A short while ago someone abused one of my contact forms and sent me the following message:
"Thank you for the great information. I am always looking for good information on [topic] related topics. I have a similar blog called [blog URL]. We would love it if you added us to your address list, along with our company Web site; [URL]." (NOTE: This request did not come through one of my blogs.)
Believe it or not, there is a Federal statute prohibiting annoying and abusive behavior on the Internet. That statute mandates up to 2 years in prison if you are convicted.
However, that's not all that can happen to silly little link spammers. You see, I happen to be very good at reputation management. That means I can propel 10, 20, 30 Web sites into the top results for all sorts of search expressions. And when you ask me for a link to site X, you tell me exactly who to knock down. If I were to do this to you, I'd take your competitors down, too.
When you ask for links, the only people whom you should seek links from are people who openly invite you to do so. I do not openly invite link requests.
So one of my contact forms now includes a very stern warning, advising clever little link builders that they had better stop and think about the possible consequences of what they are about to do. I've got the experience. I've got the resources. And I'm not the only person who can do this to you and your clients. There are others out there who can do reputation management, too, and they may not all be as nice as me and warn you in advance. There is no reason to harass people for links.
If you don't know how to build links the right way, SEOMoz is a great resource for learning how to buld links. Read the posts and articles we've been putting up for you. You'll find some great ideas here that shouldn't annoy anyone, at least not anyone who can boost 30 domains above yours in search results.
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