Google Can Penalize You for these types of 'White Hat Links'

This blog will help you learn which types of white hat links you should not consider to avoid penalization.

In 2012 Google introduced the update most feared by webmasters across The World – Google Penguin.

Google Penguin has been through a few updates since April 2012.

In 2014 some of the large brands such as the Halifax Bank, William Hill and Hugo Boss were getting hit by Google Penguin penalties. 

According to SEO experts, in the world of SEO, prevention is always better than cure, sometimes it may be just too late.

When does Google provide examples of problematic links?

You can commonly see these problematic links when you have been through this  process:

1. Receiving a Partial Match Manual Action for Unnatural Inbound links
2. Submitting a Reconsideration Request
3. Google has replied saying that your Reconsideration Request has been rejected

Let’s check out some instances about white hat link types that will surprise you.

6 “White Hat” Link Types that Will Surprise You

1) Irrelevant Niche Edits

In case you think inserting a link into an article already dyed in the wool is perfect, you need to wake up!

It can backfire.

Let me explain this with an example,

I have seen an article talking about a writer and activist.

Whereas, the link was in a sentence talking about a ‘walker’ as an aid to help people walk.

Understandably, the link was highly irrelevant. Google's algorithm is against irrelevant links.

Most niche edits links are vague, so always remember relevance is important. Ensure your links are on the topic.

2) Fake Social Profile Links

Let’s discuss this in depth.

Why did google find unnatural links ?

Talking about sociable.co, this might seem like some social network, but it is a blog selling guest posts.

The traffic on sociable.co is rational.

Yet the act that they flagrantly advertise the sale of sponsored posts seems to be an explicit no under Google’s algorithm.

Google didn’t like them being hoggish. 

It suspects this may be some software script that sets up hundreds of profiles automatically, spinning the text each time.

3) Zero Traffic Sites

Lets begin with a myth! 

Remember there is no golden rule, any site with no traffic won't pass link juice.

In this case, the Google reviewer did not like this link at all. 

Looking at the site itself http://teampr.info/ it seems to be a site rebuild using content probably from Archive.org. 

The content is irrelevant with tons of broken images.

As per google’s final rules  “Your site still violates Google Webmaster Guidelines”.

4) Obvious Guest Posts

KevinMD.com is the web’s leading social media health platform, with 

3 million monthly page views, and over 250,000 subscribers on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and RSS.

KevinMD.com looks like an authority site Is it correct? It’s probably somewhat magnified, but SEMRush does show some reasonable traffic.SEMRush does show some reasonable traffic:

The link in question was not even a money keyword anchor text link.

But how could this be problematic?

According to Digital Marketing Experts, Kelvin has been selling these guest posts from a long way and it is a big no from GOOGLE.

If Google can clearly see that your link is paid for, it's a matter of time that you’re going to get caught.

Avoid reaching out to sites that clearly state that they’re selling links in their posts, avoid guest post author box links, etc.

5) Best Top Rated Link

Keywords like: best, top rated, top 10, review of the best etc. are one of the kinds that stick out more than anything else in Google Manual Actions of 2018. But I can surely assure you, the word ‘best’ is completely overused. 

6) Sponsored Post

Google is very firm about the GOOGLE WEBMASTER guidelines. 

Google is very firm upon the violation of their webmaster guidelines.

Thus google doesn't want you to guest post, do link exchange, pay for likes, anything that is against the webmaster guidelines. 

How to Allude getting manual action?

This blog would have surely made you wear your hat.

This blog must have taught you what will result in an example of problematic links. 

As we all know overdose of everything is bad and the same goes for link building. 

Some links can be considered as beneficial as long as they are not overdone.

The moment you try to distort the SERPs by building links, remember you are violating Google Webmaster Guidelines. Ensure your links seem natural.

To avoid getting manual actions, don't forget to examine your competitors who are ranking.

After introspecting thousands of link profiles and fixing hundreds of Google Penalties, as per an SEO expert, the biggest cause of Manual Actions is too many ‘money keyword’ anchor text links.

Balance your anchors based on your niche.

Adwords, by Google have further created the World’s colossal database of keywords, complete with the price that webmasters are prepared to Pay Per Click.

Wrapping Up

SEO and Link building is getting harder whereas penalties are getting more frequent and rasping. Be careful with your link building and continue to help your site grow!