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As far as I know, Google isn't case-sensitive so the two queries would be treated as identical.

I see Andy has also suggested removing via webmaster tools. And he was smart enough to remember fetch as google too! Andy, you rock!

well said

Hi Kyle,

I'd be careful. The more your sites look like a link farm the less likely they will list.

If you can't be arsed creating several decent sites, why not just create one excellent one and put all your efforts into that rather than this (dodgy-to-me-sounding) strategy. If you don't mind my saying, I think it's fundamentally flawed and I recommend against it.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

Best wishes,

Amelia

It doesn't seem normal. Have you done a whois lookup on the domain? May be worth contacting the domain owner, because it could all be a horrible mistake on their part.

I don't really know what to suggest you do beyond this though... I'd be interested to know what other people say.

Do they bring traffic? Does that traffic convert?

If yes, then making them nofollow won't actually hurt you very much at all!

It seems counter-intuitive I know, but better to be safe than sorry.

Good luck,

Amelia

Hello Wardy,

If you are really concerned, you should make the links nofollow. However, I think Robert has got this answered for you!

Best of luck,

Amelia

Thank you, yes one page definitely gets more traffic and converts better than the other. I have a third 80% BTL mortgage page, which targets longtail: https://www.commercialtrust.co.uk/btl/landlord-advice/mortgages/80-buy-to-let-mortgages/  - this was written to be an informational article rather than a sales page. It links through to the product page (https://www.commercialtrust.co.uk/btl/product-types/80-buy-to-let-mortgages/) and other, similar product pages (other high LTV mortgage pages - e.g. 85% LTV BTL mortgages - this is the highest LTV the market goes on BTL mortgages at the moment).

I appreciate your answer and input and am grateful to you for putting the time in to answer.

Don't do it. Ruben is right, it's risky and potentially dangerous. Use your budget for good

Hello,

You are better off not getting keyword rich anchors these days. I wouldn't change a thing if I was you. Google isn't happy by this type of link (apparently it's a 'bought' link even though no money has changed hands), so you're better off making sure it looks as natural as possible.

Best wishes,

Amelia

Thank you - I question the logic behind this though... The two pages are not identical, so I don't believe that a canonical tag is appropriate here. I am open to being persuaded otherwise though!

I am appreciative of the time you have taken to answer this question.

Best wishes,

Amelia

Hi,

These appear because of rich snippets. You need a breadcrumb rich snippet - either schema.org or microformats. There is another one but I'm having a brain fart and can't remember it... Hopefully someone else will!

It doesn't work with ssl sites though - once we put our ssl I lost all my lovely rich snippets in the serps! Maybe big G will make a change on that though since they've announced that they will give a slight ranking boost to ssl sites... My fingers are crossed anyway!

Hope this helps,

Amelia

As Mr Roberts says, making the links nofollow should stop you being penalised AND give you the benefit of the traffic.

Thank you for answering this question, it's much appreciated.

I don't know for sure, but it looks like some of those sites you've provided with the crap links on have been hacked. I would try and contact the site owner, because Nick the Geek site doesn't look the same on the homepage as it does on the page you provide. I expect Nick the Geek (and the rest) will probably be only too happy to hear from you given that you are telling them of a problem with their websites.

I guess if I'm wrong and Nick the Geek is also Nick the spammer then you could maybe try the hosting providers?

Best of luck,

Amelia

Hi,

You're right, it's a pig to watch a competitor who has done bad linking constantly out-perform you.

However, as Chris says, you need to balance the risk against the reward - if it doesn't matter to you that at some point (dunno when) your site will get hit by an update then, knock yourself out with links. But, if you want to protect your brand and website then you shouldn't copy your competition by following their lead with spammy links.

Instead build links for traffic. Find out how and where your target audience hangs out online and look at ways your domain/products can be put in front of them (which, to be fair, you've started with the reviews etc). Use analytics to determine how well these referral links convert and refine your strategy from that (keep doing what affects the bottom line and drop what doesn't)

There are loads of online opportunities out there that don't rely on first place listings. Yes, these help (I'm an SEO - of course I'd say strong listings help!!!) but they are not the be-all-and-end-all. Build relationships, get in front of your target customers and target the longtail with blogs, PR and other content. Use social media if it's where your target customers are.

Do what you can to improve your site - this is something you control. (BTW, I haven't seen it, I'm NOT suggesting it's in a bad way or anything). Look at your engagement metrics - time on site, bounce, pages/session - get these to improve and you should find your site starts to pick up. It's amazing what can be done just by improving these metrics.

That's how you succeed, and one day (dunno when!) you'll find that because you have a fantastic website (that converts!) and have built up a strong positive reputation you out perform your competition without needing all those spammy links.

Good luck, and don't give up!

Best wishes,

Amelia

I second TheeDesign - do the change of address in Webmaster tools. Double-check your 301's. Then check them again...

Good luck, it's possible to do without a penalty. I did it earlier in the year, I lost a little traffic in the first month, then gained ever since (except for current - no one wants to visit a mortgage broker's website during Christmas because they have much better things to do, like eating mice pies and sipping mulled wine!!!)

My guess is that these URLs you list have been hacked. I would inform the site owners if you can find their contact details. They can sort it out from there to remove the offending pages. If I owned one of those websites, I would want to investigate the possibility of being hacked.

I would take any SEO 'rules' with a pinch of salt.

Build pages for people first, worry about search engines afterwards. At the end of the day, search engine spiders are never going to buy cat toys off of you, but people will (assuming your example). Make your site easy for people to use, and the conversions will follow. Google is looking more and more at user engagement (check out the latest whiteboard Friday - http://moz.com/blog/the-massive-ranking-factor-too-many-seos-are-ignoring-whiteboard-friday) so look at ways of improving these before worrying about where to put your links - it really doesn't matter overly much.

Good luck,

Amelia

PS - this 'first link rule' sounds like 'old' advice to me, and may have worked well several years ago, but I highly doubt it makes much difference in 2014 (2015 soon!).

Note Ray-pp suggests you use a private directory... Make sure to keep it out of the serps