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SEO Smart Links WordPress Plugin

by STLSEO
8 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Yo, does anyone use the SEO Smart Links Wordpress plugin? I'm trying to figure out if it's hurting my on-page SEO. My client's rankings have dropped significantly in the past 3 months (no manual penalty in GWT).

I have it setup to link the first mention of the term "divorce" on each page to the divorce page. So basically if the term "divorce" is mentioned on a page then it'll link back to the divorce page.

What are your thoughts? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
#links #plugin #seo #smart #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
    Originally Posted by STLSEO View Post

    Yo, does anyone use the SEO Smart Links Wordpress plugin? I'm trying to figure out if it's hurting my on-page SEO. My client's rankings have dropped significantly in the past 3 months (no manual penalty in GWT).

    I have it setup to link the first mention of the term "divorce" on each page to the divorce page. So basically if the term "divorce" is mentioned on a page then it'll link back to the divorce page.

    What are your thoughts? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
    It's a fairly bad sign when you hire an SEO to do your on-page work, only to find they're using plugins to automate the simplest yet most important tasks on-site.

    Algo penalties won't get a warning in GWT either.

    Are you building external links to the domain?
    Are you automating this process too?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Sounds like you have never heard of over optimizing a keyword. Just going off of what you said
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    • Profile picture of the author STLSEO
      Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

      It's a fairly bad sign when you hire an SEO to do your on-page work, only to find they're using plugins to automate the simplest yet most important tasks on-site.

      Algo penalties won't get a warning in GWT either.

      Are you building external links to the domain?
      Are you automating this process too?
      Actually, it's not a simple task when the site has over 1,000 pages indexed by Google.

      And no. I don't engage in automated link building. We use a PR team to build quality, natural links.
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      • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
        Originally Posted by STLSEO View Post

        Actually, it's not a simple task when the site has over 1,000 pages indexed by Google.

        And no. I don't engage in automated link building. We use a PR team to build quality, natural links.
        Are they paying you to do the work quickly or properly?

        1000 pages is not that big either btw. Not for a restructure of internal links.

        And every pages published "after" the existing 1000, would take all of 10 minutes to explain how to continue to a publisher.

        But like you said in your OP, you've handed over an integral part of on-site SEO to a free plugin and it seems to have screwed things up royally for you. Your input so far to the problem has only compounded it further.

        Lazy SEO Work + Free Plugins = A big pile of crappola on-site.

        I'm sorry I can't word it any nicer then how it looks.


        If a client comes to you with a problem with 1000 pages of their respective site. You should be costing your time and pricing your service accordingly.
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        • Profile picture of the author STLSEO
          Originally Posted by Kevin Maguire View Post

          Are they paying you to do the work quickly or properly?

          1000 pages is not that big either btw. Not for a restructure of internal links.

          And every pages published "after" the existing 1000, would take all of 10 minutes to explain how to continue to a publisher.

          But like you said in your OP, you've handed over an integral part of on-site SEO to a free plugin and it seems to have screwed things up royally for you. Your input so far to the problem has only compounded it further.

          Lazy SEO Work + Free Plugins = A big pile of crappola on-site.

          I'm sorry I can't word it any nicer then how it looks.


          If a client comes to you with a problem with 1000 pages of their respective site. You should be costing your time and pricing your service accordingly.
          1,000 pages isn't that much? HA! Okay. I was simply asking for some constructive feedback regarding SEO Smart Links, not an evaluation on how I implement SEO for my clients. Thanks anyway.
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          • Profile picture of the author Kevin Maguire
            Originally Posted by STLSEO View Post

            1,000 pages isn't that much? HA! Okay. I was simply asking for some constructive feedback regarding SEO Smart Links, not an evaluation on how I implement SEO for my clients. Thanks anyway.
            Well my constructive feedback would be exactly what I've just said.

            "Free Plugins = A big pile of crappola on-site."

            Plugins and automation do have their place in SEO, but the internal linking structure of a site is not one of them I'm afraid.

            I'd constructively advise you to go do the work properly and not treat your clients site like an amazon autoblog.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Originally Posted by STLSEO View Post

    I have it setup to link the first mention of the term "divorce" on each page to the divorce page. So basically if the term "divorce" is mentioned on a page then it'll link back to the divorce page.

    What are your thoughts? Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
    Honestly, my thought is that is a pretty bad. You are linking to a page with no thought or reason behind it.

    I'm not trying to pile on, but what you are doing makes no sense.

    I'm going to guess this is an attorney who handles divorce cases. First thing I would do is see if their site really needs to be 1000 pages. I would bet there is a lot of subpar and worthless content in there. Then I would organize the internal linking in a way that makes sense. I'm sure there are posts about many different topics relating to divorce. They could be linked together in a strategic way, with a few of them ultimately pointing to the "divorce" page instead of just every time a page mentions the word "divorce" throwing a link in there.

    And if you think that is not worth your time, so be it. I would just turn off the plugin and see if the rankings return close to where they were. Then you will have some pretty solid proof that your strategy with this plugin is lacking.
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    • Profile picture of the author STLSEO
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      Honestly, my thought is that is a pretty bad. You are linking to a page with no thought or reason behind it.

      I'm not trying to pile on, but what you are doing makes no sense.

      I'm going to guess this is an attorney who handles divorce cases. First thing I would do is see if their site really needs to be 1000 pages. I would bet there is a lot of subpar and worthless content in there. Then I would organize the internal linking in a way that makes sense. I'm sure there are posts about many different topics relating to divorce. They could be linked together in a strategic way, with a few of them ultimately pointing to the "divorce" page instead of just every time a page mentions the word "divorce" throwing a link in there.

      And if you think that is not worth your time, so be it. I would just turn off the plugin and see if the rankings return close to where they were. Then you will have some pretty solid proof that your strategy with this plugin is lacking.
      Thank you my friend. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. I will turn off the plugin and see what happens. Hopefully this solves the issue. Thanks again, Mike!
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