I kept reading about the fact that bloggers should be using "no follow" codes when writing review and giveaway posts. Finally, I read HOW to do that. So, I thought that I would share it with you.
say i have a site to be reviewed....I give you free online access to the site.(which could cost you 50$ otherwise)
you go ahead..use the site...and review it...
BUT
Now your mentioning my site and link up to your site has costed me 50$...hence it is a paid link( even though no money has been exchanged...it was just a no membership fee...but as per FTC...it will considered your earnings now)
Ok
So when you do the review...google bot does not want to follow this link...as it is a paid link....as you would not have linked it without that 50$ membership...
hence when you do link up my site
your html code will be
< a href="http://www.theselfloveproject.com" rel="nofollow">The Self Love Project </a>
instead of usual
< a href="http://www.theselfloveproject.com" >The Self Love Project </a>
This way google bot knows...ok...i need not follow that link...
hence you have not linked up someone for money...and its all good!
it could be a toy review.....any freebie you are reviewing...
the freebie is not free any more...it is income.....
if you are reviewing out of goodness of your heart and you have returned the product...and have not benefitted with it in any way...just write a disclaimer at the end and give a follow link...no body would care..
but if you have 'gained' in any way...go 'no follow'
So let me get this straight.. any time I post a review or giveaway I need to make sure the links have the "no follow" attribute to them or else my page rank will go down. Is that correct? Or is it just when its a membership website and I've recv'd a period of time free?
it could be a toy review.....any freebie you are reviewing...
the freebie is not free any more...it is income.....
if you are reviewing out of goodness of your heart and you have returned the product...and have not benefitted with it in any way...just write a disclaimer at the end and give a follow link...no body would care..
but if you have 'gained' in any way...go 'no follow'
This explains a lot to me! I do reviews & giveaways weekly and cannot get a page rank above 0 for anything. I now wonder how long it will take for the rank to change. Should I go back and edit my old links as well?
Honestly, I think that it's a "better safe than sorry" type of thing. I have a Google Page Rank of 4 and would like to preserve or better it going forward. However (unless I'm instructed otherwise), I have no intention of going back through my last 1,000 posts and adding the code.
To me, it's like anything else in life..when we know better, we do better. At least, I hope. Smile.