For the last few months, I’ve recommended the “Build My Rank” service in a number of posts. This is a tool I’ve used to increase search engine rankings to many of my niche sites.
Unfortunately, Build My Rank (BMR) has shut its doors because most of the sites in their blog network have been de-indexed by Google.
You can read about the details on this blog post.
In a weird way, I was kind of expecting this to happen. In the last week, a few of my sites have been “Sandboxed.” On two of them, the only thing I did was write a few BMR posts. So I (had) have a suspicious feeling that Google is penalizing any site that’s connected to this service.
I do like the fact that John (the owner of BMR) is doing the right thing. He told the truth and immediately closed down the site. Plus he provides a quick tutorial to help customers prevent any sort of site penality. For instance, he links to a post where you can remove backlinks to a specific site.
Anyway…
I want to apologize to anyone who subscribed to Build My Rank because of my recommendation. For awhile it was the best tool I’ve ever used for SEO. But I guess I was wrong. So again…sorry.
At this point, I’m looking into a number of alternative SEO tools. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll “recommend” anything for awhile. That’s because I want to be 100% certain a tool will help before giving it my stamp of approval.
Finally, I recommend taking action if you’re a current Build My Rank customer. Start by reading this blog post. Then you should think about deleting the links that point back to your important domains. Finally, unsubscribe from their service and get a pro-rated refund on the remainder on the money that’s owed to you.
I’ll keep you posted when I learn more details myself…
Take Action. Get Results.
Google did mention recently they “turned off” a back linking procedure. Maybe too many agressive or schema type back linking procedures being used, as this may have been a consequence of that. Apparently more algo changes are coming. Sadly from the many articles I have read about mass or networked backing linking intiatives are from those that know best – Internet Marketers and those aspiring to be.
Hey Steve,
Link Schemes, especially those that are consumer based tools, rarely work over the long haul. Over the years, I have watched link network after link network fall apart and get deindexed.
The thing is…these types of networks aren’t infallible and can’t really hide their intentions no matter how “secret” they claim they are with withholding information; If you want to discover a link network, you simply follow the links. 😉
This is why I have never understood why folks are willing to pay money for this. It simply doesn’t last.
I have long stated that google has been working on stuff “panda” that gets them, the most bang for the effort, and it was only a question of time before Link Networks got to the top of the list. I have been decimated by these thin sites ranking through networks. Thankfully I did not knee jerk back in October and join the crowd, now I’m seeing my sites return to where they were.
Yep.. I heard about this earlier today.
Just read the BMR post via your link. Wow talk about an ethical guy! Even paying affiliates if they haven’t reach $100. threshold.
dee
Hey Steve,
I’m sorry to hear about them closing down. It seemed like a really good service. I didn’t have much time to test it, due to writing the novel. I’m looking forward to see what you’ll be up to next and if you’ll use another service to help build links.
Seemed like only a matter of time to be honest.
These type of networks, although valuable to its users, don’t have a lot of value to the web at large since so many people use them for backlinks and don’t bother so much on the content.
Once Google gets wind – they can just link the network together and take things down in one fell swoop.
I would think, as an alternative, that creating your own network could have its own benefits. Setup different servers under different names (maybe use friends) and create niche websites that create a network of your own. However, treat them like authority websites and strive to make legit sites that happen to be on different servers and web hosting companies? A $100 investment for 10 x $10 hosting can go a long way, ya know?
Anyway, thanks for the update man – should be interesting to see how some strategies change.
Oh no!
Thanks for sharing the news. I was about to use BMR for my niche sites after Unique Article Wizard. This is sad news because I really wanted to try out this software. Do you have any other tips for backlink building?
I’m using Link Authority now for which you can ready a mini case study on my blog.
Thanks for your honesty Steve.
Steve
brother that happens sometimes but the most important thing is you see the faults with build my rank, and you learn from your mistake
Ouch! BMR offered an excellent service and I really hate to see the good guys in the IM arena take a huge hit to their business. I wish BMR and everyone who may be affected by this event a speedy recovery.
I was expecting this post from you.
When I read the news about BMR two names came immediately to my mind. Steve Scott and Joseph Archibald.
I’m sorry BMR had to shut down. I agree with you they’ve been very honest telling the truth and helping the people who trusted them.
I’m sure that new tools will be developed soon. That’s the game.
Sad to hear the news… I don’t want to offended anybody but this only prove that
white hat strategy is still the best to implement.
Hope everything went well soon..
Hey Steve,
I’m really sorry to hear about this unfortunate news.
I just read a blog post about BMR closing from another site.
It’s very kind of you to apologize to those who took your word on using BMR.
Best Regards,
Spatch Merlin
More Web Site Traffic Guide
I never use BMR. I see that the new google algos are really disrupting a lot of sites. A quess “spammy” stuff is really frowned upon.
Thanks
sean
Yeah that was a waste of a month. I ended up with 2 sites sandboxed as well. Maybe they will be penalizing some other networks as well.
Steve, Before now i have had some of my niche sites traffic and serp results move from page 1 to no where . I had stopped using the service after this .i guess its really hard to beat the God called google.
Paid linking services from websites like BMR shouldn’t be used by webmasters as they link building services use a particular method of link building and if Google finds out that there are some issues with link building then its sure going to penalize the sites which uses the services.
I wonder if this is a result of the recent Google initiative to punish sites over-optimized for SEO? If that is the case then surely BuildMyRank is just the tip of the iceberg – other link building sites can’t be far behind.
Wow, that stinks, BMR seemed to be a pretty good service IMO because they human reviewed each submitted article. I had a couple that were not accepted because of poor quality.
So, with blog networks going south, whats the best way to get contextual links moving forward post-panda? I thought about doing guest posts on other blogs but I have not had any success with that. Everytime I request permission to write a guest post I never get a response, so how am I to get contextual backlinks now?
Steve,
Don’t worry bud, nothing is your fault. I too fell for the BMR pitch. It really did look like a great service and for the most part I think it was.
The funny thing is, no matter what happens I always keep going back to my roots of the good ole days of 1995. And, that is building links the hard way. Asking for a link from relevant websites which do not care about seo and SE’s seem to trust. It’s hard and takes a while to build the links, but in the end I see stability and rankings which do not seem to get lost over night.
Plus, building links this way brings me traffic I do not have to worry about any engine shutting down. If a links gets taking down I just build more.
You blog is one I recommend to all my readers because you are ethical and I like the way you think.
Hey Steve,
I’ve heard a lot of sites losing their PR (obviously) who were using BMR, have you seen your sites affected by this?
I have seen my own marketing blog affected and I built all my backlinks organically and manually!
Sergio
Sergio,
I have seen some affected. Some sites (that I probably relied too heavily on BMR) were hit badly. Others seemed to get minor bumps. While a few saw no real change in traffic at all. the ones that got hit though, were noticable.
This site for instance really didn’t lose any traffic. But I -barely- did any links to this one.
The only thing I can think that would affect your blog if your -didn’t- use BMR (or any link network) is that you were getting a lot of your links from people who were and they got hit badly. Otherwise may be a fluke.
The purpose behind back-linking for me was to create a network of sites that all shared the same goal, in helping each other grow and to promote relevant content to the viewers.
Looking at the internet and the way things have evolved one has seen that sites selling back-links have become more common and thus creating sites that are stale and not so relevant being sold off.I think building back-links organically, while time consuming does have its benefits.
Again this is just my opinion.