OSE returns strange domains and pages
-
Hi guys, I've just started using Seomoz and so far it is awesome! However, there is one thing that I can't figure out.
When using Open Site Explorer to analyze inbounds links my competitors got, I've found that one of them has links coming from strange domains like fema.gov. It is unlikely that they have a link coming from such a site, but all these sites have a download as the top linking pages. Probably the top 20 linking root domains are like this.
So my question is; is this a bug in OSE, how do I find out if they really have a link coming from this site?
-
Thanks, but I rather not since the competition is reading this as well
-
Hi Keri,
thanks for your answer. Definitely a bug, because the strange results have disappeared since the last Linkscape update. It's a lot more usable now!
-
Hi Erik,
This is a dwindling bug in OSE. As OSE has had deeper crawls, it's come across downloadable files and wrongly counted them as links. We've tweaked things and mostly fixed this problem, but you will come across a few strays (or more than a few in this case). The number of wrong links like this is generally going down with each index update; check back in a day or so when this latest index update is posted and hopefully it will be reduced for you as well.
Keri
-
Can you supply me with your competitors URL you are evaluating so i can review the OSE results?
-
No, there is no connection what so ever.
The top ranking root domain linking to my competitor is fema.gov and their top linking page is http://www.gismaps.fema.gov/2005graphics/storms/Katrina/downloads/rs_katrina_03Sep05_1800.hld?page=guest&p=10116
Must be some error, right?
-
So you are saying the zip & image files are being hosted by the competitor and fema.gov is displaying them via absolute links?
-
That's the strange thing, the links are not coming from pages but from downloads.
The fema.gov "page" returns a download about hurricane Katrina, some other return images or zip-files.
-
The easiest way to see if they are legitimate links is to check them out yourself. Use OSE to link through to the page, view the source, and then do a find for the competitors URL. From there you will be able to tell if it was actually a link or just a fluke.
Out of curiosity, what is your competitors domain?
Regards - Kyle
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
Why does GWT still show some links from a disavowed domain?
We have disavowed a lot of spam links that were pointing to our website. We've disavowed on a domain level and a lot of links have now disappeared on GWT. However, there is a domain that we disavowed where MOST of the links have disappeared in GWT but there are STILL some remaining even a month and a half after disavowing. The disavow file has been sent in numerous times since then with new domains. Is there an explanation as to why some links still remain on this domain even though most of them have been disavowed and removed from GWT?
Link Building | | ResumeGenius0 -
How can I find all the outbound links from a website domain?
I want to find all the outbound links (basically whatever comes in <a>tag) from a domain (say www.abc.com) as well as all the subdomains under it (say abc.com/a etc). Open Site Explorer provides the inbound links from a website but does not provide any functionality to get all the outbound links from a website. Is it possible to do?</a> <a>Thanks in advance. Deepak Jain</a>
Link Building | | Deepak_Jain0 -
Exact Domain Match URL
Hello I have a few competitors ranking VERY well for exact keyword match URL. They have a single hosted page, when a customer clicks to buy inventory ir re-directs to there main url. Will google eventually catch on to this? Excellent position, very little backlink/seo work. Is this something that I should also look into for my own site? Thank you!
Link Building | | TP_Marketing0 -
Back links from more then one page from one domain
howdy SEO peeps, quick question. If i get a back link from two different pages from one domain, and both pages have different PR values. does google take both into its value PR or does google only take one of the links as PR juice to your site. thanks guys
Link Building | | david3050 -
Homepage vs specific page Backlink
Hello, I have a local business and have been working on getting backlinks for highly relevant keywords. I have keyword optimized pages (keyword in URL, title, H1, etc) but I have been sending backlinks to the homepage, as these keywords represent the core of what we offer. See example below: car repair car repair london auto repair auto repair london I have been sending backlinks (with the correct anchor text of course) to the homepage, am I better off sending them to the specific pages? One more thing: the SEOMOZ report talks about cannibalisation of keywords, where for example the page optimised for "car repair" links to "Car repair london". I have links to the optimised pages in a footer at the bottom of every single page on the website, is this bad practice? (considering SEOMOZ talks about cannibalisation? Should I do something else instead (or eliminate the footer links altogether?) I would appreciate your expert advice.
Link Building | | dpaq20110 -
How to Beat Exact Match Domains
Hi all, Has anyone got any particular methods for beating exact match domains in the SERP's? I've got a stronger link profile than the 7 results ranking above me, but cant seem to get anywhere in the SERP. I'm thinking: links with keyword anchor text aggressive on page optimisation more links Any ideas/experiences you've had would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance James
Link Building | | jamesjackson0 -
Links from Domain Portfolio Advertising Sites
I recently purchased a domain from a someone with a large portfolio and my site's link is still found on thousands of his one page/low quality sites. I find these links on Open Site Explorer but not in WT. Should I ask the portfolio owner to remove the link from his low quality domain advertising sites?
Link Building | | mj7750 -
PPC Landing pages and SEO landing pages query
We do a fair amount of work on PPC and because of this a lot of our PPC landing pages also do quite well in SEO. We are thinking that the landing pages do well because they get a lot of traffic from PPC and therefore, maybe google can index and take note of these pages quicker? The pages that usually shoot right up the rankings are new pages used for long tailed keywords. So I have a few questions: Does the traffic from PPC actually have any effect on SEO rankings? If we were to create a page that was to act solely as an SEO landing page, would google take note if there was no traffic? Would simply linking from our main site to the landing page be enough to give it a bit of authority, in which we can build upon? Thanks in advance.
Link Building | | esendex0