Do You Link To Pay-Per-Lead Sites on Your Website?

TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, guys. Today, we’re going to discuss something that a lot of painting contractors do and they don’t even realize that they do it. Many painting contractors use what I like to call pay per lead sites to help them bring more qualified leads to their company. Not a bad thing. Perhaps you’re one of them, but what you don’t realize is that these sites are actually working against you when it comes to search engine optimization. In a moment, I’m going to show you how.

This is what we’re going to learn from this video, a couple of things about SEOs. First, what is a backlink? What is link juice? What are the three types of backlinks and why do pay-per-lead sites rank so well in the search engines? All right, so let’s get started.

What is a backlink? A backlink, as Google calls it, is an incoming hyperlink from one webpage to another website. I like to call it a vote of competence from one site to another, which is important in search engine optimization. Now, backlinks are essential to helping your website rank well along with other factors. Always keep in mind that it’s not just one thing that is going to make your site rank. There is a lot of factors involved, including copy and alt tags and links and et cetera. Just keep that in mind. Today, we’re just going to discuss backlinks and how they work against you when it comes to these pay-per-lead sites.

What is link juice? Not all backlinks are the same. Each link has a different strength, depending on where it comes from and the strength of the website that it comes from. Link juice, also known as link equity, is a value and authority that is passed on to the website that it’s pointing to. Think of being back in high school and the coolest kid in class says he likes you. Well, that carries a lot of confidence. Well, in SEO terms, the stronger the website that that link comes from, the stronger the link juice.

Now, there are three types of backlinks. Each type offers a different amount of link juice, or strength, that points to the site that it is directed to. First type is a reciprocal backlink. A reciprocal backlink is when both websites link to each other. I link to you, you link to me. In this case, the link juice is split right in half. 50% goes to each site. Now, the second type is a one-way backlink. A one-way backlink is when a website links to you, but you don’t link back to them. In this case, 100% of the link juice goes to your website. Now, the third is supposed to be an extremely rare backlink. That’s when you have a one-way homepage backlink. That’s when your website links from your homepage to another website, but they don’t link back to you.

Now, I’ve been using 100% link juice as our metric for backlinks. But in this case, 150% of the link juice goes to their website. This type of link literally says to the spiders indexing your site, “I don’t care if you index my site. Go look at these guys.” This is why it’s supposed to be an extremely rare backlink because of the strength that it carries. So then, why do these pay-per-lead sites rank so well in the search engines? Well, it’s simply because they’re telling you that you must have a link on your homepage because people need to see all the wonderful reviews that people are leaving you on their website, or that all the rest of the people that are on their website. But simply what you’re doing is you’re giving them one of the rarest backlinks available.

When you combine that with all the other contractors that have been tricked into doing this, believe me, you would be amazed at how many contractors of all kinds are actually being conned into the same thing. No matter what service you Google, these sites command the first page.

Now, I know what you’re saying. But aren’t reviews good? Absolutely. But the last thing you want to do is have a user that is already on your website leave. I like to call this squirrel syndrome. The user leaves and notices something else and never comes back. And guess what? You just lost a potential sale. If they’re already on your site, you should give them no reason or opportunity to leave. Chances are, they have already done the research or they’ll do it later. Never lose a sale by giving the user an opportunity to leave without contacting you.

Personally, I believe that reviews on your website are a great way to close a deal. People do like to see that people talk about you in a positive light, so I totally agree with it. But again, you should use something like a widget that will post your reviews on your website but won’t allow the user to leave. This way, if the people want to see what they’re saying about you, they can see it right there on the site and you won’t run into a case of squirrel syndrome.

Now, I do understand that a lot of companies spend good money with these sites and they want people to know that they’re best of the best or they can go there and look at the reviews, and that’s fine. But if you’re going to do it, the best way of doing that is to post their logo but don’t link back to them. Let the user go on their own time and see for themselves what people are saying about you if that’s what they want to do, because remember, if a user jumps on to say home advisor from your website and they find a better offer from another company, you lose. You don’t want to run the risk of another company offering them a better deal. They’re already on your site. What’s a conversion? A conversion is when they call you or they fill out the form. If they don’t do that and they leave, you run the absolute risk of them finding a better chance with someone else. So don’t let that happen to you.

Now, there’s so much more that needs to be considered to see if your website is performing at its optimum best online. As I like to say, your website should work for you, not the other way around. If you’re wondering how well your website ranks in Google and you’d like the APPC digital team to do a digital diagnostic on your website to help you understand what’s good and what needs work to rank and/or convert better, reach out to us at OnlineLeads@PaintersAcademy.com or give us a call at (423)541-2323 and ask to speak to me, John, about having one scheduled today. Remember this guys. With over 90% of all searches being done online these days, it is the utmost important to get found online. Give us a call, let us help you see where you rank, and we can talk from there. Thanks.