is Link Wheel a Black Hat Technique ?

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   agrajposted 14 years ago

   Hello Readers,
   
   I have read on several blogs that Creating link wheel is a Black Hat SEO techniques.
   
   is that true ?

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      runescapeprivateposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I'd categorize this greyhat.

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   Pcunixposted 14 years ago

   Simple answer: have you noticed that some of the people describing the techniques will include warnings about how not to be detected by Google?
   
   What does that tell you?

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      agrajposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      thanks Pcunix,
      
      i need more assistance from you on this, please describe ..
      
      - Agraj

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         SiddSinghposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Aren't you an SEO expert - you have a website that offers SEO services ?

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         Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I think I have described quite enough.
         
         The basic structure of a link wheel can occur naturally from nothing but the best intentions in the world. It can also be an artificial technique designed to fool search engines into thinking a page has more value than it should.
         
         As SiddSingh said, it's rather odd that someone whose profile offers sEO services needs to ask about this.

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   NicheTrafficMastrposted 14 years ago

   Hehehehe an SEO expert eh? Hmmmm.....
   
   The principle of the link wheel was initiated on a large scale by Google. A.K.A Related Links. Black hat is black hat none black hat isn't. It's not really that difficult to tell the difference.

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   fundguruposted 14 years ago

   It depends on the purpose of a link wheel. If it is only created to have many more unused links only to boost search engine rankings, then it probably will have a negative effect.
   
   But if a link wheel is created to attract target groups in different kind of websites, then such a link wheel will generate significant traffic, probably much more than the search engines will provide.
   
   As consequence, like in SEO, unique and good quality content is necessary. So if a link wheel is designed to attract visitors from several different sites and may also stimulte the users to bloq or set bookmarks, then it can turn as side effect beneficial also in Search Engines.
   
   The number of links is not much relevant anymore for search engines, but if via Links target group traffic is generated then search engines recognize it, especially if in combination the content is good.

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      Shane@GTposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      When in doubt, test it for yourself. Like any good SEO, you are only as good as what you can prove. Every niche is different and every marketing strategy requires a different approach.
      
      To answer the question "is a link wheel black hat", IMO, no it's not.
      
      @fundguru - You say the number of links is not much relevant anymore for Search Engines, this couldn't more untrue. What else makes up off page SEO besides back links? BLs tell Google how important your site is. If you have a better to build off page SEO, please share.

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         fundguruposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Just many links that are not related,  will not bring much success.  If linkbuilding for SEO reasons is applicable, then it have to be content related links from high PR sources, but even without many links you can have good positions.
         
         More important is unique content and on page SEO. Not only metas, but also SEF Urls, Headlines etc. that are related to the search phrase that shall be promoted.
         
         I use mainly webmastertools and a good sitemap, and I cannot complain about the position in search engines. Since i use both all my pages climbed incredibly in the search engines, even without having a high pr rank.
         
         But back to the intial topic, the link wheel. Just masses of links will not attract many visitors from the target group. And what shall be the purpose of having many visitors if they are not the target group and do not purchase anything?
         
         Links should be always come from websites that are related to the content and target group that shall be attracted.

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   DIY Backlinksposted 14 years ago

   Link wheels are not blackhat. You can still get results from linkwheels if you use original content and build them the correct way. Not every linkwheel is created equally and if you hire some spammer to create them then the results won't be very good.

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      agrajposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks guys....

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         j.r.cooperposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Haha agraj, I see you got responses you weren't expecting.
         
         Here's my stance: Link wheel are like reciprocal linking, they're not Black Hat, but they're frowned upon. If the link wheel is from a group of sites that are related to each other & provide quality information on what the reader is looking for, than that sort of link wheel is acceptable. But if it's for SEO purposes, than not so much. I don't think they will hurt you like Black Hat tactics will, but they won't provide the same link power than it normally would if it wasn't in the wheel.

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   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   Google can easily spot link wheels, just link naturally between your articles and sites and you would be surprised how much of a benefit you will receive.

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   dandan594posted 14 years ago

   You must make sure when building a link wheel to only link to relevant original content and then you will never have any problems.
   
   Danny

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   Zainejazposted 14 years ago

   IT only depends on your intentions If you create an unusual space to wheelup then it's definitely comes under Black Hats definition.
   Your competitors can complain about that too.
   
   Let me tell an interesting story of my client. She is in weight loss industry and hired me for competitors analysis.
   In which I found that her compititor is using Link wheel strategy and getting too much juice as well!
   she reported that to google and Google takes the action and penalized his website to death.
   
   So be aware before using these sort of techniques.

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      nicolerkilpatrickposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You can create link construction.

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   IzzyMposted 14 years ago

   I don't know anything about black hat or white hat or green hat techniques, but I built a link wheel...
   
   sort of...
   
   I wrote about 8 articles on the same topic, more or less, and posted each one to to different sites, with the plan that they all pointed back to a hub I had here on HP.
   
   The plot failed firstly because I couldn't find out how to insert a link in half the places I posted to
   
   and secondly because all my articles were on low search terms.
   
   So I've sorta given up this SEO stuff and left it to the experts

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    skyfireposted 14 years ago

    *facepalm*

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    20webhostingposted 14 years ago

    I believe link wheels if done naturally, it will be a valued addition to your website ranking, in other words, you have to focus on creating rich content websites other than pages just full of untargeted links

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       SEO Ibizaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       ok, so you're advertising to build them for clients on your "SEO services" website, and then asking non-SEOs on hubpages whether they are black hat or not?
       
       sorry to be brutally honest but it's "SEOs" like you that give SEO a bad name.
       
       here is what Google say about them
       
       "Don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or PageRank.."
       
       from here http://www.google.com/support/webmaster … swer=35769
       
       now argue that your linkwheel is not designed to help your rankings?
       
       linkwheels are definitely NOT whitehat, and if you are building linkwheels that work, ie affect rankings, then you are Google's enemy, however you try to justify it to yourself.
       
       ineffective linkwheels would probably just relegate you from "enemy" to "lame spammer"

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    Car Donationsposted 14 years ago

    I would definitely say grey hat. It is right on the line of being spam and vice versa. It depends on how you go about using link wheel techniques. Use social networking to your advantage!

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