Linkwheel or link Pyramid?

by Tmill
37 replies
  • SEO
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Which do you prefer and why? Both seem like great SEO tactics, but I would like the opinion of the warrior forum members.

I was thinking of building a link wheel and then building pyramids off of the articles that link to my site that are in the link wheel. What are your thoughts on this?
#link #linkwheel #pyramid
  • Profile picture of the author rspadi
    Linkwheels and link pyramids no longer work - Google catches up quickly and may penalize your site. Link Magnets (you can find a short explanation on my simpleseostuff.com blog) are save and they allow you to transfer all the link juice to the money page on your site and improve its ranking.
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  • Profile picture of the author arnie19
    Linkwheels and link pyramids no longer work - Google catches up quickly and may penalize your site. Link Magnets (you can find a short explanation on my simpleseostuff.com blog) are save and they allow you to transfer all the link juice to the money page on your site and improve its ranking.
    If they do not work and can cause a website to get penalized, then I will use them to my competitor to get them penalized instead. I think it's on the way how you use them. Link pyramid is better and more natural compared to link wheel.
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    • Profile picture of the author Habbakuk
      Originally Posted by arnie19 View Post

      If they do not work and can cause a website to get penalized, then I will use them to my competitor to get them penalized instead. I think it's on the way how you use them. Link pyramid is better and more natural compared to link wheel.
      Like all things SEO, nothing is set in stone and most of it is conjecture. Every idiot who throws the word "penalized" around has no proof to back it up. There is no proof Google penalizes sites for using link wheels, because I've made many for my website over the last two years, and my website domain is over 11 years old and never been penalized.

      So if you want to go and waste your time trying to build stuff that you think will penalize your competitors, go ahead. In reality, it will probably help them more than hurt them.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tmill
        Originally Posted by Habbakuk View Post

        Like all things SEO, nothing is set in stone and most of it is conjecture. Every idiot who throws the word "penalized" around has no proof to back it up. There is no proof Google penalizes sites for using link wheels, because I've made many for my website over the last two years, and my website domain is over 11 years old and never been penalized.

        So if you want to go and waste your time trying to build stuff that you think will penalize your competitors, go ahead. In reality, it will probably help them more than hurt them.
        I agree with you on this. Although it may seem kind of fishy to make a linkwheel, I believe it wouldn't penalize your site, especially if you are using a VPN to change your IP when submitting links.

        I can understand how to link wheel can penalize though. Seems kind of strange that all the sites getting links are also linking to each other.

        I made the mistake of linking all of my links directly to my money site for the past couple months. Using a SEO tool I saw that most of these links wern't even getting indexed. So I am looking to start a new form of SEO.

        Before link pyramids seemed stupid to me because you are giving links to other sites, but if what people say about "link juice" is correct, then it should actually build far more authority to my site.

        Your thoughts on link pyramids?
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        • Profile picture of the author stephencammeron
          Originally Posted by junne View Post

          both are unethical practices so i suggest to stay away from these techniques.
          On what part exactly?

          Originally Posted by Tmill View Post

          Before link pyramids seemed stupid to me because you are giving links to other sites
          Well, if you do, then it definitely is!:rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author Habbakuk
          Originally Posted by Tmill View Post

          I agree with you on this. Although it may seem kind of fishy to make a linkwheel, I believe it wouldn't penalize your site, especially if you are using a VPN to change your IP when submitting links.

          I can understand how to link wheel can penalize though. Seems kind of strange that all the sites getting links are also linking to each other.

          I made the mistake of linking all of my links directly to my money site for the past couple months. Using a SEO tool I saw that most of these links wern't even getting indexed. So I am looking to start a new form of SEO.

          Before link pyramids seemed stupid to me because you are giving links to other sites, but if what people say about "link juice" is correct, then it should actually build far more authority to my site.

          Your thoughts on link pyramids?
          I don't have much personal experience with link pyramids though they seem to have the same basic concept of link wheels, just with a different design. Mind you, I used to make link wheels when I first started SEO. I made extremely complex multi-layered ones with Web 2.0 properties, articles, blogs, etc. I stopped when I realized they took too much time and weren't as effective as other means. Also, when one link breaks, so does that supposed "link juice". Not saying the entire link wheel is useless then, but it certainly affects it.

          Bottom line is that I think link wheels and pyramids are mainly fancy props. Complex ones certainly look very impressive in a graph or picture, and to many people who have no idea how SEO works, they'll think it's common sense and has to work. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, and the people selling link wheels are only exploiting the buyers, IMO.

          I bet some link wheels can cause a website to be penalized, and I'm sure many people have had it happen. I just think there are hundreds of things that MAY cause a website to be penalized, not just link wheels. I think it's a lot of work with not much payoff as other linkbuilding methods.
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  • Profile picture of the author princemkhan
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    • Profile picture of the author jdiefen
      Originally Posted by princemkhan View Post

      In my opinion, Link Pyramid is better than Link wheel. Because now google counts link wheel as a black hat technique and penalise the site.
      The owner of joshkotsay.com has a good diagram (2nd diagram) of link wheel...If you take a closer look or examine it actually link wheel. And yes, Link Pyramid is better but it's time consuming because it seem so complicated.
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  • Profile picture of the author junne
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  • Profile picture of the author John Williamson
    I'd say 'pyramid' over 'wheel' simply because of the directional flow of link juice.
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    • Profile picture of the author TopHats
      Originally Posted by John Williamson View Post

      I'd say 'pyramid' over 'wheel' simply because of the directional flow of link juice.
      It's funny, I've always hard that a pyramid is more direct, but a wheel is supposed to be more natural looking to Google. Not that MAY have changed since Panda, but I've used the heck out of wheels and ranked #1 on new terms just this last month. So they BOTH are legit IMO and the smartest thing is to use both rather than just one. Variety is the key... my strategy is if G see's a ton of pyramids or wheels with nothing else it's gonna be more likely to catch on than if there is a wide variety. So I do everything from direct links to wheels, to pyramids, to 1-1 blasts.
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  • Profile picture of the author JaySam
    It would be helpful if you use a link wheel to strengthen your foundation in relevancy, but the implementation of this method must be in the natural way of sharing quality content.
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  • Profile picture of the author oluttuoppi
    I've tried link wheels but they didn't work at all...
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  • Profile picture of the author agendapal
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    • Profile picture of the author loke
      Link pyramids are the best since they appear more natural to Google than Link wheels.
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  • Profile picture of the author DarrenHaynes
    [quoteIt's funny, I've always hard that a pyramid is more direct, but a wheel is supposed to be more natural looking to Google. Not that MAY have changed since Panda, but I've used the heck out of wheels and ranked #1 on new terms just this last month. So they BOTH are legit IMO and the smartest thing is to use both rather than just one. Variety is the key... my strategy is if G see's a ton of pyramids or wheels with nothing else it's gonna be more likely to catch on than if there is a wide variety. So I do everything from direct links to wheels, to pyramids, to 1-1 blasts.][/quote]

    Amen Brother.

    Link wheels and link pyramids both work great, if you go about them correctly, especially if you use them a part of a broader plan.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tmill
    Thanks for the answers guys. I believe google has caught on to link wheels, but I dont see how they can hurt.

    I am going to start a test where I make 2 sites in same niche with same kind of content, one with link wheel and one with pyramids and see which turns out better.
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  • Profile picture of the author vince04
    I preferred link wheel.... I improved some of my handled websites by applying it. Especially if you stick creating links on a 2.0 sites....
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  • Profile picture of the author That Guy
    A link pyramid seems like the safer route since when you spam thousands of backlinks it goes towards your tier 1 "shield" and your money site is left unaffected.
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  • Profile picture of the author redtaksaka
    Use both!
    Use different user names. Put more than 2 articles on each spoke. Spread out the submission dates. Or if you do it manually, make a scheduled posts. Link out to other sites (like wiki).
    Just be contextually random (is there really a term for this? I just made it up :p)
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  • Profile picture of the author danieljames123
    I actually like them both, link pyramid and wheel, but have added acquaintance using link pyramid. My current website is using link wheel, which is the first time aggravating it but I do like the results so far. Personally, I anticipate both are absolutely effective just matters which one you prefer so I would recommend trying both than choosing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Targeted Traffic
    The link pyramid has been for most internet marketers the link wheel hybrid of choice because it is simpler to create and easy keep track of. Also there is a low chance that Google will not delete or de-index this type of linking structure because they are all one way links and they do not link together like a traditional wheel and it look’s more natural and not so man made.

    These are very time consuming so if you do choose to use one use the pyramid and outsource it. If you decide to create them yourself don’t bother as it is so time consuming you could waste weeks and your site may still never rank that well.

    As for me, just create a website with solid content on it and people will naturally link to it because it is useful. With every new Google up date all of these little loop holes are getting closed but good useful content always seems to hold its own in the search engines.
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  • Profile picture of the author levicurnow
    For me link wheel is very efficient to use, it can give you positive results if done the right way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Billy Rey
    think about the concept of both, and look at it as a bigger picture, not just because its a "wheel" or a "pyramid" or a "net" or how people here do it.

    why are you doing that in the first place? because the successful sites have those.

    Think of the huge sites. They have people linking to them naturally. Those people promote their own sites too hence they receive links. Thats a "pyramid" right? Then it also posts a link that points to another niche site which links to that huge site. A "wheel"!


    different sites linking to one another, some sites link to your site, each with their own niche/traffic/metrics. Wouldnt that look like natural linking to you? Wouldnt that be one of the things the algo and spiders will take a look at?

    Conceptualize, test, apply it, follow through, then scale up.

    It doesnt have to work now, it doesnt have to be web 2.0 properties, doesnt have to be directories. Just test it yourself rather than getting answers about it being unethical or "black hat" lol those answers will just waste your time
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    • Profile picture of the author xsalvador
      Originally Posted by Billy Rey View Post

      think about the concept of both, and look at it as a bigger picture, not just because its a "wheel" or a "pyramid" or a "net" or how people here do it.

      why are you doing that in the first place? because the successful sites have those.

      Think of the huge sites. They have people linking to them naturally. Those people promote their own sites too hence they receive links. Thats a "pyramid" right? Then it also posts a link that points to another niche site which links to that huge site. A "wheel"!


      different sites linking to one another, some sites link to your site, each with their own niche/traffic/metrics. Wouldnt that look like natural linking to you? Wouldnt that be one of the things the algo and spiders will take a look at?

      Conceptualize, test, apply it, follow through, then scale up.

      It doesnt have to work now, it doesnt have to be web 2.0 properties, doesnt have to be directories. Just test it yourself rather than getting answers about it being unethical or "black hat" lol those answers will just waste your time
      I know man; really. I've been reading hours and hours of what people 'think' will happen and what they 'assume' big G might do. I'm setting up hybrid versions of both and making my links as random as well as targeted as possible; then I'll just wait and track the results.

      We need to stop thinking about it and test; without TOTE, we would have nothing.
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      • Profile picture of the author jdiefen
        Hey guys! Would you mind to share us the spoke' properties? I mean all those web 2.0 sites in there...I only know few like blogger.com, wordpress.com, weebly.com, livejournal.com and blinkweb.com. So, I'd like to know the other sites. Thanks.

        Also, I've read in other thread that in order to make it appear not a linkwheel it should be open...both ends are not tied. Like this ...Spoke1=>Spoke2=>Spoke3=>Spoke4=>Spoke5=>Spoke6= >Spoke7=>Spoke8=>

        In the normal linkwheel Spoke8=>Spoke1 then again to Spoke2 and so on.

        Note: All Spokes are linked to your money site. One can Google search what it look like anyway by just typing Link Wheel then click image or picture on the left sidebar.
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  • Profile picture of the author Roberto L
    I do neither and only add direct links as time is so limited for seo workings, sign...
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  • Profile picture of the author Datadruid
    I think Link Wheels have to work, if each article contains primary and secondary keyword rich content, and links to another article that contains primary and secondary keyword rich content and has a link from an article that has primary and secondary keyword rich content. Then all those articles link to a common 'authority' on the subject, this has got to work, I am still not sure about closing the wheel though, as that IS a reciprocal link, the question is how far back does big G check?
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  • I will go with Link Pyramid. If you want I have also another link wheel structure that is very powerful.
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  • Profile picture of the author epathj
    Link Pyramid is better and safer than Link wheel.
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelcorvin
    Hey Warriors...There is some information on Jared Croslows site and he has a video on a new link wheel strategy. I have been thinking about implementing it. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

    How to build an effective Link Wheel
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  • Profile picture of the author ricky709
    Well I advice you to use them both. Combination of them both could be killer. However, you should minimize the spoke of link wheel and should rely more on link pyramid structure. It is all about foot-prints
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  • Profile picture of the author AymanGham
    I was thinking about trying to do a Link Wheel with a Pyramid the two together can be powerful.
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