We get those en masse. Emails from mostly faked accounts wanting to place a “…well-written…” article on our site, fashioned by “…talented staff writers…” whose style will match and exceed ours. These folks usually promise a “…guest post…” that – supposedly – should either make us a ton of money or – miraculously – increase our reach in that harsh world of the ice-cold internet. Easy SEO wizardry that should land us measly minions on that numba one search spot.
A partnership worthy of kings that will catapult this webzine out into the social media space with bright fanfare. Riches, islands, private yachts, and a bunch of Teslas, all at one click’s notice. So, bow to the Mighty Gawds of SEO, you miserable penpushers, or else. The fearsome keepers of the chain and the golden lock, the heroes of copywriting, are looking unto you. That kind of thing.
There is only one problem!
Usually, these guys will loudly demand that the article should be unmarked. Meaning, none of those annoying tags screaming ‘sponsored’ or ‘paid content’ in garish colors should ever appear anywhere.
And this sounds like some grave with no name on it, the one you will have to dig with your very own hands. So that you know where to go, once you land on Google’s merciless chopping block.
Because, you see, the second demand is to place that infamous “…do-follow link…” that should – of course – be devoid of any of those annoying little tags. You know, those tiny relationship indicators placed directly into a URL,1 such as ‘nofollow’ or ‘sponsored’.
So, have a care.
Those outfits are asking you, the site master, to embark on a link scheme. And big search engines like Google take a pretty dim view of that kind of practice. And so does RMR, by the way. It is of course also true that Google’s trusted servants made continued strange noises about the lesser importance of backlinks throughout 2022 and 2023. But it was all for naught, of course. A rock-solid linking strategy is still the bread and butter of Holistic SEO. At least for now.
The strange case of Click Intelligence!
Choose your poison. There are real bad actors like Semalt or XTraffic out in that dangerous jungle that spam or scam your site sometimes through illegally impersonating websites they are not. Some may and others may not approach you with the aforementioned scheme. But they all masquerade behind a facade of being a reputable SEO company.
Then you get more “benign” actors like Click Intelligence. They do have a reputation to lose as an SEO company that offers a variety of services. And that includes – between others – link building and copywriting. So far, so good, right? Proper link building done right is a desirable activity in SEO.
Now, low and behold, the RMR email roster received a message from an outlier of the company, inquiring about placing – a guest post. Of course, this first email did not reference the parent company at all. The request came on a ubiquitous Outlook.com mail account, exactly the kind of address that scams from India originate from. The type of messaging service these companies like to use because they’re cheap, dime-a-dozen, and easily disposable. Only, this time the communication was well-written with a Western name and the picture of a blond-haired woman slammed on it. A welcome change to the usual word salad. Alas sadly, this exactly fits the usual scam pattern as well.
Now, all of the above is by itself already fishy. If Click Intelligence were serious, they would make any such request on a company email. In addition, they probably didn’t get yet that Google will come down hard on email spam very soon. And Google will be targeting – wait for it – specifically those vectors such as Outlook.com, Gmail,2 or – again – Hotmail. But hey, a busy SEO company might miss such puny details, it’s a tough world out there. And it’s not easy to be a Google partner.
So, after much pestering, we responded to the string of reminders. The outcome was – unsurprisingly – exactly as expected. A request for unmarked posts written by their staff writers, no mention of sponsored or paid anywhere on it, no tags whatsoever, and – drumroll – a ‘follow’ link. A ‘reputable’ SEO company boasting of being a finalist in the Global and European Search Awards blatantly demands that we mislead our readers. That’s pretty rich. In other words, Click Intelligence indeed embarks on link schemes through Black Hat practices. Well, at least they promise to pay the piper, but the RMR crew never pushed it that far.
For the record, RMR will NOT embark on Black Hat schemes. Ever. Getting to a reputable position on the ranking spots is hard work. And we won’t get into shady territory to make that happen. Of course, paid posts may appear on the webzine, but they will always be clearly marked as paid or sponsored. Do read here, if interested.
And are link schemes legal at all?
Ah, the million-dollar question. Harboring paid guest posts with equally sponsored “…do follow links…” on your website is legal, no doubt. But – it must be properly labeled content that will not mislead your users, customers, or readers. Because you’re sailing dangerously close to bribery, data and consumer protection laws if you embark on shady practices.
You also want to have your links tagged properly. This is not a true legal requirement but stems from the general conditions of big search engines. These folks loudly demand that you tell them if something has been ‘sponsored’. And if you don’t tell them and they find out, you may be hit with a penalty. And you don’t want to go there and lose your ranking in a heartbeat.
In conclusion!
We fully understand that all of the above may drive you to despair somewhat. Many big companies indeed use solid link-building services like OutreachZ, Page One Power, or – again – Fat Joe. Those will should make sure that you’re safe and in no way endanger your position in all those rankings in which you unwillingly participate. Some of those services will even let you choose which publisher you would like to receive backlinks from.
So, those serious agencies are a safer bet than the more shady or outright bad actors out there. And Click Intelligence place themselves right in the middle of the shadier crowd. So, have a care, it’s a brutally wild world out there on that ice-cold internet thing.
The Olde Footnote!