ripe.ie - more dodgy techniques...

[davidbehan]

Just doing a search in google just now and saw the ripe.ie adwords ad. I clicked it because... why not? Anyway, I went into one of their pages and just realised they are using one of those dodgy seo techniques...

Ripe Website design - Ireland leading web design company

Mouse over any of the words like "website" or "web design". They all link back to their home page and are also hidden links. I was reading about this recently but can't remember what it is called. If they really wanted to hide that they were links... they could have left the hover state the same as the normal state and added a hover cursor decoration to text. Nobody would really have noticed it then but Google.

I hope Google picks up on this crap and bans them!

I wonder how much they are spending on Google Adwords? I'm going to click their ad anytime I see it!

Dave

 

[mneylon]

I wonder how much they are spending on Google Adwords? I'm going to click their ad anytime I see it!

Dave

Naughty naughty !

I think there's a thread about them on here already ...

 

[davidbehan]

Naughty naughty !

I think there's a thread about them on here already ...

Ah, I'm just playing!

You're right about the other thread. Do you want to move this into it?

 

[TheMenace]

At the end of the day, who cares? Ripe.ie don't have a clue what they're doing and any company that falls for their bulls**t without properly researching what they should be expecting from a Web agency... well, they'll get what they deserve.

 

[TheMenace]

PS: it appears they do actually have some clients now:

Ripe Website design - Ireland leading web design company

So if anyone's up for emailing their clients to enquire whether or not they're aware that their site's using a template from Template Monster, let me know how you get on.

 

[mneylon]

So if anyone's up for emailing their clients to enquire whether or not they're aware that their site's using a template from Template Monster, let me know how you get on.

But would the clients even care?

 

[louie]

for the price they paid probably not.

 

[Cormac]

Mouse over any of the words like "website" or "web design". They all link back to their home page and are also hidden links. I was reading about this recently but can't remember what it is called. If they really wanted to hide that they were links... they could have left the hover state the same as the normal state and added a hover cursor decoration to text. Nobody would really have noticed it then but Google.

That's not that dodgy to be honest. A lot of websites link back to their homepage or different content pages using keyword anchor text from within their paragraphs.

 

[louie]

I think that type of links are mentioned in Google T&C and are considered B/H. I could be wrong and have no time to check but I will lokk over it when I do.

 

[Cormac]

I think it's more deceptive to the user than it is black hat to the bot.

 

[Cormac]

Ripe.ie's marketing doesn't sound too promising either

Over the last decade many businesses in Ireland have invested substancial amounts of money in having their website designed for the internet. In many cases these websites are bland and poorly designed, resulting in dissapointing sales figures. The simple truth is that the internet is the most cost effective media tool available to any business when utilized correctly.

Here at ripe we place great emphasis on explaining to all our clients the importance of having a vibrant looking design for their website. This followed with the registration of a good domain name will generate consistant interest for internet users browsing your site. Another important factor to increase a websites revenue stream is for businesses to market their websites correctly with all the major search engines like google and yahoo using all your relevant keywords to boost ranking position.

The principles are simple: the more traffic your website receives the more money your business makes. Always keep your design content fresh and informative. This will enable your website to start working for you.

I have a problem with a lot of the text above. It's ironic to say the least that they are strong advocates of flash templates but yelp on about SEO/M.

Traffic does not equal money.

I wonder if good spelling has an impact on good marketing?

I could go on but I have to pretend that I'm interested in what's happening in work...

 

[mneylon]

I have a problem with a lot of the text above. It's ironic to say the least that they are strong advocates of flash templates but yelp on about SEO/M.

Traffic does not equal money.

I wonder if good spelling has an impact on good marketing?

I could go on but I have to pretend that I'm interested in what's happening in work...

Proper English Improves Results