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Google Says You Are Not Entitled to Links by @martinibuster http://bit.ly/2KLhrFi A recent exchange on Twitter between Rand Fishkin and Google’s Danny Sullivan highlighted the tension between Google and the SEO community regarding links. This time it was over the idea of links to sources that are quoted by websites like news organizations. Are sources quoted by news organizations and other sites entitled to a do-follow link? Are News Sources Entitled to a Link?I have seen anecdotal reports on Facebook and Twitter of news organizations refusing to link to a source that is quoted in an article. Many in the SEO industry believe that if they or their client is quoted in a news article that they are entitled to a link back to their website. Rand Fishkin resurrected this idea when he tweeted:
Many SEOs Agree that Linking Back is ImportantMany in the SEO community responded enthusiastically to the suggestion that if someone is quoted by another site or content is used, that a link should be required. Here is a sample of the positive responses: Simple, and super important advice. great advice! Any tips on how to enforce it though? Requiring Links Versus Holistic SEOBut there were others who disagreed with the idea that news sources were entitled to links. One person noted that focusing on links went against the principles of holistic SEO. Holistic SEO is the idea that search engine optimization is more than just acquiring links. Holistic SEO embraces the idea of creating the kind of content that will stimulate links on its own, without having to ask for it. Creating content on a news site, with just a brand mention, falls into the category of holistic SEO. It’s part of the holistic SEO practice of creating awareness and building a brand. Here is what one person observed on Twitter:
Rand Fishkin acknowledged the shortcoming in his suggestion:
Putting ideas out there and having them subjected to pushing and prodding is how the best ideas rise to the top. Being able to accept constructive criticism, as Fishkin did, is a virtue. Being able to civilly discuss an issue and admit to a flaw in something they suggested is a sign of good character, in my opinion. Is Requiring a Link via Terms of Service Black Hat?A smart SEO tweeted that requiring a link via a Terms of Service (TOS) violates Google’s Search Quality Guidelines:
This is the part of Google’s Guidelines that he quoted:
This is how Moz.com defines black hat SEO:
Requiring a Link is Black HatIt’s clear that requiring a “search-engine-followable HTML link” is black hat. The reason is because it’s not a real citation. If you force someone to link to you then it’s not a real citation, it’s essentially paid for. It’s similar to a paid link. A paid link is when a site receives a link by giving a payment to another site. In this case, the currency is content content, a quote or an image. Should You Require a Link in Your TOS?As of this writing, one person tweeted that they will be adding this to their terms of service: Out of almost 300 likes for the post, nobody else in that Twitter discussion has tweeted that they added it to their TOS… including the person who recommended it in the first place.
Images by Shutterstock, Modified by Author SEO via Search Engine Journal http://bit.ly/1QNKwvh April 17, 2019 at 03:52AM
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