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My competitors have a overoptimized profile

by nicolasodc
15 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi there,
I'm trying to rank for a niche on google.fr, but since the end of May my rankings have decresaed (from 20 to 100+) and now I am completely off the 500 first google positions.
What I don't understand is that:
- the 2 niche sites in the top 10 rankings for that kw have overoptimized link profiles : 99% of dofollow links pointing to their home page. Most of them are spammy blog comments on unrelevant sites. And one of the site is only one page
- on my side, im doing strong onpage SEO and light offpage SEO (blog comments, blog directories). I almost never targeted my main keyword nad most of my links are no follow (i have 173 no follow and 2 do follows). I did it all manually, always posting relevant blog comments...
- my content is relevant for a user coming to my site (well that also works for my competitors, but there are only a few pages, no presence on social media, ...)

So, what do you suggest?
Should I improve my offpage seo and add more dofollow links?
All the Google updates do not apply for other countries?

I'm a bit desesperate cause I'm trying so hard to please both Google and the enduser - and Im sad to see that Google won't see my efforts while he ranks high websites that are only made for Adsense/affiliation... Maybe doing "quality" things is not the way to go for french google?
#competitors #link building #offpage optimization #overoptimized #profile #ranking
  • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
    Why would your nofollow links outrank links?
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    Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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    • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
      Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

      Why would your nofollow links outrank links?
      Well maybe not outrank still at this point... but at least be closer to them . right now im out, not even in the first 500 position... and i see these websites with ONLY dofollow links... and i dont get it
      Everywhere I checked, everybody says that its ok to have do follow links but the percentage must remain natural, not 99% of do follow links on not even related websites...
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  • Profile picture of the author lionak69
    Google Update apply for all the countries - I think despite all the algo changes, CONTENT remains the king - both on-page and off-page.
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    • Profile picture of the author terryd
      Originally Posted by lionak69 View Post

      CONTENT remains the king
      Rubbish, content has a lot less to do with getting rankings than you would like to believe. Links are far more important, if you are talking conversions however then yes content is important but as for ranking it's way down on the list...
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  • Profile picture of the author Annie15
    Links are important in ranking, have more natural, thematic and contextual back links to rank your site for competitive keywords.
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  • Profile picture of the author shailender
    For having natural link building profile, you need to have both do follow and no follow links. But it doesn't mean that you should have more no follow and less do follow links. You should focus on building more do follow links. I personally go for 70% do follow links and rest no follow links. It still working and I'm ranking on first page for my targeted keywords.

    Plus use your main keywords in your anchor text but also use related keywords as your anchor text as well. You can use 50% your main keyword and 50% other related keywords.

    You're certainly doing right things but combination is not correct. Good Luck!!
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Originally Posted by youeverysecond View Post

    - on my side, im doing strong onpage SEO and light offpage SEO (blog comments, blog directories). I almost never targeted my main keyword nad most of my links are no follow (i have 173 no follow and 2 do follows). I did it all manually, always posting relevant blog comments...
    Where in the hell did you get the idea that 99% nofollow links was a good idea? That is awful. Only around 1% of the links on the internet are nofollow. Nofollow links pass no PR or anchor text relevance (or very little anyhow).

    If anything, you just created about as 'unnatural' of a link profile as you could have.

    Based on just that information about your backlink profile, you do not deserve to rank.
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    • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      Where in the hell did you get the idea that 99% nofollow links was a good idea? That is awful. Only around 1% of the links on the internet are nofollow. Nofollow links pass no PR or anchor text relevance (or very little anyhow).

      If anything, you just created about as 'unnatural' of a link profile as you could have.

      Based on just that information about your backlink profile, you do not deserve to rank.
      I didnt say 99% nofollow links was a good idea, but thats how my profile is right now. I was not expecting to rank in the top 10 yet, but at least be closer ...
      1% of the links on the internet are no follow?? really???
      Hum if thats true then yes you are right I guess: my profile will definitely link unnatural.

      But how do you do to have a lot of dofollow links and yet look natural? If you are in a niche, it's not like you can get 100s of do follow links with relevance, right?

      But thanks for the answer anyway, that is actually helping. I did some research and yes indeed on several forums I saw that 50% dofollow links is acceptable. Oh boy.
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      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by nicolasodc View Post

        But thanks for the answer anyway, that is actually helping. I did some research and yes indeed on several forums I saw that 50% dofollow links is acceptable. Oh boy.
        You shouldn't listen to idiots telling you 50% is acceptable either. That's a load of crap.

        In all honesty, there is no need for any nofollow links in your profile. Unless they are on a popular Wikipedia page or the New York Times, etc. they are not going to help you anyhow.
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        • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
          So 99% of dofollow links is ok? There's no chance i'm gonna get penalized by a future Google update about this?
          I'm well aware that because of Penguin the keyword should not appear in too many anchor texts, like 20 or 30% is ok...
          But can't we assume that one day Google will also look at backlink relevancy and "too many" do follow links will hurt your rankings? Just asking...
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          • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
            Just saw what you are offering in your signature, so im gonna grab the ebook and see if it answers some of my doubts
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          • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
            Originally Posted by nicolasodc View Post

            So 99% of dofollow links is ok? There's no chance i'm gonna get penalized by a future Google update about this?
            I'm well aware that because of Penguin the keyword should not appear in too many anchor texts, like 20 or 30% is ok...
            But can't we assume that one day Google will also look at backlink relevancy and "too many" do follow links will hurt your rankings? Just asking...
            Google themselves have said that on average they only find 1-2% of the links they crawl to be nofollow. So yeah, if you have only 1% nofollow in your profile, you are fine.

            Hell, I almost never build any nofollow links, and usually when I do it is by accident.

            I think the 20-30% thing on anchor text is bullshit too. I have found plenty of sites ranking just fine with what appears to be anywhere from 60-80% of the same anchor text. I think it has more to do with the kind of links you are building than what anchor text you are using.
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            • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
              Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

              Google themselves have said that on average they only find 1-2% of the links they crawl to be nofollow. So yeah, if you have only 1% nofollow in your profile, you are fine.

              Hell, I almost never build any nofollow links, and usually when I do it is by accident.

              I think the 20-30% thing on anchor text is bullshit too. I have found plenty of sites ranking just fine with what appears to be anywhere from 60-80% of the same anchor text. I think it has more to do with the kind of links you are building than what anchor text you are using.
              Just read your ebook, Mike...
              So, now that I know about backlinking techniques that should be avoided, what are the one you are advising and that are safe. Your ebook actually makes a lot of sense, and I can see all these Google updates coming that would stop taking int oaccount certain kind of links. But then, what should we do? What would still work?

              If blog commenting, profile linking, tier building, even guest posting, is to be avoided... what do we have left?

              Regards,
              Nicolas.
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  • Profile picture of the author badlimey
    Stop beating your head against the wall by trying to compete on Google. Get creative, I've said it before and I'll say it again. A man in a monkey suit with a sign can drive more traffic to a website than Google, even paid (adwords) Google!
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    "Still Serving"

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    • Profile picture of the author nicolasodc
      Originally Posted by badlimey View Post

      Stop beating your head against the wall by trying to compete on Google. Get creative, I've said it before and I'll say it again. A man in a monkey suit with a sign can drive more traffic to a website than Google, even paid (adwords) Google!
      Yes, I'd love to avoid thinking about Google traffic, but to build niche sites thats the best I've found so far - although I understand that the opoularity of a niche site should be built around much more than its Google traffic, and yes, I'm willing to add social media, email marketing and whatever it takes to make my visitors stay.

      But they first need to arrive on my site, right?

      So, what do you suggest?

      Nicolas.
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