Guest Posts Press Releases Advertorials Can harm Rankings

Google had issued two warnings about advertorials earlier this year, as well as one Google Webmaster Help video which dealt specifically with advertorials, as well as a part video in which Google's Matt Cutts discussed upcoming SEO changes.

Not surprisingly, Google has now updated their webmaster plan to include advertorials, along with other trendy spammy linking techniques, in their Link Schemes help document.

Google Further Downplays Links

First, perhaps the most important change is the truth that Google removed the entire first paragraph from their link scheme help article which detailed how your website’s inward links influenced your search rankings.

Here is the original first paragraph from the link scheme help article, which dates back at least a year:

Your site's ranking in Google search results is partly based on psychiatry of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links influence your ranking. The sites that link to you can give context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and reputation.

Could this removal be indicative of something bigger? Or was it simply done to make more efficient the help article with the new changes?

It's no secret that links aren’t as a precious as they were a few years ago and SEO professionals have been adjusting their linking tactics because of it. But is this another sign that Google is falling the emphasis it places on links in the search algorithm? 

Last month, in a separate change, Google began advising webmasters that high-quality sites, not links, are the best way to improve search rankings.

Keyword-Rich

Another change has to do with heavily-optimized anchor text used in press releases and articles that are spread on other sites. This technique is seen very frequently, particularly in highly spirited markets. Google gives a pretty common example of optimized anchor text:

There are many wedding rings on the market. If you want to have a wedding, you will have to pick the best ring. You will also need to buy flowers and a wedding dress.

Google also brings up “Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links”. This has somewhat gone out of favor, particularly mass submissions to free article sites for all but very spammy churn and burn markets.

However, guest redeployment is still pretty popular, although many sites that accept guest blogging, as well as those doing the writing, have begun either using no follow, or in an optimized straight URL link.

Advertorials & Native Advertising

The final addition is advertorials. Just as Google has been stating in the recent webmaster help videos, this is now an example of unnatural links that violate the Google guidelines.

Advertorials or native advertising where payment is received for articles that include links that pass PageRank.

it is nice to see Google continue to update their help documents, particularly for pages that are frequented by those webmasters to have received an unnatural linking warning from Google. However, the removal of the first paragraph will likely leave some SEO professionals thinking the change, and what exactly it means, if anything.