsourcing articles, there are some downsides too. These downsides can easily be negated into benefits though. One problem you may run into is not getting what you wanted. Did you want your article writer to take a different approach or cover different points? This can be fixed in the future by outlining your specific wants and needs. Not only give your writer a topic to write five articles on, but give them five specific article titles to write. When you outsource article writing projects to someone else, you are putting a lot of trust and faith into that individual. Unfortunately, some will take advantage of that. All professional and experienced writers will generate new, fresh, and unique content for you. This means that your article will not be published online in the past or in the future. On the other hand, some will simply just copy an article online and try to submit it as their own. This can be damaging to your own career and professional name. If you opt to outsource your article writing projects, always request to see sample articles first. This allows you to gauge the writing of the professional in question. Do they meet or exceed your expectations? Before processing payment, always check for uniqueness. Never play for work that was simply just copied from another website.