Notices

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 9 of 9
  1. Chalkie's Avatar
    Chalkie is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    December 2008
    Location
    West Bromwich UK
    Posts
    1,991
    Thanks
    683
    Thanked 578 Times in 392 Posts

    In content links and methods question

    Google as we know do not like hidden links and confirm this here:

    http://www.google.com/support/webmas...n&answer=66353

    This in mind how should one use in content links

    Is placing an incontent link without highlighting it seen as bad by google? Do they class this as a hidden link?

    Would highlighting it be worse?

    It would certainly make a page with umpteen links look messy.

    Placing links in content for swop and sales reasons would not be so popular for me if i had to highlight them.

    When i exchange a link i would prefer it unhighlighted in content than in a links menu as i feel it carries more weight incontent with the correct anchor of course. I suppose i would prefer it incontent highlighted, however, the weight of the incontent with correct anchor is in my mind a great link to have anyway.

    What can people advise with weighted reasons? What evidence is there to prove or disprove any of the methods involved.
    Paul




    GAU - Gambling Afilliates Union


    A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

    Winston Churchill

    Please sign this petition if you live in the UK or are an ex-pat Do not let any more children die for no reason
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  2. pompeyrayuk's Avatar
    pompeyrayuk is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Portsmouth England
    Posts
    951
    Thanks
    143
    Thanked 246 Times in 191 Posts

    If the links are not highlighted then where is the appeal for someone to buy them as the chances of them getting hit are slim are they not. They can be highlighted in a subtle tone of the text colour can they not?
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  3. Chips's Avatar
    Chips is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    October 2007
    Location
    God's Country
    Posts
    3,374
    Thanks
    911
    Thanked 1,075 Times in 807 Posts

    Links should look like links. Contextual links should stand out form generic text. We are in the biz of sales, so, be a salesperson. Text links sell far better than a banner ad, we all know visitors don't bang banners like they used to. I get tons more hits off of text links then any images.

    You can still be subtle with the text links, "visit the promotions page for more info" <--- with aff tag inserted works well for me. Deep linking to a specific page on a site is meat and potatoes. They may want more info but not ready to commit, this gives the visitor the info, along with your aff tag cookied so they will be under you when they sign up, even if not at that second.

    Hidden links are those that are white on white or hidden behind images.
    --
    "If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK. But you've got to shoot for something. A lot of people don't even shoot." - Confucius
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  4. slotplayer is online now Private Member
    Join Date
    September 2006
    Posts
    519
    Thanks
    92
    Thanked 139 Times in 115 Posts

    I would say no.

    before css, link attributes (colors) were set in the body tag
    link, active (alink) visited(vlink)

    such as
    <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000" LINK="#0000FF" ALINK="#0001FF" VLINK="#800080">

    I assume the whole purpose of having those attributes was to distinguish them from regular body text.

    Those have been deprecated in html 4.01 and now we use css.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  5. lots0's Avatar
    lots0 is offline Public Member
    Join Date
    November 2003
    Posts
    363
    Blog Entries
    2
    Thanks
    88
    Thanked 122 Times in 80 Posts

    When google talks about "hidden" links they are talking about links placed just for SEO and that are not visible (at all) to the user.

    Examples of hidden links are, using same color link text on the same color background or making the link so small no one can see it or moving it off the viewable area of the page with CSS.

    These type of hidden links are what google is going to penalize you for.

    Even if you don't highlight or underline a normal html link in the text, the cursor will still show it as a link when you mouseover it, so even though it is not highlighted the user can still tell it is a link.


    After having said all that... Chips is right... a link should look like a link.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  6. vmlinuz's Avatar
    vmlinuz is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    March 2009
    Location
    Transylvania
    Posts
    198
    Thanks
    20
    Thanked 30 Times in 24 Posts

    Lots0 is right, until you don't hide the links with some method, Google won't have a problem with it. Same goes for hidden text.
    I don't think they check this automatically.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  7. penny-slot-machines is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    October 2007
    Location
    London
    Posts
    277
    Thanks
    67
    Thanked 62 Times in 53 Posts

    According to that google article, this type of link isn't quite the same as the examples they give to define 'hidden', but it does fit with their evaluation criteria quoted below:

    "When evaluating your site to see if it includes hidden text or links, look for anything that's not easily viewable by visitors of your site. Are any text or links there solely for search engines rather than visitors?"

    For sure, these links are "not easily viewable to the visitor". The text is easily viewable, but not the link

    Obviously, google can easily detect when a link is the same style and formatting as the text that surrounds it, irrespective of whether basic html or css style-sheets are being used.



    But, the big question is,

    How do google judge these links? There are three possibilities in my eyes:

    i) - USEFUL - Google gives them the same credibility as any other link on the page and pass on the full link-juice

    ii) - OF LIMITED USE or USELESS - Google detects that the link is not easily viewable by visitors and and so attaches little or no weight to it, almost as if it were a nofollow link

    iii) - DANGEROUS - Google sees it as an active way of disguising links from the visitor and decides it may be a purchased link. They then penalises sites that over-use this tactic



    As ever, it's worth considering what google will do in the future, rather than just look at what they have done in the past

    How would you judge these links, if you were google?
    Last edited by penny-slot-machines; 10 July 2009 at 7:16 pm.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  8. penny-slot-machines is offline Private Member
    Join Date
    October 2007
    Location
    London
    Posts
    277
    Thanks
    67
    Thanked 62 Times in 53 Posts

    It would be good to get Gary's perspective on this question

    Gary, did you ever test the value of an intext link that looks identical to the surrounding text it is embedded within?
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

  9. baggsy is offline Public Member
    Join Date
    April 2009
    Posts
    17
    Thanks
    4
    Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post

    Quote Originally Posted by penny-slot-machines View Post
    But, the big question is,

    How do google judge these links? There are three possibilities in my eyes:

    i) - USEFUL - Google gives them the same credibility as any other link on the page and pass on the full link-juice

    ii) - OF LIMITED USE or USELESS - Google detects that the link is not easily viewable by visitors and and so attaches little or no weight to it, almost as if it were a nofollow link

    iii) - DANGEROUS - Google sees it as an active way of disguising links from the visitor and decides it may be a purchased link. They then penalises sites that over-use this tactic

    My money is on ii). They are clever enough to work out that it's not as equally useful for a user as a normal link...
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote  

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts