Should I link existing articles to each other?

[zep101]

I have quite a few good content articles (not spun) posted on numerous different article sites that all link back to my main site.

Is it a good idea to also link my articles to each other to make kind of a link wheel? I know there is a lot of controversy about link wheels. Is this a bad idea Google or SEO wise? I just thought that maybe I could benefit from all the different article sources that I have.

Any thoughts on this or should I just leave them all the way they are with a one way link to my main site?

Thanks

[lisa]

Overall, links from article sites have been devalued by Google, but if you do link back to your site make sure you vary up the anchor text so you're not using the same keywords. But I think it's better to interlink your content within your site on various relevant pages. I'm assuming you're doing that too.

[Venus Brown]

If all your articles are under similar niche, then interlinking can be a good idea. In nutshell, it should not look spamy to search engines or users. So if you're linking two article with the intention of providing more information on that topic, then I think it won't hurt much.

[lisa]

But I think he is asking more about linking articles from an article site back to his site, not necessarily interlinking two sites, correct, Zep?

[zep101]

The articles all point to my main site, I was just asking about interlinking the outside articles to each other.

[k2zs]

You should consider relevancy then I believe. You wouldn't want to write an article about one subject and then say "oh by the way, check out my article about golden widgets", that would appear totally off base.

If you can link to something relevant that reinforces your article, I would think that it would be OK. But as Lisa said, don't copy and paste the same links around. Structure your link text so that it fits in with your topic and make it unique from each referring article.

[zep101]

I think I will just continue to link my external articles to my main site and not to each other and be on the safe side. Thanks for all the feedback.

[Maxn]

no need to do that

[daveM]

Pat Flynn has successfully used mini sites and article marketing to boost his main niche sites and then linked them in his own way. I did visit one of Pat's main sites yesterday and see that he ranks well and has major website visitor numbers. His approach with articles seems to work, perhaps you can look at his main site to get ideas.
I have not started submitting articles, I am not yet confident about any article marketing aspects and am well aware of the penalties to be incurred from the search engines, so I am studying whatever I can to glean an approach for me.

I did create some mini sites and am working to build content on them with links to my site, that is as bold as I am becoming so far.

[2bealive]

I think I will just continue to link my external articles to my main site and not to each other and be on the safe side. Thanks for all the feedback.

It seems you are referring to articles you posted to article directories. So, if that's the case then it is a good idea to use a 'TEXT' link back to your site in your bio. Most of the directories allow links in bios and a few allow 'TEXT' links in the body of the article. These are classed as good back-links.

Also, it's a good idea to link your posted articles internally. There's a really go WP plugin that can take care of that. The plugin is called RB Internal Links and it's free.

I hope this helps a bit.

RT...

[eurekapsycrille]

What's your purpose of inter-linking your article posts? For link juice? If I am right, you will only get minimal benefits from it since links from article directories have lost their value.

Now, in order to get the full benefit of it, you can just right a very informative content that are worth linking to. In this way, chances are good that Google will recognize your content as a valuable one. No need to be so technical about it.

I've friends in Ezine that are still enjoying the benefit of submitting articles because they only provide what users want. No link wheels, no interlinking, or whatsoever.

[2bealive]

I have quite a few good content articles (not spun) posted on numerous different article sites that all link back to my main site.

Is it a good idea to also link my articles to each other to make kind of a link wheel? I know there is a lot of controversy about link wheels. Is this a bad idea Google or SEO wise? I just thought that maybe I could benefit from all the different article sources that I have.

Any thoughts on this or should I just leave them all the way they are with a one way link to my main site?

Thanks

Here's the general idea of what Google considers 'The New Way'.

You have a 'Dog' blog, or just a site. The main topic, or theme, is about dogs.

A sub-category is 'Buying a dog'.

• Article 1: What breed of dog might be best.
• Article 2: What size dog fits your home
• Article 3: What does a dog eat
• Other related articles.

A sub category 'Training A Dog'.

• Articles about Special skills required
• Article about how to make a dog come on command.
• Article about getting a dog to sit/stay
• Other related articles

You should keep your articles collected under specific categories. Each article creates it's own page and will
also link back to the category of the other articles.

This is coined as 'The Silo' effect. As of late Google gives this process a lot of weight. This will also make it easier for your visitors to understand what you are doing and, so I'm told, stick around your site for a bit longer. There are WordPress plug-ins out there that will handle this method but it's not all that hard to take care of yourself.

The 'Link Wheels' and such have taken a beating from Google. ( Google seems to beat the @#$%^ out of a lot of good ideas lately.)

There are some pretty complex wheels that have evolved and might just add some of the "Special Juice' for Google to lap up at your site. It's my own person opinion but I don't give those wheels that much effort any more.

A last note: Your articles posted in the 'Article Directories' can be linked to another article that relates to the article. ie: An article about training a dog to sit/stay might be linked to another article about training a dog to fetch. However, an article about what a dog eats is not related to the other two so it makes no sense to link them all.

Hope this helps a bit.

RT...

[miche89]

web 2.0 is very effective it terms of link building.

[cgithongo]

Lisa,

Thanks for that information. However, what do mean by saying that links from article sites have been devalued by Google? Does it mean, like if one has several articles from ArticlesBase, EzineArticles.com, and the like, those links do not count as back links to ones site? I had posted quite a few articles to articles directories, so should i delete those articles and possibly post them to my site and do internal linking?

I would also like to know what would be the best way to build quality links and avoid Google penalties. Should i just work on good content, or i could still use guest posts to point back to my site. There is lot of information going on, and that fear of Google penalties. I would like to hear from you, being an expert in this field. Thanks so much.

[James]

"What do mean by saying that links from article sites have been devalued by Google?"

This means just what it says and no more. SEO experts (so called) led people to dump large quantities of poor content into article directories so Google devaluated them. That does not mean they no longer have any value, but it does mean that they count little.

I had posted quite a few articles to articles directories, so should I delete those articles and possibly post them to my site and do internal linking?

You are really looking at two questions. Your articles are not hurting anything being where they are and may do some good. So there is nothing wrong with leaving them there. A point some don't mention is that even if you get a little juice from an article somewhere it may help a site that is new and gets little in the way of links elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you are short on content on your own site that might be a more productive location for a given article. There are a lot of variables there so you have to make a judgment based on your knowledge of your own site.

Should i just work on good content, or i could still use guest posts to point back to my site.

This is not a real question to be concerned about. It is more a matter of when to do either. At this time, and for at least some time into the future no doubt, guest posts are one of the best ways to get productive links to our sites.

Getting a basic amount of solid content on your site always comes first, then you want to have a regular amount of new material being added regularly. But once you can do that you will profit from guest posts. But you have to decide if that is your best choice. Everyone has their own best skills. Some might profit more from YouTube, for example.

There is lot of information going on, and that fear of Google penalties.

In most cases it is important to listen to what Google says themselves, not others, and not to read more into their statements than what they say. Comments often go further and jump to false conclusions.

Google does not penalize for much of anything that is not "black hat." Just ask if you are trying to twist the rules to some advantage such as buying links, link circles, stuffing keywords, etc. Your inner conscience is a great guide to knowing whether something is a bad idea.

If you are trying to offer good content and focus on that in whatever context you will be fine. Then it is just a matter of realizing that some activities are not going to do you as much good as others. And it will change from time to time. Article directories, as long as they were good, were effective. If the spammers (dread the thought) start putting up sham WordPress sites with "guest posts" that are much like article directories are now (stuffed with junk) then guest posts will decline in value.

As long as scammers and spammers exist, Google will have to keep changing their guidelines, but if you focus on good content you will be OK.