Every good SEO needs backlinks to do its job. Link exchange is time-consuming, often unsuccessful, and expensive (which customer would like to pay that?). Web catalogs and article directories are dead – social bookmarks are worthless anyway. So what’s left? Some will think of their link network. But how do I hide this from Google?
This article’s inspiration was a question in the comments on Radio4SEO. What steps should one take to camouflage a link network as a precaution? Can you still use Google Analytics from this point of view?
I’ll ask a question that I would like to answer right away: Is Google Analytics the only way for Google to recognize that my domains/websites have something to do with each other?
Answer: No. Google knows everything!
As long as you don’t use a new internet connection for every single step that you are on the Internet (changing IPs from different clusters) and use a different browser each time as long as you do not display a different behavior every time you visit the Internet and virtually no Google Services (Google search, Gmail, etc.) and does not visit websites that use Google services (Analytics, Webmaster Tools, robots.txt- Google not excluded), Google will be able to find out about you.
Stefan even uncovered (as a possible explanation out of three that he mentions) that Google analyzes search queries that are entirely different in terms of content. Nevertheless, they often searched very close to one another may be recognized as coherent.
Google will probably recognize even more if search queries are made one after the other. Certain pages are always appearing in the hit lists that these pages might have something to do with each other. Even if you are still using Analytics, Adsense, or identical affiliate codes has waived?
But is that the right question?
Is it so important that Google doesn’t recognize your network? Let’s ask differently: What does Google want anyway? Are the Google bots out there just tracking down manipulators? Does Google just want to put shrewd “search engine optimizers” off? Let’s ask again: What does Google want anyway?
Google wants to show the user the best possible results in its search results. Google would like to advertise as many of its services as possible and, of course, to place advertisements – that is, to earn money!
Now a question for you: What will your link network look like? For example, which pages do you set up to get your online pet shop on Google? Is it maybe: a website about sheepdogs, one about poodles, one about dogs in general, one about rabbits, one about guinea pigs, one about rodents in general?
Will these pages are lovely to look at and informative? Great! Then you can buy yourself a link to the online shop for pet supplies even if you use the same Google account. Google will know that the site is yours anyway!
The only thing that counts is: Is every page in my network a profit for the Internet user (or for a small, interested target group of Internet users)? The link from there to an equally exciting and thematically related page is an asset for the user – and then it is also an asset for the target page – because we remember: Google knows everything!
However, suppose you can deny all of this and admit that your link network really offers no added value for the user, and only there are Google links to be presented. In that case, you may be happy to treat your Google paranoia with a little more well-founded food than my brief hints. Here are a few sources of how Google can discover networks:
Detect link networks using the UST ID.
Google patent on Who Is.
Hide links (from the competition).
Unmask networks using SEO contests.
Admin-C popularity.
Tips for a perfect link network.
Do not use the Google toolbar.
What does Google want with all the data?
Seven mistakes that make Google happy.
Free blog networks.
