DETROIT – On July 26, 2021, Google began rolling out its Link Spam update and recently completed it on August 26, 2021. According to this article from Search Engine Journal, the Google Link Spam update is designed to make “its algorithms more effective at identifying and nullifying link spam.” Although the rollout was completed by the end of August, it’s still too soon to tell what the full effect of this latest update will be on websites and online publications.
However, in their blog post about the update, Google cautions that “sites taking part in link spam will see changes in Search,” and “as always, site owners should make sure that they are following best practices on links.” You can find more on Google’s definition of link schemes and linking best practices on their Google Search Central publication.
Basically, Google appears to be cracking down on links in sponsored, guest and affiliate website and blog content. So, what does this mean for your online content, your existing outgoing and incoming links and what to do moving forward? Keep reading to uncover how to ensure your website isn’t adversely impacted.
Follow Google Link Tag Best Practices
It’s clear that Google wants site owners to follow its guidelines on how to handle links within content where there’s a beneficial exchange. For this type of linking within online content, Google requires you to add tags to links when any type of value is exchanged. The Link Spam update is focused particularly on links from sponsored and guest content, and affiliate links.
Google recommends you do the following for each type of link:
- Links from sponsored content
Google requires paid links – links that typically appear in advertisements or as paid placements, to be tagged with the rel=”sponsored” value.
- Links from guest posts and other guest content
As far as guest posts are concerned, Google requires links from those to be marked up with the rel+”nofollow” value.
- Affiliate links
If your business website or blog site participates in affiliate programs or publishes content that contains affiliate links, Google requires you tag these with the rel=”sponsored” value. Pay particular attention to your affiliate links because you must qualify them with the tag regardless of whether they were created manually or dynamically.
Bottom line, if you use links correctly in your content and follow Google best practices, your site should be fine. If you have historically relied on link schemes and link spam techniques, or you’ve forgotten to qualify your affiliate links and links from spons
ored and guest content, now is the time to go back and tag your links or have your SEO or SEO agency mark up those links correctly.
Author Bio: Ray Ko is the Senior Ecommerce Manager at ShopPOPDisplays, located in New Jersey, shopPOPdisplays is a leading retail displays manufacturer of point-of-purchase displays. Combining over 20 years of experience in branding, content, search engine marketing, Ray is an expert in formulating and implementing e-commerce strategies to drive site traffic, improve user engagement, and increase revenue.
