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I have read here that this is not recommened for obtaining higher rankings, well it worked for him, why not me?
For those who say its a matter of time before google will drop him....how long? does anyone have an example where this was done before? He has been at the top for 4 months now.
Someone give me a reason not to sign those guestbooks!
Someone give me a reason not to sign those guestbooks!
Professionalism for one. Long term strategy for another. If you don't care about either one of those, then go for it. Sign away. ;)
<edit>I was being sarcastic with the "Then go fot it. Sign away." remark. I don't want to mislead you!</edit>
[edited by: pageoneresults at 8:39 pm (utc) on Jan. 22, 2003]
There are many other ways to get links, all of which will last longer and stronger down the road..
It's all just a matter of time, Talismon.
Cheers,
- Chad
[edited by: lazerzubb at 8:27 pm (utc) on Jan. 22, 2003]
how many other links apart from the Guestbooks do they have coming in?
how competitive is the "keyword" "number of results"?
how well is the designed (seo'd i mean)
Shak
believe me, you will really regret it one day!
Lazerzubb-- dont see the point in the thread you referenced.
Shakil - not many other links, they are not even currently selling the product
-1,740,000 for the main keyword in google
- site design sucks...its about 4-5 pages and nothing to really look at, the only way I can see they have this positioning is from guestbook links...sticky me for particulars if you wish, be happy to answer any questions.
huhufrufru- easy thing to say...but why will i regret it?
just the facts please :)
The most common thing in that thread was that sites had been banned since using Guestbook signing and FFA links.
And look at the names which was hit, those are not ordinary people!
That's the thread and time when PR 0 became a known name!
It is impossible to host a guestbook on any authoritative site.
just the facts please
Fact : Signing guestbooks is unprofessional and considered spamming by Google.
There you have it.
:)
- Chad
why would google penalize a site for appearing in a guestbook? it would be prudent for google to discount those links, not penalize, because signing a guestbook can be done by anyone, especially your competitors.
It seems basic guideline for PR ranking would be to only take into consideration those things that the site CAN control, while attempting to deftly manage those things it can't.
I didnt say it was easy...
All 100 plus Guestbook signers are grouped together (amongst others using the similar search function) and will be bleeding soonest..
That is why they are waiting a while.
Just to add to general paranoia..!
Neglection is not the only solution. Google has to show lowest Pagerank for Guestbook pages to keep the spammers away, whilst letting the innocent use them for whatever purpose they see fit.
If it isn't spotless, then it can influence a human that is reviewing your site.
It is not enough to get you penalized on it's own, but it does not look all that good if all your PR comes from guestbooks.
I've got a boatload of useless PR0 affiliate sites that helped me kick the habit
i can only give you this advice: DON'T DO IT! JUST DON'T!
be honest and fair when optimizing your website, it takes time until you have a good site. only newcomers sign guestbook, read this thread:
[webmasterworld.com...]
Did you get penalized for this?
I would have to agree that this practice is rather
"grey area", and unless your market is online gambling
or male organ enhancement, I'd say stear clear, and just add good quality content to your site instead.
Uou never know if something really is wrong until you are penalized fpr it. So IMHO the rule is whenever something is questionable, don't do it unless you can live with the penalty. You'll be very happy if/when your competitors are penalized!
It seems to be coming back again, I too have noticed some sites doing it lately.
It appears to work short term, but long term, I doubt it.
I have always signed guestbooks at other genealogy sites.
If you are signing guestbooks that are relative to your site then I see no problem with it. Google does not automatically penalize for guestbook links. Typically a manual review is required and the guestbook links are just one of many infractions that are usually found.
Now, if you are out there signing every guestbook that has a PR5 or above and it is not relative to your site, product or service, then you are treading into a gray area. It is definitely not a professional move and the owners of those guestbooks may not take too kindly to you spamming them.
A little bit of common sense and professionalism go a long way. TheComte, it sounds like you are maintaining a level of professionalism with your guestbook entries and keeping them on topic. There are many others though, who use them for one purpose, link popularity. I've seen some marketers sign hundreds of guestbooks, I've even had a few try to drop URLs in my 3 year old daughters guestbook, how tacky is that?
thanks, after reading everyones threads, I have decided to pursue guestbooks that are related to my site. All the talk of unprofessionalism is a scare tactic by seo's who do this for a living. I'm a marketer and my job is to increase traffic. If this will get my site higher rankings, its my job to do it.
Obviously signing any guestbook I can find could hurt in the long run. Google cant possibly penalize a site for signing a guestbook with a related product. After all, thats what they are for!
It's like when you go to a wedding and they have a guest log at the entrance, they want everyone to sign so they know who came and can save it for memoir purposes.
Very few people read guestbooks. They are not a means of commercial advertising. Most are there mainly for people to leave comments about the site they are visiting. Unfortunately, they've taken on a new meaning after PageRank and Link Popularity were unleashed on the public.
P.S. BTW, I believe Google has already implemented something in the algo that discounts guestbook entries. It's easy to do since most guestbooks are named guestbook.htm.
What I can't understand is why there are still guestbooks out there allowing for more than just plain text.
If this will get my site higher rankings, its my job to do it.
Uh-hum, it's those types of statements that usually end up getting people in trouble. Just be careful with what you do and you should be fine. Approaching SEO/SEM with the attitude of "If this will get my site higher rankings, its my job to do it", may cause some issues at a later date. ;)
What I can't understand is why there are still guestbooks out there allowing for more than just plain text.
Hehehe, do an allinurl for guestbooks and look what is happening. Guestbooks have become as popular as link building programs. Another gimmick which will soon take a plunge if it hasn't already.
Any pages that allow a visitor to drop a URL at will are problem areas unless they are moderated and/or governed by a set of guidelines. Open guestbooks are sure to end up in the SEO Tools graveyard just as so many other short term solutions have.
Guestbooks aren't going to help your site. the problem is that your site is very google unfriendly. Google cannot reach the majority of your pages.
The best thing that you can do is to hire one of those SEOs, that you just badmouthed, to help you fix up your site so that it actually makes it into the index. No mater how much you build your PR on your home page, it won't do you much good if you don't have all your pages in the index.
You also have a lot of backlinks that do not seem to have links to your site anywhere on their pages. How do you suppose that happened?
