Link Wheel Versus Old Fashioned Article Marketing

[Ofthemix]

I've been reading a lot about link wheels lately. I know it's not new, but it's new to me. So, I decided to make one . . . then once I started I realized it's a real pain in the @$$. Personally, it seems like tons more work to me than regular article marketing. Is it really worth the time put into it? I'd like to know how people think link wheels compare to old fashioned article marketing, and which one you think is better? I know that they both have different benefits and that a lot of article marketing goes into link wheel building.

[brchap]

I think that the value to me, as a very LONG tail keyword warrior (I own a local computer repair and IT services business and do NOT compete on a national level), it's not the idea of dominating the #1 spot on Google... it's the allure of dominating the entire first page.

All talk of Google "juicing" aside, I believe that a link wheel can help me do this if I properly link together some 2.0 properties in a wheel, and then properly promote those properties.

I too agree that it's a lot of work.

Although there are some services that will supposedly automate some of this for you, I think that I'm going to continue to do it by hand for a while. I'd like to become more familiar with the process, so that when I finally automate the process, I'll understand the behind-the-scenes processes much more.

If it doesn't work... well, at least I have some good backlinks out there bringing in some traffic.

[Vanquish]

The point of building link wheels is that you get organic traffic which means you don't have to write anymore articles.

Sure you could write 2000 articles a year and make a great income or you can do proper keyword research find 20-30 phrases that are between 1000-3000+ in exact searches. Rank on top 3 for each one and than make a nice chunk of profit and never have to write articles unless you have a bigger goal.

Sure it seems like a lot of work but that's where outsourcing comes in. However I would recommend doing everything on your own first to get a good understanding and feel for it.

[frankgotgame818]

Well link wheels are new to me too.

What is the process to build a link wheel?

Thanks in advance,

Frank C

[Ofthemix]

Basically, you use your main site as a hub, then you build Web 2.0 sites around the keyword you want to rank for. You write unique or spun content for each site. In each site you put one link going back to your main "hub"(money site) and another link going to the next Web 2.0 site, essentially creating a circle/wheel around your main site. Each Web 2.0 site works as a spoke for your link wheel. You should do a Google image search for "link wheel" to get a better idea of what it looks like.

After you create the Web 2.0 sites, you still need to socially bookmark them, ping them, and submit them to rss aggregators. You can build additional wheels off of your main wheel too, so basically, your link wheel can be as big or small as you want it to be. The smallest link wheels I have seen have about 6 spokes (6 Web 2.0 sites linking to the main site and each other), some that branch off and expand can have over 100 spokes.

The idea is to dominate Google's Page #1 for your keywords with your site and as many Web 2.0 sites as possible.

[Anup Mahajan]

I agree that creating a linkwheel involves a lot of work but the results are worth it.. However I am not in favor of abandoning the traditional way of promoting my sites through articles as Google can stop giving less importance to linkwheels in future ...

@ Frank I hope the following image will make things clear for you

[Tony Dean]

I would forget about linkwheels- they may get 'sandboxed' any time.
Stick to article marketing with unique content for longevity of ranking.

[madison_avenue]

People that are using link wheels mistakenly think that if they get a boost in the search engine it is because of the link wheel but there's no proof that it is. It could just be from the fact that they have gone out and created some links to there site, submitted to RSS aggregaters and booked the site. Something they might not have done if they did not have the belief in the link wheel.

Remember if you get links through articles the sites that link to you are also part of link wheels or at least some sort of linking environment which then links to you.

The only difference is with link wheels is that you are creating the linking structure and can see it so it appears more powerful and controllable than it really is. They will not be all web 2.00 sites as link wheel site tend to be, it will give a more natural linking structure.

[frankgotgame818]

Thanks ofthemix & anup.mahajan for explaining that to me. Much appreciated.

Frank C

[amerigo]

Originally Posted by madison_avenue

People that are using link wheels mistakenly think that if they get a boost in the search engine it is because of the link wheel but there's no proof that it is. It could just be from the fact that they have gone out and created some links to there site, submitted to RSS aggregaters and booked the site. Something they might not have done if they did not have the belief in the link wheel.

Remember if you get links through articles the sites that link to you are also part of link wheels or at least some sort of linking environment which then links to you.

The only difference is with link wheels is that you are creating the linking structure and can see it so it appears more powerful and controllable than it really is. They will not be all web 2.00 sites as link wheel site tend to be, it will give a more natural linking structure.

my $0.02

Granted, I didn't compare it against old fashion article marketing....But i was able to shoot from (de-indexed) to #9 out of 201,000,000 in 3 weeks by using the link wheel method.

[madison_avenue]

Originally Posted by amerigo

my $0.02

Granted, I didn't compare it against old fashion article marketing....But i was able to shoot from (de-indexed) to #9 out of 201,000,000 in 3 weeks by using the link wheel method.

That sounds pretty impressive but could not the reason be your additional systematic link building and bookmarking. Granted it could be the effect of the link wheel. that's why I am continuing to test. My flavor of article marketing shows goods results too, but I don't discount the link wheel method. Just need to see more evidence of it's effect and longevity.