On March 19th, blog syndication link network “Build My Rank” (BMR) saw most of it’s vast private blog network de-indexed by Google. The following day they announced their closing with a blog post entitled “It’s Been a Great Run!!“. While disconcerting in it’s sudden finality, it comes as no surprise – I’ve been predicting this for almost 6 months. With forewarning comes preparedness.
BMR is not the only private link network to have sites deindexed; we’ve seen an increase of instances in recent months.
But given it’s positioning within the industry, and the near-complete wholesale de-indexing of it’s network, their demise will be used to mark the ‘beginning of the end’ for these publicly marketed private syndication networks.
In actuality, it was Google’s Caffeine update that spelled doom for these networks, and the subsequent release of the Panda update that sealed their fate.
The bane of Google’s search index and database is rank manipulation – trying to influence ranking by manipulating the link graph and ranking signals. Private blog networks are one of the most visible and pervasive ‘rank manipulation’ methods in widespread use. Should it surprise anyone that Google is aggressively pursuing them?
Just days ago on Twitter, in a response to SEO expert and self-proclaimed “White Hat Black Belt” Dan Thies, Webspam-meister Matt Cutts said as much. Referring to a post about Google’s partial de-indexing of content syndication network ALN, Cutts said “Good to see that it’s on peoples’ radar that they’re on our radar.”
I’ve been saying for quite some time, it isn’t terribly hard for Google to discern these networks. With the benefits of billions of backlink profiles to analyze, matching even partial footprint patterns to ‘uncover’ these networks isn’t difficult. And as a domain registrar, Google can match registration information and contact details to new TLD domain naming patterns and frequency, etc.
And all that aside, what stops Google from visiting the same forums and reading the same advertisements that internet marketers do, and subscribing themselves? Create enough accounts and publish enough identifiable posts, and you literally map out the network.
It’s an unfortunate reality, but many IM’ers are now faced with an almost-instant disappearance of their rankings, and with it their revenues. There will be many for whom BMR is essentially their entire backlink profile; with most or all incoming links de-valued to zero due to de-indexing, most if not all rankings disappear. And that doesn’t even take into account possible penalties levied against the sites that used BMR themselves.
Build My Rank isn’t the only content syndication network with these problems. SEOLinkmonster, with it’s pedigree from high-IM-profile owners Brad & Matt Callen and Dori Friend, saw a chunk of it’s brand-spanking-new, ‘doing-everything-right’ link network deindexed just weeks in to a high-visibility mega-launch.
For those internet marketers using networks other than BuildMyRank, there must be a sense of impending doom. But let’s be honest: if making money online was as ‘simple’ as building a site and paying for a backlink network subscription, there would be a lot more ‘successes’ and far fewer ‘failures’ than there are.
Fortunately, ranking and IM success aren’t dependent on blog networks. In fact, our recently-launched Live Training & Coaching membership, “$100k Results!“, focuses on just that: achieving results, and success, with better and more sustainable “Internet Marketing 2.0″ tactics and strategies (our next Live Training session is scheduled for tonight, and has already been re-worked to address the BMR closing and provide alternative linking strategies).
While unfortunate for those caught in it’s demise, it’s something of a windfall for us: though a couple of weeks away, our soon-to-be-released “Ranking Blueprint” address that directly: how to rank effectively in this new, post-Panda “2.0″ world – all about Panda, how ranking really works, how to correctly optimize pages & sites, and how to do effective, sustainable backlinking.
Look for some tips, tactics, and strategies here in my next post!
About Michael
So is UAW on this list or is UAW considered a public network.
UAW works somewhat differently – they don’t own a network, the sites are independantly owned. Does that mean they are entirely ‘clear’? I don’t know. For the moment, our advice is to avoid using UAW or any other ‘content submission network’.
From my experience, I would say “yes” to avoiding UAW. I started 2 new sites strictly using UAW for SEO about 6 months ago. I wanted to see how effective their strategy was…
I used their network to the tee. Using spreadsheets to create thousands of unique anchor texts, titles, authors, along with using the best spinner (90% unique content), after 3 months, my sites soared in the SERPS… I was blown away…
In mid February, I woke up one day to see the trail of dust that my sites left behind in the SERPS! They sailed from page 1 and 2 to 20 at best… I immediately knew that something was connected to UAW. I then logged in to my account and noticed that they changed the recommended daily submissions to 25, compared to the previous 50… hmmm… I continued to use UAW for the past month and none of my sites are moving up.
Long story short, despite UAW’s attempt to explain that they are not considered a private network, to me it’s all the same… Google doesn’t like the links going through their network and I’ve given UAW my best shot… The effectiveness of their network is sadly outdated and not worth my investment… In my opinion, it’s time to move on…
Wow, lots of discussions about BMR. They did a great job when they held the fort down. We all know that things change. For now, there is a ton of other link building tools to boost rankings. Problem is, how do you know what’s the best and worth the money. I have personally used this http://goo.gl/kvusm service for 6 months and have put many clients on the first page at the top. Funny thing is, how come more people do not use the service? I work with a SEO and Local Search company and this service is the most powerful SEO tool on the market now. I would take a look at it and share this with your network. Email me if you need help setting it up. chriscartmill at yahoo dot com. Enjoy
I cancelled my membership to the blog network that I was a member of, even though I don’t think the sites were de-indexed yet. All the ebooks, courses, and software I bought in the last 5 years, probably 70% is garbage now, or will be shortly. But I have my $100,000 blueprint that I can keep and rely on. The bottom line is have good quality useful, interesting sites with original content.
As it’s now essential to do most of our early link building ourselves, do you have a list of recommended web 2.0/other blogs/article directories that are worth putting content on to get good ‘do follow’ backlinks to our money site that we can build ourselves?
I understood there was a list on this site, but have looked through dozens of articles but not found it. Thank you. Appreciate any help.
David
So,any list of alternatives? All I see is a whole explanation of BMR’s demise (which is fine) but then no mention of alternatives (other than to re-enforce the 100k blueprint)
Dissappointing….
For better or worse, there are no similar alternatives. There are other paid link networks, sure, but the whole point here is that paid link networks are history – at least if you have any intention of building long-term, sustainable websites.
Instead, focus the same time & resources on building quality links. They work better, last longer, and won’t land you in a jackpot. If you want to step-by-step instructions, we’ll be releasing our “Linking 2.0″ publicly in the next week or so.