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It’s not just that the cryptocurrency market in metaverse games is overhyped. It’s the extent of it, and the way that marketers are able to game Google Search results for their own ends.
In a recent study by Screaming Frog, “crypto link building” was found to be responsible for 46% of all backlinks to crypto sites, followed by content marketing at 44%. The list of what comes in third place will probably depress and horrify a lot of people: social media marketing with 14% of all links. So, while other methods might work in theory (such as outreach), they’re not practical in comparison.
1. Most of the links are already compromised
I’d say that a large proportion of the links to crypto sites are already compromised. I can’t prove it, but this is my guess as to why so many projects have such terrible backlinks.
As Jeff Morris from iReactor rightly points out on his blog , Google does a great job of making sure that all the links pointing to your site are real, relevant and not spammy. There’s only one problem: this means that “one way” links are a minority. The reality is that most backlinks will be earned by exchanging money for them.
2. SEOs Can’t control where they get their links anyway
This is a good point. The problem with this situation is that there are many, many providers of these services. In other words, the chances of getting legitimate links is slim to none.
3. Mostly, Are Backlinks an Effective Method?
Usually, yes! This is the reason why people keep going for the backlinks: because it’s generally effective. The only problem with this system is that Google seems to be getting better at sniffing out the links and penalizing sites based on them (for reasons unknown). Find our site list here.
4. Do These Links Create a Positive User Experience for the Visitor?
I do not believe in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) as it is currently practiced. SEO is an outdated method that seems to no longer be fitting into the world we live in. SEO is about making the site look nice and clean to Google, so that it appears high up on the search results page. That’s all fine and good, but that should be at our discretion. The fact that we have to put effort in just so Google will rank our site higher means that we’re putting more effort into something that won’t result in a lot of success anyway. In short: SEO doesn’t work for me.
5. Does Spammy Link Building Work?
In this case, it does. It’s a kind of “social engineering” that has been going on for a long time. The same can be said about any shady practices, really. When you exploit the system, you get results. That’s not the way that I’d like things to go, but it is what it is.
6. Is Crypto Link Building Detectable?
No! The fact of the matter is that creating a structure from Google data which could be used to identify any links specifically related to crypto sites would be nearly impossible .
7. Does This Make Crypto Link Building Wrong?
No, it doesn’t. The fact that a lot of people are doing something wrong does not make them wrong. The same could be said about most of the things that people do. However, there’s a very fine line between “wrong” and “unethical”.
8. What Should We Do About Crypto Link Building?
That’s the problem: we can’t do anything about it. We can’t because the majority of these tactics are legal. In other words, the problem is not that these strategies are bad; we simply don’t have control over them. The only way to get rid of this problem is by getting rid of crypto, or at least regulating it more than we have in the past (the same could be said about any technology). However, I do believe that there’s a way to go about this without taking away too much freedom from people for seo backlinks.
9. Should Crypto Sites Be Penalized Because of Link Spam?
No, I do not think that should be the case. After all, most crypto sites did nothing wrong. That said, there are some crypto sites which were involved in spammy tactics in the past, and those should be penalized for it. In addition, those who were involved in these tactics but didn’t benefit from them shouldn’t be penalized either (same goes for the innocent). Just to make sure I’m being clear: those who did use spammy practices should see a penalty applied to their sites.
10. What if the Sites Will Never be Penalized?
That’s perfectly fine. In just a few years, the crypto industry for blockchain has become big enough to make it difficult for some greedy companies to earn a lot of money without being penalized.
11. What Can We Do About It?
I’d go so far as to say that we shouldn’t do anything about it at all. I’d say that the majority of people involved in this tactic have no intention of stopping. However, I could also be wrong: there might be some people who are young and gullible enough to believe that they’ll get away with it (they won’t). That said, crypto sites should never get involved in these practices (because they shouldn’t).
