While doing some research for a new client yesterday, I came across something that I see all of the time-- footer links-- but this time it was just a tiny bit more insidious than usual.
Check out the spammy SEO links at the bottom of this page. Again, this is an attorney we are talking about. When it comes to reputation, that's all an attorney has.
So, you hire somebody to market your law firm, real estate company, or anything-- and then they stick all kinds of spammy links to their website on the bottom of your site? How much did they pay you to allow that on your site?
Do you have a website in which you send "juice" to your designer?
Now don't get me wrong, I don't think it's wrong for a website company to put something at the bottom of the page, with your permission, that says something like this (which is in the screenshot above):
But Google made it very clear how "it" feels with it's latest Penguin update. Or, if you believe "corporations are people":
Google let us know how he or she feels about overused footer links with it's most recent algorithm updates.
Matt Cutts recently stated that:
“We’ve done a good job of ignoring boilerplate, site wide links. In the last few months, we’ve been trying to make the point that not only is link buying like that not doing any good, we’re turning the dial up to let people know that certain link spam techniques are a waste of money.”
So, in the above example, in which the SEO company links to itself, from the attorney's website- the SEO company is probably harming itself, according to Matt Cutts.
On top of that, this company is taking juice from their client and putting unrelated spammy links on their client's page, as defined by Matt Cutts himself.
Am I being affected by Pengin?
I'm not sure. Does your website have a footer that looks like this?
Phoenix Real Estate Agent | Chandler Real Estate Agent | Queen Creek Real Estate Agent | Mesa Real Estate Agent | Peoria Real Estate Agent | Scottsdale Real Estate Agent | And So On | And So On | And So On | It Never Ends | Repeat Real Estate Agent Over and Over | Paradise Valley Real Estate Agent
Again, Matt Cutts said: "We’ve done a good job of ignoring boilerplate, site wide links." In other words, Google is just ignoring that stuff.
And as far as I'm concerned, if it's not helping you with your SEO, then it's harming you. You know, like, "if you're not five minutes early, then you are five minutes late."
So how should I link to my content? I really do service clients in 10 different cities!
Great! I'm glad you asked.
Instead of doing "boilerplate footer links" that Google ignores, I would highly recommend that you write a few sentences about each city you service on the front page of your website. Something like this:
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Chandler (use a heading tag here, ideally)
Although my office is centrally located in the Valley of the Sun, I serve clients in Chandler, AZ. In fact, I grew up in Chandler and lived there from the time I was born, until just very recently, when I moved to Phoenix. However, I am very familiar with the area and if you are looking to buy or sell a home in Chandler, please visit my Chandler page here. You can see home listings (for sale) and read about how I can market your home.
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Before you get nailed- take a look at your site. Are you repeating the same crap over and over? On every single page?
I wouldn't do it if I were you. There is a better way. A way that makes more sense to your users and to Google. And if you know anything about Google, that's exactly what they want. A better experience for the Googlebot and your users.
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