A quick update to let everyone know where we are on refunds, commissions, deleted posts, etc.

Refunds & Commissions

• At the time of this post, approximately 75% of subscription refunds have been processed. We hope to have the rest completed in the next 24-48 hours.
• Starting tomorrow, we will begin processing refunds for outsource credits. We anticipate this being completed by the end of the week.
• Affiliate commissions will be processed, on schedule, the first week of April.

Deleted Posts & Links

• As you can imagine, the queue for deleted links is quite large and our scripts processing the removal requests are doing so as quickly as possible. We anticipate that this should be completed by the end of the week.
• We will not be sending notifications when your links are removed but the post count in the user interface should accurately reflect the current live posts/links on the network.

Re-adding or Canceling Removal Requests **UPDATED**

• A number of users have asked us to cancel link removal requests or to re-add links that have been removed so we have added a new link to “Re-Add All Previously Deleted Links (all domains). This will 1) remove all pending deletes from the queue, 2) search for any posts already deleted and queue them for re-adding.

Thanks again to everyone of your patience and understanding as we work on taking care of all of these details. If you would like to be notified concerning additional BMR updates or new services, please take a few moments to sign up for our email list.

Well, it has certainly been a busy few days. First and foremost, thanks to everyone for the kind words both in public and private, we really appreciate the support and it means a lot to everyone here at BMR.  Also, thanks to everyone for your patience as we process refunds and handle all of the details involved with closing down the network. We will answer every support ticket and email over the next few days and we will post periodic updates to let everyone know what is going on.

Refunds

As stated previously, we are refunding subscriptions pro-rated through March 19th and any unused outsource credits. So far, we have processed about 1/3 of the refunds for March subscriptions and we hope to be through the rest by the middle of next week. After that, we will move on to processing refunds for unused outsource credits which impacts fewer people. Unfortunately, this is a manual procedure so we can only move so fast.

Downloading Posts and Removing Links

We have added a function to download all of your posts from BMR. You can also delete all of your links regardless of whether your project or domain has been deleted from the system. Both links can be found on the main page of your dashboard.

The Future

Many of you have asked what our plans are going forward. We have several ideas and plans that have been in the works for a few months and we look forward to making some exciting announcements in the coming weeks. Our first priority at this time is to take care of our BMR users. Later today we will be sending an opt-in email to all of our subscribers. If you would like to be notified of BMR developments, new services, etc., please opt-in for our mailing list.

Again, thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding.

On a daily basis, we monitor our domain network to check metrics like page rank, indexed pages, etc. As with any link-building network, some de-indexing activity is expected and ours has been within a permissible range for the past two years. Unfortunately, this morning, our scripts and manual checks have determined that the overwhelming majority of our network has been de-indexed (by Google), as of March 19, 2012. In our wildest dreams, there’s no way we could have imagined this happening.

It had always been BMR’s philosophy that if we did things a bit different from other networks, we would not only have a better quality service to offer our users, but a longer life in this fickle industry. Sadly, it appears this was not the case.

We know you all have a ton of questions and concerns as a result of today’s news. We want to keep you informed directly, instead of relying in mis-information that sometimes comes as a result of speculation. Naturally, considering the short amount of time that’s passed since we learned of the de-indexing, we don’t have the answers to all the questions ourselves. Hopefully, the next few days will provide more clarity on our future direction.

For the time being, BMR will be shutting down our service in its current form. Whether we’ll re-open again after the dust settles and we’re able to determine the root cause of the de-indexing activity remains to be seen.

User Notes

• We will be processing refunds for unused outsource credits and subscription payments for the current month, pro-rated through March 19, 2012; however, it will take some time to process these refunds, so we ask for your patience and understanding as we work through this process.
• We plan on adding a function that will allow you to download all of your live, pending and queued posts so that this content can be used elsewhere. Details will be forthcoming.
• If you want to remove posts from our network immediately, please follow the steps outlined here:  http://buildmyrank.com/support/knowledgebase.php?article=56

Affiliate Notes

• Once all refunds have been processed, we’ll issue payouts for all accounts that have pending payments, regardless of whether the $100 threshold has been met.

Please check the blog for updates as we navigate through this process.

On a final note, we understand the impact this will have on the entire IM community. We are so grateful for all the support and encouragement we’ve had over the past two years and regret that things turned out this way.

Google has officially announced that, in addition to 40 search and usability updates, there has also been an update to the infamous Panda filter. As you probably know, Panda was launched a year ago and was designed to filter sites from the search results that are considered low quality. Panda is not a change to the Google algorithm but a filter that is run periodically to improve the results pages. As a result, there are pretty significant changes in the SERP’s each time a new iteration of Panda is released and this time is no different.
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If you missed our walkthrough last Friday, here is the recording. We also do a live Q&A after each walkthrough so even if you have been using BMR for awhile, you may learn something new.

We have one more basic walkthrough scheduled for this Friday and then we are going to begin covering some more advanced topics. If there are any BMR features or any SEO subjects that you would like to see us cover in more depth, let us know in the comments below.

As promised in my earlier post, Building a Writing Dream Team, I will show you how to create a simple grammar test that you can use to vet your writers. If you have a short attention span or just want to jump right in, you can download the sample grammar test here. Just save it and rename so you can add your own questions and make any adjustments.

Creating your own is real easy, here is how to do it:

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As things continue to change in the SEO world, it’s important that BuildMyRank stay up to date with the latest developments and make continuous improvements to our network and to the service we provide. We pay close attention to metrics such as PageRank, MozRank, and the overall indexing rates throughout our network. Whenever we identify factors that may negatively effect these metrics, we take steps to improve our processes.

One improvement that we feel will have a positive effect for users is to only accept sites that are currently indexed by Google. In addition, we will also be removing links to sites within the BMR network to sites that are no longer part of the Google index.

What does this mean?

If you have a new site, you will need to wait until that site has been indexed by Google before submitting the domain for approval to the BMR network.

If you have a site that was previously promoted on BMR but is now no longer indexed, those links will be removed from BMR sites. The post content will remain. If the site is later indexed by Google, you may submit a ticket via support and we will reinstate the links.

How do I know if my site is indexed?

The easiest method is to search your domain on Google using the “site” operator.

site:example.com

We see this as a positive step toward insuring that our network continues to be a viable and cost-effective method of link building for all of our users. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments.

We are happy to announce a new feature that has been rolled out this week, Post Autosave. You may have noticed the checkbox at the bottom of the post editor. By default, your posts will be autosaved approximately every 5 seconds while you are making changes.

Just in case you missed last Friday’s walkthrough, here is the recording. We also do a live Q&A afterwards so be sure to sign up for this Friday’s.

Here is the scenario: You have several sites that need quality on-site content as well as content for link building and syndication, maybe as much as 5-10 articles per day. You have a limited operating budget for outsourcing, limited time to manage outsourced writers, and you have to maintain a certain level of quality or risk jeopardizing your link building program. Sound familiar?

Generating a steady supply of quality content is an important part of any Internet marketer’s workflow. Once you have more than a few sites in your online empire you will inevitably rely on freelancers to carry the load. But how do you find reliable writers that will do the job? Well, finding and hiring quality writers does not have to be hard or time consuming. In this post I will give you a few best practices that, if done correctly and consistently, will ensure that you have a team of dependable and cost-effective freelance writers in no time.

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