We have all used it at one time or another. Whether in our professional, educational, or domestic lives, reverse psychology is an effective means of getting what you want from stubborn sources. As google, yahoo, bing, ask and the other search engines continue to change the game, I have found success in using this technique.
Don’t Follow Me
It has been a long standing rule that if you want to increase your site’s reputation you should have links back from more reputable sites and apply a ‘follow’ to it. Lately, especially since the release of hummingbird, we have found that this rule, while it still applies, is more effective if completed a different way. By not adding the ‘follow’ we are seeing a better boost than adding the ‘follow.’
Other similar rules as the ‘follow’ rule seem to work similarly now. As they continue to work the old fashioned way of applying the tag and asking for reputation accordingly, it seems that not asking for them boosts it even more.
Why Does This Work?
The answer is the next logical step when you think about it. So many people out there are trying to manipulate the search engines, that they have finally decided to pay attention. If you don’t ask for a boost, the search engines assume that your links are legitimate, and therefore want to reward you for it. They want you to do it for the users, not for the sake of organic position.
Give it a shot and tell us how well this move works for you.
