LinksHog (Nate Figueroa) Thinks I’m a Plastic Surgeon

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A company who’s domain is linkshog.com

has been spamming my clients. Here’s why I call it spam versus just unsolicited email (I’m not averse to well done unsolicited email).

They clearly have no human review
The search phrases they call out are inappropriate
In a few instances they’ve been wrong (telling one of my “New Orleans Chiropractors” that he was in position 18 instead of position 4)
They’re offering inclusion in some sort of link-network (clearly not good SEO)

For instance, I got an email because Search Influence ranks on page 2 of Google for “New Orleans Plastic Surgery”

I wouldn’t be so quick to call them out, but this is at least the 5th copy of this email I remember having seen from different clients. In 3 of the 5 instances they were highlighting inappropriate search phrases and in another misrepresenting the position.

And I’ve seen a dozen others with text similar enough to make me think they’re using different company names for the same offer.
Hey Links Hog, please spend the extra $0.50 per contact and make sure you’re spamming the right target.

If you get a call from these guys please feel free to give us a call at (504) 208-3900 and we’ll be happy to tell you why this is not a good idea.
Message Follows:

Subject: I visited your website and had a question

Body: I was looking at websites under the keyword New Orleans Plastic Surgery and came across your website http://www.searchinfluence.com. I see that you’re not ranked on the first page of Google for a New Orleans Plastic Surgery search.

I’m not sure if you’re aware of why you’re ranked this low but more importantly how easily correctable this is.

There’s no reason you can’t have a top three ranking for the keyword New Orleans Plastic Surgery based on your site structure and content. You have a very nice site.

You need significantly more one way anchor text backlinks. If you’re interested I can help you with this…

I’m talking about getting you ranked for ALL your keywords. Adding new backlinks on a steady and consistent basis from high PR quality websites is what produces the rankings you are looking for http://www.searchinfluence.com .

The right kind of links are very critical in getting top ranking….and I can hand deliver these quality links to you.

My partners and I own 1000’s websites and offer private linking to hundreds of website owners just like yourself.

I didn’t send this email out to very many people but I am currently reaching out to a list of your “keyword competitors” as well. But I do favor your website because I can see your website monetizing the targeted website traffic the keyword New Orleans Plastic Surgery can deliver.

I have your contact information and phone number. Is it ok if I give you a call?

I have a very simple way to prove that what I do works and it’s risk free for you to try. Nothing beats seeing the results with your own eyes

Is it ok if I give you a call? I would love to pursue this further over the phone with you or should I go somewhere else?

Sincerely,

Nate Figueroa
(480) 445-9297
www.linkshog.com

P.S – If the tables were turned and somebody I didn’t know came to me with a proposition, even one that was appealing, I would be hesitant because I would be wondering – what’s the catch? What does this guy know that I don’t.

But then I would think he does know something that I don’t know. He does have thousands of high PR websites, he does have hundreds of thousands of pages indexed and ranking in Google Yahoo and MSN. Sites that can deliver the quality anchor text backlinks. I would also think that I need to get my website in the top rankings. And he is offering to turn key top rankings for me…on all my keywords including New Orleans Plastic Surgery. Even keywords I’m not currently competing for. Keywords that produce traffic that’s potentially worth tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars.

I emailed you because It’s a win -win for both of us. Think of it this way – Who wouldn’t be interested in buying money at a discount? Because that’s what I’ll be able to do offer you…Money at a discount.

Is it Ok to give you a call? Or you can can call me anytime at the number above?

Comments

May 12, 2008

Local Hound

The shame is that they probably get a lot of response from that email. Business owners are so hungry for information that they might respond to this sort of stuff…

Gotta run… my packages for otc pharmaceuticals and deeper pleasure just arrived.

Reply
May 27, 2008

Tom

I just got the same email from linkshog.

Reply
June 3, 2008

Freddy

I just got this email too…thanks for writing about it.

Reply
June 10, 2008

Will Scott
The following is in response to an email inquiry relative to this post and LinksHog.

On Jun 10, 2008, at 1:45 PM, XXXXX wrote:

That’s fine, I would appreciate the omition of my name and contact info. It might also be a benefit to post the comments you emailed me, I was looking around all over the net for more info on linkshog, there just isn’t much out there. They say they have 10,000+ sites, but I can’t find a listing of what sites they have, and their home page doesn’t even have a pageranking, which I know is not the most important thing in the world, but you would think someone making these offers would at least have a decent page ranking on their home page!

—– Original Message —–
From: William W Scott
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 11:47 AM
Subject: Re: Linkshog

Hi XXXX,

I have 3 main issues with the approach:

Unsolicited email is often completely legit. If however they’re going to call out search phrases and ranking, they should at least be right (I’m not a plastic surgeon and one of my other clients was identified as on page 2 when in fact he’s in position 2).

Link networks are inherently bad and can have a negative impact on your ranking. http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/tell-me-about-your-backlinks/
I’ve seen the same email at least 5 times in as many industries and it seems it’s being sent indiscriminately.

Links are definitely important but all the experts agree they need to be diverse in origin and are improved by the authority of the source… and they’re only one factor.

It may work, but I think the same energy invested in good SEO and link-building that you then own will be of much greater value.

Finally, and this is a problem I have with many such services, one size doesn’t fit all. My experience indicates each client is unique.

I hope that helps clarify my point of view. If you don’t mind I’m going to post this as a comment to the post for everyone’s benefit (omitting your name and contact info of course).

All the best,
Will

On Jun 10, 2008, at 12:41 PM, XXXXX wrote:

Hi, I read your blog article that mentioned Linkshog being a bad idea. I was contacted last week by this group, offering a 30 day trial, and am looking for additional information on them. I’m curious as to why Linkshog is a bad idea, any information you could offer is greatly appreciated.
Reply
June 26, 2008

Nate Figuera

Thanks for your feedback

Reply
July 4, 2008

Yelp Makes Small Businesses Scream | Website Promotion is not Voodoo

[…] don’t fall for a slick sales pitch from the likes of SEOMatrix, Yodle (formerly Natpal), or LinksHog (or one of their hundred other […]

Reply
July 14, 2008

Quinton Figueroa & Marvin Jones Jr. Esq

linkshog is the same thing as DBD Results (www.dbdresults.com) both listed as marvquin.com companies, go to their brands page at marvquin.com/brands. listed are the following individuals as the owners and board of directors:

Marvin Jones Jr., Esq.
Executive Vice President,

Quinton Figueroa
Executive Vice President, Technology

Vui Le
CEO, VUICO

Andrew McAdams
Managing Member, AJM CAPITAL

Philip Gray
CEO, CREDIT MANAGEMENT GROUP LLC

Reply
July 17, 2008

highwebrank.com (Gregory Fort) Thinks I’m a Chiropractor | Website Promotion is not Voodoo

[…] a little background please see my Links Hog post. […]

Reply
August 13, 2008

PrivateLinksBuilder.com (Peter Cogan) Thinks I’m A Plastic Surgeon | Website Promotion is not Voodoo

[…] also: Links Hog and High Web […]

Reply
February 23, 2009

Brian

I’m so tired of this spam.

We are an SEO company, and while our clients might be on the 3rd page for a keyphrase, they are more than likely ALSO on the 2nd page AND the 1st page. Most of the time our client is number 1 for the keyphrase mentioned in the email.

I just called and mentioned they might want to do a little better research before sending those emails so they weren’t misrepresenting the truth. As you can imagine, they weren’t very receptive to my advice.

If you receive an email from Linkstiger.com (they keep changing their name, I wonder why 😉 I would recommend hitting the delete button as quickly as possible.

Reply
February 23, 2009

admin

@Brian,

Thanks for dropping by — I couldn’t agree more! The delete button is the quickest and most effective way to deal with this problem 🙂

Will

Reply
August 7, 2009

Spam Site

You know I totally agree with everybody here. I would have to say delete is a good option. I checked there site no page rank and where are the backlinks to there site? This is what they promised, right?

Reply
October 27, 2009

Spammed

Just received identical email offer from:

Jason Miller
(480) 445-9297

New name, same pile..

Reply
March 22, 2010

Billp

They now have a new name Links Panther – Jason Miller – same intro email.

Reply
October 30, 2010

Arnie

I just received the identical email, only with one of my targeted keywords. The email offer came from:

Jason Carter
(480) 445-9297

I checked out linkspanther.com and for $499 they will place your site on page 1. Yea, right…for a day?

Reply
1. October 31, 2010
  
  Will Scott
  
  @Arnie,
  
  It’s the ValueJet model. Drop a plane in the everglades and then change your name to AirTran. These guys have it down. One too many negative blog-posts and blammo, new name.
  
  Reply
December 9, 2010

Kevin

just to let you all know two and a half years later I’ve just had the identical email from Brian Thomas at linkshog (I don’t think they’ll be getting my $$$)

Reply
December 28, 2010

Trace

I received similar email. Not really wanting to have permanent links coming in form a known link farm / blog network, pretty good chance such links could hurt rather than help rankings.

Reply
December 30, 2010

Teku

Thanks for the info. I just received this spam. Good to know it’s a con.

Reply
January 23, 2011

www.TheBetterBackyard.com

I’ve also received the exact same intro email from LinksPanther.com (Jason Carter); I’m glad I did a scam search, not that I’m going to be spending $500/mo on SEO anytime soon. Thanks for the insight… I did think it odd that their website home page didn’t have a page ranking.

Reply
February 2, 2011

Eric

Just received the email from Brian Thomas @ linkshog.com.

I knew things didn’t sound right, as if I was internet dummy, prompt me to do a google search and here I am.
What a joke.

Reply
February 24, 2011

AJ

Great post Will, my company received this email and brought it to my attention. After seeing the monthly fee which is ridiculous I still decided to conduct a quick search to see if there were any traces online. Despite the fact there are no human reviews Will’s post is just as good if not better! Posted in 08 I am writing in 2011 and now they go by Linkspanther.com. How can they conduct a keyword search with the word “local” when they are in AZ hmmmm, special software or using various ports, maybe but maybe not. Anyway by running the keyword they were trying to sell us on it was clear that our listing was ranked really high and pretty much on top already. I personally do seo and optimization, even though I feel that I do a pretty good job it does not hurt to see if there are other methods that can be applied however with these guys I saw right through them, beware…500 a month is a lot of money for seo in my personal opinion unless you are a very major corporation and see substantial results!

Reply