4 ms·

Hypothetical question: if we ("we" being nebulous) were to unveil that every other major lyrics site (azlyrics, metrolyrics, stlyrics, lyricsfreak, lyrics365, e

by jmduke 13y ago

Hypothetical question: if we ("we" being nebulous) were to unveil that every other major lyrics site (azlyrics, metrolyrics, stlyrics, lyricsfreak, lyrics365, etc. etc.) uses the same SEO tactics, would they receive the same attention and punishment?

cycrutchfield 13y ago
Yes, but those sites have more sense than to trumpet their affiliate link scams on Twitter
zwily 13y ago
I think everyone pretty much already assumes that all the other lyrics sites are as shady on their SEO as they are prolific in their on-page advertising. RapGenius was kinda held to a higher bar.
captainmuon 13y ago
Someone should just do blackhat SEO for a bunch of those sites, and then Google would have to punish them too (because who could proove that they didn't do it themselves?) Or taking it one step further, use these tactics to promote a controversial institution or politician (without them knowing). Then "leak" it to Google, so they get punished. Then claim Google is censoring them. Finally enjoy the outrage :-)
- poopsintub 13y ago
  Domain and page authority weigh in on how much you can get away with link tactics imo. Sites that have been around for a few more years would likely withstand any blackhat tactics a third-party would shoot at them.
- adrr 13y ago
  Google webmaster tools lets you disregard back links which removes any benefit or penalty of the links. So if someone added your site to a known link farm, you can disregard those back links from affecting your ranking.
loupeabody 13y ago
I tend to feel like they wouldn't. Maybe RapGenuis's more refined image and branding yields a harsher judgment in this case as they probably perform well in many other aspects of SEO. The link selling, not the meta data of their pages, was what caused this. It's likely that these other lyric sites do these sorts of arrangements in a less public way, whereas RapGenuis was using Twitter, of all places, to sell links.
JohnTHaller 13y ago
The punishment is about the same for all websites that engage in blackhat SEO. At least, once they clean up their acts. Until they clean up their acts, the punishment remains in effect. This can be difficult when you pay for nebulous backlinks from spam sites in a network, for instance, as played out with the Anglo Links takedown Google did last month: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2319130/Did-Anglo-Rank-Link-Network-Get-Websites-Penalized-by-Google-Short-Answer-YES http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2319130/Did-Anglo-Rank-... Mind you, this is not the exact behavior RapGenius engaged in. They paid for backlinks, but they paid legitimate sites directly for links in blog posts. Either way, though, it's still blackhat. It's a really interesting world if you feel like reading up on it at some point. I've always done basic SEO (read: real, legitimate, basic stuff that I'd never even advertise as 'whitehat SEO' since that nearly always means 'blackhat' but we'll pretend it isn't) for my personal sites and client sites over the years. But you're going up against these 'players' who routinely setup networks of spam link sites, backlink payment networks, etc. Granted, most of those are pump and dump. They build them up, make their money, get penalized, then burn it to the ground and move on to another domain. Still, it can be disheartening. And it may tempt some people to take the blackhat approach. But, one look at the penalties should be enough to change their minds.

by jmduke 13y ago

cycrutchfield 13y ago

Yes, but those sites have more sense than to trumpet their affiliate link scams on Twitter

zwily 13y ago

I think everyone pretty much already assumes that all the other lyrics sites are as shady on their SEO as they are prolific in their on-page advertising. RapGenius was kinda held to a higher bar.

captainmuon 13y ago

Someone should just do blackhat SEO for a bunch of those sites, and then Google would have to punish them too (because who could proove that they didn't do it themselves?) Or taking it one step further, use these tactics to promote a controversial institution or politician (without them knowing). Then "leak" it to Google, so they get punished. Then claim Google is censoring them. Finally enjoy the outrage :-)

poopsintub 13y ago
Domain and page authority weigh in on how much you can get away with link tactics imo. Sites that have been around for a few more years would likely withstand any blackhat tactics a third-party would shoot at them.
adrr 13y ago
Google webmaster tools lets you disregard back links which removes any benefit or penalty of the links. So if someone added your site to a known link farm, you can disregard those back links from affecting your ranking.

loupeabody 13y ago

I tend to feel like they wouldn't. Maybe RapGenuis's more refined image and branding yields a harsher judgment in this case as they probably perform well in many other aspects of SEO. The link selling, not the meta data of their pages, was what caused this. It's likely that these other lyric sites do these sorts of arrangements in a less public way, whereas RapGenuis was using Twitter, of all places, to sell links.

JohnTHaller 13y ago

The punishment is about the same for all websites that engage in blackhat SEO. At least, once they clean up their acts. Until they clean up their acts, the punishment remains in effect. This can be difficult when you pay for nebulous backlinks from spam sites in a network, for instance, as played out with the Anglo Links takedown Google did last month: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2319130/Did-Anglo-Rank-Link-Network-Get-Websites-Penalized-by-Google-Short-Answer-YES http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2319130/Did-Anglo-Rank-... Mind you, this is not the exact behavior RapGenius engaged in. They paid for backlinks, but they paid legitimate sites directly for links in blog posts. Either way, though, it's still blackhat. It's a really interesting world if you feel like reading up on it at some point. I've always done basic SEO (read: real, legitimate, basic stuff that I'd never even advertise as 'whitehat SEO' since that nearly always means 'blackhat' but we'll pretend it isn't) for my personal sites and client sites over the years. But you're going up against these 'players' who routinely setup networks of spam link sites, backlink payment networks, etc. Granted, most of those are pump and dump. They build them up, make their money, get penalized, then burn it to the ground and move on to another domain. Still, it can be disheartening. And it may tempt some people to take the blackhat approach. But, one look at the penalties should be enough to change their minds.