Rheem's Paid Link Program

[CraigJMount]

I was on the phone with one of my customer's today.

He informed me the water heater company, Rheem, is paying plumbers to keep a link on their home page pointing back to their website.

I'm guessing in an effort to rank pages like these—Best Water Heating Plumbers in Dallas, TX - Rheem Water Heaters, Tankless Water Heaters

Anyone have any other information on this link program? Or know of any other's like it?

 

[Phil Rozek]

@CraigJMount, nope, I haven't seen a manufacturer do that kind of thing. It's surprising. A big company like that usually has a real solid link profile (as Rheem does), and doesn't need a link from Louie the One-Truck Plumber. Louie needs the link more than anyone, and occasionally gets one from the mothership if he's listed as a service provider, local dealer, etc.

 

[CraigJMount]

@Phil Rozek Okay so this is my thing, I agree with you. Rheem probably doesn't need to pay anyone for links, but the plumber I talked with said they were paying him $500/month to do this (paid quarterly or biannually).

My mind immediately goes, "Hey plumbers... this is really valuable for you to know. Take advantage of this."

I'm trying to figure out if there is anything else involved with it.

 

[Phil Rozek]

Interesting, @CraigJMount. That's not a bad hustle for the plumbers. It's a bad idea for Rheem. The crazy thing is they don't need to do it. It's like when a world-class athlete starts a roids regimen.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

Isn't selling links almost as bad as buying them according to Google? I'd be worried about the plumbers too... but I'm a worrier, haha. It's probably ok if it's just one link. Just to be safe, I'd be using the rel=”nofollow” tag though.

I've heard of something similar targeting chiropractors. The Dr takes a pledge, and receives a badge that says they are verified and trusted (looks like an award). The issue is that the Dr is given code to add to the website, not an image file. The code is a do follow link back to the website. I haven't seen it in a couple of years though, so maybe Google thought it was just as shady as I did, lol

 

[Yan Gilbert]

500/mo? that's a good deal. I'd setup a site with a backlink to Rheem for that. Where can I sign up? lol

I think it would be difficult for Google to identify this as sites would naturally link back to Rheem if plumbers are normally selling the product.

 

[PaulSteinbrueck]

I'm in - Join the Rheem Team - Calling All Water Heating and HVAC Professionals - Rheem Manufacturing Company

500/mo? that's a good deal. I'd setup a site with a backlink to Rheem for that. Where can I sign up? lol

I think it would be difficult for Google to identify this as sites would naturally link back to Rheem if plumbers are normally selling the product.