qondio.com/2K2X

How Links Can Cost You Your Web Site

By Marsha Gellerman

If you have an website, that is more than 4 years old, chances are that at one point you added a link directory. It doesn't matter if the directory was done by hand or handled by automated software - it's dangerous. And it could cost you your website.

Site registrations expire all the time and the sites are auctioned on the domain aftermarket. Sometimes their owner sells them to someone else. Sometimes, the owner of the domain decides to make changes to their site, because it is not making money. How does this put you at risk? If you link to a site that sells pharmaceutical drugs without a prescription, or someone who spams, because of that link, you can have your website terminated.

I’m not talking about your hosting company suspending your access to a site. Finding new hosting companies is easy. I’m talking about your registrar, the company where you bought your domain name. They can suspend your domain, permanently.

Some domain sellers will pull your site if you link to a site that sells prescription drugs without prescriptions, since this is illegal in the United States. Imagine your surprise if a link for comfortable bedroom slippers, actually went to a pharmaceutical site. Imagine your shock, if your domain registrars decided to terminate your site because of this link.

Your links to other sites can be considered a "parasite" page for that web site. What if the person you link to decides to spam your link page, to boost the "link juice" to their site? They hit contact forms, guest books, comments and forum postings of other sites. All the links point to your link page, in order to boost the ranking of your link page and make it a higher quality link to them. The people getting spammed wind up on your site, and contact your affiliate manager or your domain registrar.

All affiliates managers and domain registrars have a zero tolerance policy for spam. The affiliate program will kick you out, without paying any earnings that are due to you - and may want you to pay back monies from prior months. And I can't say that I blame them. Domain registrars sometimes include a clause in their terms, which states that the actual affiliate site is responsible for the actions of their linking affiliates. Which means, the people who pay you all those lovely commissions can also have their sites terminated without warning.

The registrars can and will redirect your name servers, back to theirs, terminating your site access, and in some cases terminating your entire account. One firm, in particular, is notorious for doing this. They will give you an option of paying $199 to keep your site up and running with them if they are also hosting your site, or charge you a $75 fee, where they will enable your site for 24 hours so that you can transfer it to another domain registrar. So, you either lose the site you took time and money to develop, or you pay through the nose to keep it.

Some common rules of the road:

Get rid of your link directories over time, replacing the links with one-way links, such as bookmarks and Web 2.0 properties.
Never host your domain at the same company that you use to register your domain name. This way, if something goes wrong, you at least have access to your files and database.
Check your links at least once a week to make sure they are going where they are supposed to be going, and that the description of the site is true.
Check webmaster forums for tips on which domain registrars are least likely to react without contacting you so you can fix whatever is wrong - or in other words, a domain registration company with good customer service.

When you register or renew a domain, stop checking off boxes, and actually read the terms of service you are agreeing to abide by. When you started on the web, these may have just been five to ten items. There may now be twenty-eight to fifty restrictions on your account. You should know what you can't do with your web sites...

…because they can be taken away from you.

PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE

Coping with Back Pain
A guide to coping with back pain.
www.copingwithbackpain.com

		Dirk Bansch appreciated this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		cestor liked this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		LadyD appreciated this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		Bill Coughlin appreciated this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		R Foreman agreed with this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		adac recommended this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		silversurfer agreed with this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		Nora Quiason appreciated this intel. Mar 3, 2011
		sheilamarie appreciated this intel. Mar 4, 2011
		nick appreciated this intel. Mar 4, 2011
		appreciated this intel. Mar 4, 2011
		bronnamdi agreed with this intel. Mar 4, 2011
		frederick recommended this intel. Mar 4, 2011
		MasterTikitak recommended this intel. Mar 5, 2011
		jannepaige admired this intel. Mar 8, 2011
		smallbusinessadvertisingstrategies respected this intel. Mar 15, 2011
		crawfish recommended this intel. Apr 23, 2011
		noline appreciated this intel. Jul 16, 2011

I'd never heard of it either - until I woke up short 1 web site. And started doing research on reasons why that might happen.

There are so many things that can go wrong on the Internet so keep passing on well researched information like this as it helps all of us who read it to understand the world of the Internet a little better.

Thank you for commenting. Every time I think I know what challenges face webmasters, something like this comes up and I realize how little I know.

You're welcome, and thank you for commenting.

Scary thought. There's so much to learn. Sometimes one learns it the hard way. Thanks for your sage advice.

Hi Sheila -
Thanks for your response. We've got to share what we learn being on line. Chances are no one will ever be affected by this - but you never know.

I was just reading an article on another site about how Google is eliminating keyword farming sites. Also about the problem recipe sites are having right now, I'm so new, and I was about to put a link page on my site. Is it better to put the links on the pages they compliment than to have a link page? I don't know what are good links or bad. You talk about some of them, but is there some kind of list available? I have checked the pages that I'm linking with and they appear like great sites, but I don't know the rules, so I'm not sure.

There aren't really any rules, you have to go with your gut. It's much better to have links on individual articles, with a little "report this link" or "report broken link" right under it leading to your contact page. That way, your readers get to notify you first.

I'd say, go with your gut on linking. A then "little" site called lovetoknow linked several times to different articles on a tattoo site I own. Once they became a monster article directory, I received a ton of traffic from them. I will forever be grateful for those links.

Safe links are NASA, WikiPedia, iMDB, CBS, Yahoo News etc. Linking to authority sites will never hurt you. But a link to Patty's Knitting may be more satisfying for your readers. You have to balance the two.

As far as Google eliminating keyword farming sites, after the JC Penney link buying mess hit the New York Times, Google has no choice but to really crack down on text link purchases. As long as you're not selling links or buying them, you'll be fine.

Thank you for sharing this well reseached and well written 5***** intel, Marsha. This could be a scary situation for a lot of newbie ecommerce websites. How would one go about getting rid of links from a link directory? Maybe we could impose upon you to write an intel on this subject and related subjects.
Keep up the good work.
Best wishes to you.
Frederick

Frederick -
Thank you. As always you inspire me.
Marsha

Best to never exchange links - just look for relevant sites and get one-way links back to your site.

Hi Larry -

Google's been telling us for years to stop link exchanges. Then it said we'll penalize you for 3 way links. And don't buy links, etc., etc. And I actually still don't mind giving a one way link out to a relevant site - in an article - especially if I use them as a source in the article.

But the automated link exchange directories have got to go. The one I was using in particular allowed webmasters to change their descriptions and add pictures. Seven years ago, that was cool. Today, it's just dangerous.

The copyright for this content entitled "How Links Can Cost You Your Web Site" has been specified by the contributor as:

This content may not be copied, distributed or adapted by anyone under any circumstances.