Sitewide links
-
Hi there,
We operate about a dozen websites that are part of the same parent company. All these websites are in the same vertical, and link among each other in the footer section. The anchor for each link is the brand name, so we are merely doing it to show what other products the parent company has to offer. My question is: do you think this is still advisable, or it might trigger a penalty? Also, what would you choose between:
- Sitewide footer links from each site to the other sites.
- A single footer link on the homepage from each site to the other sites.
- A presentation page on each website, one click away from the homepage, which presents the company's other websites.
Thanks.
-
Hi,
Based on the info you've given, I would definitely go for your option 3.
Having links in the footer of the site is never a good idea as it multiplies the number of links by as many pages you have on the site. If you think it makes sense to have a page presenting the other websites then that sounds great and only means one external link to each site; sounds like you could create some nice content on this page too!
Hope that helps
-
Hi,
I'd like to say, if it makes sense to have link there, I would use that link. Thats allway the first thing I think about when I link externally. In that case, I am not thinking "I need that link" so I would. In that case I dont have problems to chose rel="nofollow".
Special in sitewide footer links I would use nofollow and you should (excepted alternate language sites or something like that). It was John Muller who told Web Design Agencys wich are linking sitewide in footer (with brand name) that they should think about using nofollow (round about april this 2015). Guess thats not really the same thing here, if its the same company.For the 3 cases - what makes the most sense? Does a link in the footer on the hompage makes sense? Is it better for any human being to have these links sitewide? Makes it more sense to have a single page?
I have different clients with all 3 types, all without penalty (in sitewide links cases, the links are rel="nofollow" and the sites are the same company). I think you can use follow, but why take a risk.I often cite Cyrus Shepard in that sitewide-footer case and I agree 100% with him, so I cite again: "Don't link externally in the footer. Just don't. I'm not going to go into the reasons. Just don't do that."
https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/the-rules-of-link-building-whiteboard-friday
-
I can't see this triggering a penalty. It will not hold the same weight as a link from a site that doesn't have anything directly to do with your company or a link directly in the content showing context
I would suggest sitewide footer links from each site to the other sites. The footer isn't the main draw of the eye but generally includes company info so if a users is looking for more info they will check there.
- Sitewide footer links from each site to the other sites.
-
It is a difficult question to answer - as one would need intimate knowledge of the business to advise properly. Specifically what is the value proposition and how for each website it is driven online?.
That said given they are all in the same vertical are they also in the same market place? ie all websites selling to the same country? Are they cross-selling to each other? If they are have you given consideration to a plan to fold the websites into one? It sounds like resources are spread thin, if managing a dozen websites. What is the original purpose of the dozen websites - is it still current today.
On the question about actual links, it should look natural. If it is set up and looks like a PBN - which it sort of sounds like I would be making it natural. Only put links where it assists and facilitates and answer to a customer query. I would primarily be concerned if it could be interpreted as a link swapping/trading exercise. A slightly deeper analysis should give you some resolution. All that said if it looks natural, and you have not had any penalties to date no action required!
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
We're looking at providing SEO for a website that has the majority of its incoming links from websites created solely to provide links. Few have bad spam rankings. How worried should I be about those links?
The majority of incoming links to a prospect's website are from website pages apparently created solely to provide links to the website. Few have high spam scores. The sites linking to the main site have versions of blogs with linked text. They seem to be providing positive SEO value now, but I'm concerned they might get noticed and hurt the main site in the future.
Link Building | | PKI_Niles1 -
Links
Hi, im wondering if links that is not exact anchor links gives any boost for rankings? Example if lets say somebody links to my site http://domain.com/category/article with anchor: domainname or url link.
Link Building | | Rob_I0 -
Link Building
I'm having difficulty creating a solid link base. I would prefer to only have links that are on relevant sites that are likely to drive traffic rather then just adding my company page to site directories. I've checked out the whiteboard Friday edition of link building and have also used the new Moz analytics that helps recommend sites to link to, but all the recommendations were directories. So, could anyone hold my hand and guide me through the world of Link building? Your help, as always, is much appreciated. Thanks everyone Dave
Link Building | | david.smith.segarra0 -
Link Relevance vs Link Authority ?
Hi guys, I have a quick question regarding some low quality links my site is getting. From the information in Open Site Explorer, the website Im talking about has a page authority of 16 while the domain authority is 11\. These are very low quality scores in my oppinion and Im thinking of removing them with Google Disavow Tool. The thing is that, although the domain is low quality, the links have relevance as they're in the same business sector as us. More exactly, the name of the domain is taxisavona and the company I work for is also a taxi company. So, now I`m thinking, should I disavow the link because of it's low scores or should I leave it because it is relevant to our business ? Thank you in advance! Best regards, Tiberiu Iavorenciuc
Link Building | | Tiberiu0 -
Link building
I keep sending personal emails to website asking for a link form them but every one says no how do other website get so many links to there website whats the best software to use
Link Building | | homesandindustrial0 -
Linking Analyse
Hello, Im doing a research on the link-building analyze of 2 sites. What I want to know is whats the most important fact to analyze in the Open Site Explorer. And also can I see all the links connected to those sites in the Open Site Exporer or should I use other program to verify that? Tks in advance! Pedro Menezes Pereira
Link Building | | PedroM0 -
What to do with some good links I have?
I have some pretty strong links from relevant sources linking to the homepage of a site I deal with. The links are usually from a PR3-5 pages and display specific result about the linking site. Sometimes they come from badges. We offer several services, so sometimes the page is about one service and next time about the other. Currently all of my pages link to the homepage. Would it not be better to link to the specific product page related to the page I have? Also I can do a canonical to the service pages? Which would be best?
Link Building | | Svetoslav0 -
If I write a PR release on a site such as PRweb with anchor-text links that is picked up and published by other news sites, do the engines consider this duplicate content or additional, beneficial links?
I recently wrote a news release on PRweb that was picked up identically by 8 other news websites, with the same anchor-text links as the original. Is the reproduction of duplicate content and links across different websites like this to the benefit or detriment of SEO and ranking power? Some of the links are: http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/view/pressrelease/eventa-new-eventa-christmas-parties-website-is-launched-648923?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=Alert&utm_content=pressrelease http://www.prweb.com/releases/christmasparties/neweventasite/prweb8562064.htm Many thanks!!
Link Building | | RobertHill0