Alex Goad claims that with the RankBuilder software, you can do all of your website promotion during a spare five minutes. He doesn’t tell you that RankBuilder is a repackaged product which uses outdated SEO techniques that no longer work. Even worse, the automated link building techniques that RankBuilder uses will have your site harshly penalized by Google.
Google Penguin Penalty
The major flaw with RankBuilder is that with the new Google updates to their algorithms, you are taking a big risk by using SEO automation software. The two new Google updates are called Penguin and Panda, and Penguin especially cracks down on software like RankBuilder.
With the Penguin update, Google now punishes websites which violate the Google Webmasters Guidelines very harshly. Things like buying links and keyword stuffing are now being penalized by Google, and those websites will not come up in Google’s search results. Most importantly, as you can see in the screenshot below, Google now forbids the use of “automated programs or services to create links to your site.”
This is exactly what RankBuilder does, so if you use the software to build backlinks, your website will likely be penalized by Google. Several years back, it was common for marketers to generate their content and backlinks by using software, but Google now completely banned those practices. It is a terrible idea to violate the Google Webmasters Guidelines, and Alex Goad is not looking out for you when he promotes the use of automated backlinks.
Misleading Claims on Sales Page
The RankBuilder sales page is full of very bold claims by Alex Goad, but it turns out that they should all be taken with a grain of salt (or many). Time after time Alex Goad says that once you start using the RankBuilder software, you’ll be able to blow your competition out of the water. He refers to RankBuilder as a “secret weapon” which will do everything you need relating to SEO.
Yet, as soon as you actually buy the product, Alex Goad doesn’t waste any time before trying to sell you more SEO products. You can see below one of the upsells that is built into RankBuilder, and it costs an additional $77.
Even within the training guide for RankBuilder itself, Alex Goad tries to upsell another product called Linkpipeline. An elite membership to Linkpipeline costs $97 a month, and Alex Goad tries to convince you to buy it by saying that it integrates well with RankBuilder.
This should be a giant red flag for any buyer, since these upsells do exactly what RankBuilder is supposed to do. So why is Alex Goad trying to sell you more SEO products right after you just bought one?
Repackaged Product with Poor Functionality
SEO automation used to be the craze in the world of internet marketing, since it allowed marketers to save tons of time. But even if these methods did actually work at some point, now it’s known that backlinking tools no longer help websites. This didn’t stop Alex Goad from repackaging and releasing RankBuilder as a new product, even though it uses the same outdated techniques.
This would be one thingif RankBuilder actually did what it was supposed to do. Unfortunately, there are tons of bugs in the product that constantly need fixing. Below you can see a screenshot taken of RankBuilder from my laptop, and you can see the long list of bugs that are recognized. Sadly, the list of uncorrected bugs is even longer and makes the RankBuilder software extremely ineffective.
Beyond the bugs, I was very disappointed to realize that the RankBuilder software crashes on my computer frequently, even though this doesn’t happen with other programs. This leads me to think that the problem is with RankBuilder itself, and it’s another reason why I can’t recommend this product.
To top it all off, I don’t have any good things to say about their technical support either, and you shouldn’t count on your needs being taken care of. There is nothing user-friendly about this product, and it seems to be nothing more than an old backlinking tool that is repackaged and barely works.
Conclusion: RankBuilder Will Hurt Your Website
Don’t be fooled by Alex Goad’s claim that RankBuilder can automate all of your SEO needs. First of all, if that were true there would be no need to upsell you expensive products even after buying RankBuilder. Also, the product itself has lots of bugs, crashes frequently, and has very bad customer support. But most importantly, if you use this type of software, your website will be slapped by Google and you will not see any traffic coming into your website.
What’s Your Call?
Have any of your websites been slapped by Google for using automated tools? Why do you think it is best to stay away from products like RankBuilder which violate Google’s terms of service? Let us know by joining the discussion below!
Summary: Automated linkbuilding that will DESTROY your search engine rankings – Thanks RankBuilder!
Description: A full review of Alex Goad’s RankBuilder software (with screenshots), which uses “automated” SEO tools that are completely outdated and ineffective.
Rating: 1 out of 5.
I have had the misfortune of working with Alex Goad on a couple of projects and can confirm the guy is nothing but a liar – his products suck, his ‘team’ still think its 2005, and he has no issue in screwing both his customers and his partners.
Steer clear from Alex Goad and co., the guy is desperate for money and cares nothing for his customers, his products and his word.
I’m really sorry that you had those experiences with Alex Goad’s team, but I very much appreciate you taking the time to share your experiences! Thank you for reading and commenting to share your experiences with the community.
Hey Ian,
Thanks so much for this informative review. I was on the fence of buying this product, but I can tell it’s certainly not a good move for my business.
I guess when they say it’s all you need for your SEO, then promote you an upgrade, you can’t really trust it – that alone gets alarm bells ringing.
But on a more positive not, do you (or anybody reading this) know of any good products that will help me with my SEO? From reading this article, I gather staying away from “softwares”, and investing in my products that will teach me about the topic will be more beneficial? What’s your (or anyone’s) advice?
I can’t thank you enough – you’ve saved me time, money and hassle.
Keep up the good work, and get article top of Google! The more people you help the better!
Kind Regards
Hey Thomas! I’m glad you found it helpful. You should definitely avoid anything like RankBuilder that’s automated for SEO purposes. Some of it used to work, but due to all of the latest algorithmic updates there’s just no way they can be useful anymore. And concerning SEO training materials, most of that stuff in this industry is EXTRAORDINARILY out of date (written before all of the updates over the past couple of years). Anyone I know in this industry that shoots for rankings in this industry these days and is a legitimate affiliate marketer shoots for the highest quality content possible, which results in links from related sites and shows the search engines that your content is authority content within that industry. That’s by far the best way to go. This is what Kyle and Carson teach in Wealthy Affiliate, which is one of the main reasons I recommend them over any other product I’ve reviewed while running this site (you can see that product review here). I hope that helps, and let me know if I can help with anything else!