LegitScript Standards and Off-Site Linking

For those treatment centers that have been certified by LegitScript - congratulations!

For those that are still applying, listen up.  

We’re finding that one of the most overlooked standards listed in their certification standards is #10. 

It states:

Applicant must disclose all physical properties and corporate entities under its control and/or to which it refers participants. Any such properties or entities that provide addiction treatment services must also adhere to these standards. 

Digitally, this means that approved centers may not link to any other treatment centers who are not LegitScript certified from their website, as it is considered “referring.” This means centers can’t link to a.) centers that are sub or sister brands of a facility that haven’t also been certified and b.) any treatment center in the US who they have linked to for a variety of reasons who are not LegitScript Certified.

Why They Aren’t Allowing Outbound Links to Uncertified Centers 

This certification standard prevents a certified treatment center from running ads on behalf of or for an uncertified treatment center. For example, if treatment center A is certified and their friends at treatment center B are not, they could feasibly get a kickback by directing their Adwords traffic via linking to the uncertified center.

What this means for your website, PageRank and SEO? 

All centers who are or want to be certified can use this tool to see their outbound links. Centers who have applied or will apply to be certified should remove links to centers who are not LegitScript certified. You can see certified centers by using the website legitimacy search tool on their website. 

When pruning links, you may lose some inbound links to your website, especially if they were reciprocal links. This may impact your PageRank, so be sure to create a new link building strategy to maintain the volume of quality inbound links. This strategy can include getting links from parallel industries, individual practitioners and online industry publications while also making sure you’ve taken advantage of all local and general citations.

Thoughts?  

What do you think of this standard? We think it is a smart standard hedging against any unscrupulous players trying to survive in the new - and hopefully improved - landscape of internet advertising in this industry. Feel free to reach out with any questions or tips on your outbound/inbound linking strategy.