The domain mobilepress.co.za belong to the semi-popular WordPress plugin MobilePress.
As we mentioned above, we monitor a lot of keywords related to WordPress. We also study a lot of data related to SEO. It would be impossible for us or anyone else to say whether or not the owner of mobilepress.co.za is intentionally doing this. He could simply be redirecting his website to ThemeForest using an affiliate link – he has every right to do so!
BUT! We do want to focus on how Google’s search engine algorithm is deciding to rank this domain. With less than 30 lines of code, this domain was able to gain amazing rankings! Here’s the code we’ve copied (seriously, this is their entire website):
So, what exactly is this code doing? We’ll it’s pretty simple, anyone that reaches their website from an IP address that’s traced to the United States is redirected to ThemeForest using an affiliate link (tylerreed). Anyone that isn’t from the United States is being redirected to layerswp.com. Why? We have no idea, but that isn’t the point.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with an affiliate redirecting their website, assuming ThemeForest/Envato is okay with that type of thing. The problem is that for some reason Google isn’t interpreting this website’s ranking correctly. When you view Google’s cached version of mobilepress.co.za, it’s an exact copy of themeforest.com.
Servicerr does not sell themes on ThemeForest, nor are we an affiliate. We simply provide premium WordPress support and maintenance services. However, we do frequently recommend certain themes from ThemeForest to our customers – along with tons of others.
I’ll leave it up to a wonderful SEO blogger to discuss how or why this is happening in Google’s search results. However, I do think some WordPress bloggers may find it interesting to look into how many searches that each of the terms listed above are getting on a monthly basis.