Nowadays, the monetization of websites and blogs is possible in numerous ways. Some of these techniques commence with the development of outbound links that may violate Google’s quality standards, if overused or due to improper annotation. In this article, we discuss Google’s official post on how to deal with links that may be commercial and how Google continues to strive towards reducing the effect of spam on the results.

Let’s first discuss the best practice as stated by Google.

Links guide Google into understanding the right content that answers the search query and can be useful in ranking sites. A good practice is to avoid linking techniques that violate Link Guidelines. In particular, if you link to other sites, ensure that those links are qualified. These are some specific guidelines for helping site owners to manage links involving payment, sponsorship or other commercial activities.

What are affiliate links?

Affiliate links are a prominent way to monetize traffic, they work exceptionally well on sites that deal with posting reviews for products or handing out some helpful shopping recommendations. To simplify it, these work well when answering direct user queries. Using affiliate links to drive in more revenue and monetize a website is widely accepted. It is recommended for the affiliate sites to classify these connections with rel=” sponsored,” irrespective of whether these links were generated manually or dynamically.

To further increase the classification for product-related searches and better reward high-quality content, Google also takes manual action to prevent nonsensical links from affecting the search. If the site is found to fail in qualifying affiliate links appropriately then expect some algorithmic actions. Both human and algorithmic activities may influence how the site is perceived in search thus it is preferable to steer clear from any actions by Google when feasible.

Next up, Sponsored and Guest Posts! What does the search engine brief us about the guest and sponsored posts?

Another popular method to monetize websites is by accepting sponsored and guest articles from other websites. These are the articles authored by or on behalf of one website and published on another. In the past, it was noted that low-quality ads were prevalent that were intended only to gain links.

While the process of identifying detection and annulment of such link systems has greatly improved, website owners should add the appropriate rel values to such connections. Sites that publish or acquire links to excessively patronised and guest blogging without appropriate link tags are subjected to algorithmic and human actions.

So, how has the whole system improved to fight faulty and spam links?

Over the last two decades, the efficiency of link spam was significantly decreased, due to continuous advancements in Google’s ranking and spam detection algorithms. Thanks to the vast majority of websites following the defined standards, concentrating on creating websites with excellent user experience and high-quality content. However, this doesn’t deter the fact that some sites are still deliberately creating spam connections to manipulate rankings, often in a disappointing manner.

To combat this trouble Google introduced new link spam, termed as “link spam update”. This is to improve the quality of search results and enhance the efficacy of search results. This algorithm upgrade is even successful when detecting and cancelling spam across various languages. Sites detected with link spam will notice Search adjustments when Google’s new algorithm re-evaluates the links.

The site owners must follow best practices on inbound and outbound link building. Compared to the manipulation of links, the focus must always be on creating high-quality content and enhancing the user experience. The idea is to enhance website ranking with proper links and monetizing correctly with the right affiliate links.

As a business owner, you are sure to benefit from a ranking website. To rank a website, you must ensure that the links are built to adhere to Google’s guidelines. We, at New Vision Digital, bring you tailored solutions to meet your digital needs and budget. We are passionate about keeping you one step ahead of the competition through continual innovation.