Online Publisher networks (Splash Press) Question

[Bondara]

Hi,

If you can get into a network as a writer it's great because you can expose your brand on high auth websites without the hassle of having to build a relationship with each site - once your in, your into all the websites on the network.

So question is, isn't this going to be bad for SEO, I assume all the websites are on the same server and I have seen some where they interlink in the network. Apart from that though they look really great, good fresh content, high DA/PA, lots of social activity etc.

A couple I have come across are:

Splash Press & Alloy Digital (If you know of any more please post them up).

[TomRayner]

If the content is syndicated throughout the network, then this could become a problem.  It would effectively make it a hub for duplicate content.

However, if each website is kept unique and on their own subject, providing unique and quality content, then it should be OK.  There could be an issue with the sites interlinking with dofollow links, but this may be overlooked.

However, as you have rightly pointed out, you would not necessarily get the "C-Block" diversity by writing across the network and if all the sites sat on the same server/IP address, if just one site was penalised manually by Google, you could expect the rest to follow like dominoes.

I'd reiterate something I and others have said before, though, in saying that you shouldn't be blogging for SEO - you should be blogging to reach an audience.  If these networks help you achieve just that and on a big scale, then you should definitely go for it.  If you have concerns about the SEO, which is a bit debatable I think, then make the links to your site in your posts nofollow, link to your social networks instead, or don't put any in at all if your confident that users will be able to find you by other means.

Hope this helps.

[Bondara]

Thanks for the reply,

It's not syndicated content, basically a hub company runs a network of websites, some have 100's of sites under them. The network also has in-house copywriters to fuel the websites but also allow for out-house copy writers to add content as well. Each out-house copywriter goes through a review process of past work, if there copywriting skills are good then gain access to the whole network or a sub-section they specialise in.

I'm guessing the network has a few dedicated servers and at least a batch sit on the same C-Block.

I understand what your saying about aiming for exposure instead of SEO benefit but I believe there are only a few blogs which will generate a better return SEO wise from the exposure then the link itself (in each niche).

Side Question: How you finding the betting industry Tom? You got restrictions going on from Google because of your industry? How do you find the difficulty of gaining links?

Cheers

[TomRayner]

Well, while we're technically classified as "betting" by UK law, we're very much seen as a financial service provider by the public - and if Google's LSI and word association is anything to go by, we're nearer to trading than we are betting - so we've been able to avoid some of the pitfalls that some betting/gambling companies have when outreaching, for example.