I just received an email stating "Please remove my website (url of site removed) from your directory immediately. You have listed my site in every category and caused Google to remove my site. Please remove this listing and confirm it's removal or I will have to involve others. This has caused me a lot of problems!" In all actuality I did not have this persons site on every page BUT for a short time the site was listed under "latest links" Now, I have seen threads here and in other forums which indicate that sitewide links are good. People even pay for them. My question is does any of you know anything about the legitimacy of this persons complaint?
he/she might be just a kid playing around... are you shure he/she was the owner of that website you linked to? anyway, even if site wide links would harm a site's listing, it wouldn't do it so fast.. i mean, i guess your "new links" list is updated at least weekly so maybe google didn't even found his/her link there
Site wide links will not hurt a site. Otherwise I could delist my competitors by adding sitewides to thier site on one of my larger sites. Google does appear to be cracking down on those, so they also may not help the site much. Sitewides give the appearance that the link was bought or it was in trade. They should probably only be done for traffic reasons. You probably have the email address from the original directory inclusion request. I would probably only refer corospndance to that address. and ask them if they really want it removed. If so, remove it. But know that you have done no harm to thier site.
Yes the email was from the proper address. Temporarily - until I find out more - I removed the "top ten links" and "Lates links" from the footer. I will just have those on the index page from now on instead of the sitewide footer. I too seriously doubt that Google would ban or remove a site from the listings that quick. The link in question was only added on the 17th and at the rate new links are added couldnt have been there more than a day or two. I am concerned about the issue because I myself have several sitwide links of my own on other websites. Another thing that struck me was that if google was doing something like this I would expect most every webmaster type forum to be abuzz about the issue. I browsed several different forums this morning and could find no mention or discussion at all about the subject. Thanks for your input everyone, I appreciate it
Hey, calm down, kentuckyslone. Every time you read or hear something *hot* and unbelievable - ask yourself just one question: can I do this trick to my competitor to decrease his rankings? If the answer is "yes" - go and say something rude to the person who told you this *news* PS: The world is going crazy with all these SEO tricks, but the thing is that everything is quite simple and you don't have to be afraid of all these possible penalties - you just need to work
Very well put and good advice seoBear Edit-- Just to be square with the webmaster I removed the listing and refunded the listing fee. I tried to explain that it wasnt likely that what had happened with his site had anything to do with my directory. By the way I am calm and relaxed at the ole desk.