Product & Pre-Order FAQ
SEO is like an election.
We can tell you that you have to shake a lot of hands to win.
But we can never tell you exactly how many.
You just have to keep shaking until you do.
If you are asking this question, you are asking to be lied to.
Why?
Because nobody can tell you with any accuracy how many links its going to take to rank your site.
The HOTH is no different in that regard, except that we're honest about it.
SEO is like an election. We can tell you that you have to be out there shaking hands. But we can't tell you how many hands you'll need to shake to win. You just keep shaking until you do.
More so, The HOTH is only a link building service, not a keyword research, competitive research, on-site optimization or SEO consulting service. If any of these factors are not done well, any link building you do is going to be at a handicap. If you are are in need full service SEO consulting, please contact info[at]hothtactical[dot]com for information about our agency services, offered by our HOTH Tactical division.
5 Reasons Why We Don't Guarantee Your Rank:
- We Don't Know How Competitive your Keyword Is.
We're just a link building service, not a market research service. - Unique Treatment of Phrases by Google.
Google does not treat each search phrase the same way. For instance, if your search phrase is phrased as a question, Google will treat your results one way. If Google thinks that users for your phrase are looking for a definition or quote, it'll treat the results another way. If Google thinks that displaying local results is more effective for your term than national or global ones, it will do so. Etc. - Inability to Predict Competition.
We have no clue what your competitors are doing for their SEO. Maybe they have a 5-figure/month budget? Maybe they don't know what a<title>tag is? - The HOTH Doesn't Affect your On-site Optimization.
In 2011, Google released its now infamous Panda Update. The Panda Update is a usability filter that penalizes sites that would otherwise rank well based traditional on-site factors (e.g. title tags, headings, bolded terms, images, etc.) and off-site factors (e.g. links) for poor on-site user experience. This means that not only do you have to have your semantically relevant tags optimized, but now your site actually has to be good to consistently rank. The Panda update is ever evolving and its every site owners responsibility to keep their site fresh, relevant and optimized for bounce rates and conversions. If you do need help with on-site work, email info[at]hothtactical[dot]com about our agency services and we'll do our best to HOTH you. - We Don't Control the Google SERPs.
There is a name for people who claim to "control" Google SERPs- scammers. Even Google search engineers don't "control" the SERPs. They don't choose the placement of each URL individually. The Google algorithm is constantly changing, evolving, being tested, etc. The results aren't even the same from person to person. We believe that making promises or even a claims to "control" the SERPs in perfectly predictable ways is extremely unprofessional, so we just don't do it.
With over 3000 campaigns completed, we have absolutely no reason to believe it will.
In the 1 instance where a client claimed to get sandboxed by The HOTH, the client was simultanaeously blasting his site with 1000s of spam links every day (e.g. x-rumer, scrapebox, etc.)
The moral of the story is, if you're not doing anything really shady with your link building, you have nothing to fear with The HOTH. The HOTH is a long-term link building service, so we have no interest in a quick jump in rankings, just to see you fall soon after. We put meticulous care into continually improving our content, diluting any possible footprints, and further randomizing our method of viral link building to ensure that each iteration of The HOTH is safer than the last.
No. The HOTH has no monthly commitment.
Here's how it works
- You need links.
- You come to TheHOTH.com & buy them.
- We deliver soon after.
We'll gladly schedule recurring HOTHs for clients who request it.
This is especially popular with agencies and other Bulk Buyers with recurring link building needs.
If you'd like to set up recurring HOTHs, please email sales[at]thehoth[dot]com and we'll help you out!
Sure!
To see a sample of the Top Level Properties, check out this Wordpress.com blog of HOTH Sample articles.
HOTH Plus+ content samples produced by our 100% US College Educated Copywriting team coming soon. Contact sales[at]thehoth[dot]com to request sample articles.
To see a sample report, in .txt format, just email sales[at]thehoth[dot]com
The HOTH has been endorsed by several respected SEOs and countless other publishers and marketers. To read a sampling of these success stories, click here.
We are constantly running tests, experiments, and improving the product behind the scenes to make sure we are 100% on top of any search algorithm changes. You can check out our blog where we post our thoughts, news, webinar replays and more at http://truth.thehoth.com.
P.S. We also have client references from all over the word. Feel free to request those as well.
All HOTH packages accept the exact same inputs -
Up to 3 URLs with up to 5 Keywords/Keyphrases per URL.
You are not required to use all of them. As a rule of thumb, we encourage you to use all 3 URLs and not waste Keyword slots that you don't need to. Don't have 3 URLs? No worries. Many SEOs only submit 1 URL at a time with great success.
All URLs and Keywords for any order must be in the same niche!
Otherwise, your content would end up looking like, "I enjoy driving my Lexus RX330 while studying Forex Trading and enjoying the best weight loss program." No bueno.
The Results Package is our default recommendation for clients in the 4 most competitive SEO markets - USA, UK, Canada & Australia. We named it the Results Package, because it's the one we use to consistently see results in those countries. It has over 5 times the links of the HOTH Mini package and even has a second viral link structure, for even greater link diversity and link juice back to your site. Click here to see an info-graphic illustrating the Results Package.
The Results Package is intended to do what it says on the box, achieve results. This doesn't mean 1 Results Package will rank you #1 for the term "insurance," but it is a solid backbone for any link building campaign. It is the go-to option for our most serious SEO clients.
The Results Package gives you over 50% more links for each dollar you spend.
The HOTH Mini is our introductory package intended for less competitive markets and new clients who want to become acquainted with The HOTH. It's not intended to cause any dramatic shifts in the SERPs, except for very low competition keywords and markets. A few clients have developed specialized uses for it.
To compare the contents of all packages side by side, check out our Packages & Pricing Page.
Yes, most likely.
The HOTH works for
- Local businesses
- National industries
- Specific products
- Industry directories
- Affiliate sites
- E-commerce Sites
- Non-english keywords (tested with French, Dutch, German, Hungarian, etc.)
- And pretty much anything you can think of.
The HOTH does not accept explicitly pornographic or hate terms.
Some highly exploited or "spammy" niches may have lower success rates for the individual properties we create.
Don't worry though, we'll make sure you get the amount of links promised (See FAQ: What if Some HOTH Properties Get Taken Down?).
Filters on the various websites that we create links on are inevitable.
If one of your top-level properties (i.e. Blogspot, Wordpress, Squidoo) is taken down within 30 days of receiving your report, just email us (support[at]thehoth[dot]com) and we'll get the property rebuilt ASAP, along with its supporting links. If a top-level property remains problematic, we'll replace it with a LiveJournal or Tumblr blog, which tend to be more lenient.
As for the supporting Web 2.0 properties, Social Bookmarks, and Profile Links, we will never have a 100% success rate. This is why we always over deliver. This way, the amount of active properties is always within the promised range.
For a Results Package the promised range is
- 35-75 Web 2.0s
- 100-200 Social Bookmarks
- 500-800 Profile Links (some profiles may contain more than 1 link)
For a Mini Package the promised range is
- 7-15 Web 2.0s
- 20-40 Social Bookmarks
- 100-160 Profile Links (some profiles may contain more than 1 link)
If, somehow, against all odds, we don't deliver the promised quantity of any of the types of properties (this really doesn't happen, but for your piece of mind), let us know and we'll give you another whole set, no questions asked.
Actually, the answer is already in the name!
We tell all new clients the same thing-
If you want to see results, order the Results Package.
Reasons You May Want to Choose the HOTH Mini Package:
- If you just want to get a taste of how The HOTH works, the kind of reports you'll be getting and our level of service.
- If you're in an extremely low competition niche or country.
- Some resellers also choose to purchase HOTH Mini packages for clients to avoid "over-delivering" too quickly and to maximize monthly retainers (not recommended).
- Your order
- Your URLs
- Your Keywords
Absolutely nothing else! You don't need to submit any articles, infographics, white papers, etc.
We create all the content so you can relax while we do the heavy lifting!
If you're ready, you may order here.
Of course!
If you do $1000 of business with us in any given month, you qualify for our Bulk Buyer Discount.
As a Bulk Buyer, you'll get 12.5% off all your orders for the month!
Click here to learn more about the Bulk Buyer Program and apply now..
Order Support FAQ
Most issues with articles have to do with stylistic differences and usually arise from confused expectations.
Please make sure you are familiar with our content standards.
We do not make any excuses for our spun articles. They are:
- Not advertorial (meaning they don't promote your company or your product)
- Not intended to supplement your PR or Social Media efforts
- Possibly boring
- Possibly cliche
- Standard content is written in the Philippines. HOTH Plus+ in the USA.
- And they are certainly not intended to win any Pulitzers
Why?
Because our articles are for SEO link building only.
The only "people" that we want to convince of our content quality aren't even people - they're search engine robots. Based on thousands of campaigns worth of data, we know that our content is effective at doing this.
Our Content Standards
- Unique content
- Semantically relevant (on topic and contains words related to your niche)
- Readable (not necessarily worth reading)
- UX Optimized with relevant images, videos & multimedia
If you feel we haven't lived up to our content standard after all, please contact us as we take content issues very seriously.
In response to Google's March 2012 outright statement that they are pursuing high PR site networks, we have discontinued Volume Module reporting for the immediate future. Instead you will simply receive a notification that your Volume Module has been completed.
All Authority Module reports will still be fully transparent.
Although we'd love to keep sending you fully transparent Volume Module reports, this difficult decision was made to protect the effectiveness and longevity of the sites we build those links from. Many of our competitors suffered immense losses, some of the most prestigious even shutting their doors. By staying ahead of the curve we keep everyone who uses The HOTH safe.
In the near future, we will be debuting a "Verified Account" system, which will allow our most trusted users to get access to all Volume Module links. We believe this is the best way to balance link building transparency while protecting the sites we use.
Aww shucks. Here's what we're going to do-
If one of your top-level properties (i.e. Blogspot, Wordpress, Squidoo) has been taken down within 30 days of receiving your report, just email us (support[at]thehoth[dot]com) and we'll get the property rebuilt ASAP, along with the supporting links to it. If a top-level property remains problematic, we'll replace it with a LiveJournal or Tumblr blog, which tend to be more lenient.
If some of your Web 2.0 properties, Social Bookmarks, and Profile Links have been taken down, that is different. We do not, and probably never will have a 100% success rate for these properties. This is why we always over deliver. This way, the amount of active properties is always within the promised range.
For a Results Package the promised range is
- 35-75 Web 2.0s
- 100-200 Social Bookmarks
- 500-800 Profile Links (some profiles may contain more than 1 links)
For a HOTH Mini package the promised range is
- 7-15 Web 2.0s
- 20-40 Social Bookmarks
- 100-160 Profile Links (some profiles may contain more than 1 links)
If, somehow, against all odds, we don't deliver the promised quantity of any of these types of properties, please let us know and we'll give you another whole set, no questions asked.
Experience has taught us that it is best not to use your keywords as anchor text when building authority up to your Top-Level Properties (e.g. Blogspot, Wordpress, Squidoo). We've found that its better to use semantically relevant keywords instead. There are 2 reasons why.
- Top Level Properties Outranking Your Money Site
Upon first testing The HOTH, we used the same keywords through our entire linking structure and found that our Top-Level Properties would often outrank the client's money site. This actually made it harder to rank the desired URLs by creating additional direct competition. By switching to Latent Semantic Indexing keywords in the lower parts of our link building structure, Google can algorithmically understand that the keywords linking up to your Top-Level Properties are topically relevant, without making the Top-Levels directly compete with your money site for your targeted terms.
All links up to your money site use your specified keywords.
- Unnatural Link Structure
Remember, The HOTH is supposed to mimic viral content as closely as possible. If a blog linked to your URL from a post, what are the chances that every link to that blog would have the exact same anchor text as the keywords you're trying to rank for? Chances are, it would never happen. By switching up the keywords in the lower levels of our link building structure, we keep your rankings safer and more long term by making them appear as natural as possible.
- Did you place your order on the weekend?
Since every set of inputs is manually reviewed before sending out confirmations, we do not send confirmations during the weekend when nobody is in the office. If you placed your order on Saturday or Sunday CST (-8:00 GMT), you will get your confirmation on Monday evening. - Did you place your order today (on a weekday)?
Don't worry! Once we check your inputs, you'll get a confirmation. You can expect your HOTH Order Confirmation email by midnight CST on the weekday you order. - Did you check your spam folder?
Some email filters don't like us because of the sheer volume of email that we send out every day. Unfortunately, your glorious confirmation may be laying in the dumps of your spam folder. Give it a hand and mark it "Not Spam." - Still No Confirmation?
Please email support [at] thehoth [dot] com with 1) Paypal Email, 2) Delivery Email AND 3) an alternate delivery email for us to send your confirmations to.
EPIC HUGE FAVOR
Please add Confirmations@thehoth.com and Reports@thehoth.com to your email safelist.
To do this, either create a contact for each of these emails in your address book, or add them to your email program's "Whitelist"/"Safelist."
- Is your report due?
Due to the sheer volume of orders we handle, we kindly ask that you not contact us for updates before or on your Guaranteed Delivery Date. Our on-time delivery rate is 99.6%, so you can rest assured that your order will be delivered on time as well.Not sure what your Guaranteed Delivery Date is?
Please check your HOTH Order Confirmation that was emailed to you the day that you placed your order, or the Monday after, if your order was placed on the weekend. - What time is it?
Our cutoff time for HOTH Authority Reports is midnight CST, on the day promised in your confirmation. If its not that time yet, just hold on a few more hours and you'll have your report! - Did you check your spam folder?
Some email filters don't like us because of the sheer volume of email that we send out every day. Unfortunately, your glorious report may be laying in the dumps of your spam folder. Give it a hand and mark it "Not Spam." - Still no Report?
Since every report email contains an attachment, many filters will block them altogether. If this happens, please email support [at] thehoth [dot] com with 1) your Order ID AND 2) an alternate delivery email for us to send your reports to. Both of these items are required to assist you. - What about my Volume Report?
We no longer send Volume Reports, but you will receive a notification when we finish slow-dripping your Volume Module articles. This should by ~3 weeks after you get your Authority Report. For more information on this, please see "Where is my Volume Module report?" above. If that amount of time has passed, please follow steps 3 & 4 above.
EPIC HUGE FAVOR
Please add Confirmations@thehoth.com and Reports@thehoth.com to your email safelist.
To do this, either create a contact for each of these emails in your address book, or add them to your email program's "Whitelist"/"Safelist."
Company FAQ
We're thrilled you asked!
HOTH stands for
- Hit'em
- Over
- The
- Head
It is the guiding principle by which we run our company.
Zappos calls it "WOW" (as in "Delivering WOW through Service"), we call it "a HOTH" - when you impress somebody to such an extent that they are bludgeoned with awesomeness.
In our company meetings, we strive to HOTH each other.
When we speak to customers, we strive to HOTH them with our professionalism and service.
When customers purchase The HOTH, we strive to HOTH them with results.
(^^^ Did you catch that? It works as verb and a noun!)
We hope that every interaction you have with The HOTH is a HOTH. We know we still have a long way to go, but we're confident that if make it a point to live up to our name, we certainly will.
:Long Sigh:
No.
Although we are aware of the planet Hoth from Empire Strikes back (Part 5 of the Star Wars series, for the uninitiated), it has absolutely nothing to do with our company, besides its strangely Chicagoan climate.
With that said, we believe the creature pictured here to be a kindred spirit of our HOTH mascot and our company values.
