SEO is dead... or is it?

[Berto]

I haven't paid for a link for about a year, but still get asked what the best links to buy are.

My answer is simple, and it's also the way I divide "whitehat" from "blackhat":

Get links with REAL traffic in your target demographic.

It's that simple to me.

If your site is so awful that you can't get a semi-successful honest blogger or social media personality to link to you, then:

1. you're obviously not adding any value to the world,
2. your design needs a serious revamp, or
3. your site is selling/promoting some stuff so shady that real people don't want to associate with you. So why should Google?

Google has a ton of tools at its disposal to track what links actually get clicked -- Chrome, Toolbars, Analytics, their ad networks, etc. If they're not already tracking traffic via links, they will be, and all of your "never seen, never clicked" links are going to put you in the dumpster.

And worst case... if those links with traffic somehow still get you penalized... at least you now have contacts and their traffic.

 

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[TK1]

I do not add ANY content or eye-catching designs until I'm getting the traffic that I'm after.

how do you get traffic for a site that has no content?

 

[A. Rodriguez]

Hi fastlaners,
I run a blog on the scholarship and Jobs niche. But recently, I discovered a drastic drop in organic traffic. I studied it for a few days and It kept on dropping each day. I checked Webmaster tools for any penalty messages. I found none.

I'm quite worried about it. Could it be from my backlinking strategy or over optimization? My backlinking strategy is mainly blog commenting, forum participation and organic links. I need help urgently please.

 

[Process]

Hi fastlaners,
I run a blog on the scholarship and Jobs niche. But recently, I discovered a drastic drop in organic traffic. I studied it for a few days and It kept on dropping each day. I checked Webmaster tools for any penalty messages. I found none.

I'm quite worried about it. Could it be from my backlinking strategy or over optimization? My backlinking strategy is mainly blog commenting, forum participation and organic links. I need help urgently please.

Hey you bumped a 4 year old thread...

You might want to start a fresh one. With that said...

First, I just want to say you are taking more action than most people. That's great. I started out a similar way. Please read on to benefit from my experience without repeating it.

Also, SEO is something that takes a ton of time, effort, and $$$ to learn to really control. You'd be better off learning how to target people with paid ads. There are much more channels for you to use that way.

Last, it sounds like you are either doing affiliate stuff or adsense, those are what is called hitchhiking. The owners can boot you anytime...

Not to say money is impossible to make the way you are going, it is just harder to truly make substantial sums for any length of time. Remember control and entry moving forwards. Hate to discourage you, but that's how it is.

 

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