200 mozpoints : Removal of "nofollow" from first custom URL on profile but first link is nofollow...
-
Hello,
I try to help Moz community and hope to get 200 mozpoints a day
When I analyze a profile from a member with more than 200 mozpoints, I see two links to custom URL link : one is added nofollow on a blank image, and one follow with anchor text.
But it appears that the tests show that in this case the second link is not taken into account... Why not remove the first link so ?
Here is the code:
xxx:
-
Happy to help, Nicolas!
-
Ok thanks Christie for your answer. It's curious no one even ask this question before.
-
Hi Nicolas,
The short answer is that we keep the first link nofollowed (instead of removing it and updating the CSS) because we need to use our development resources on higher priority projects that have greater benefit for our community at this time (and do not believe that the value of the second link is negated by virtue of the first one).
The study that you cited was conducted in 2009, right? While I tend to agree with Oleg's opinion of this particular study (and offer the same disclaimer as well as challenge), Matt Cutts, former head of webspam for Google, released this video a couple of years ago confirming that this is how anchor text used to work. As Cutts says, though the algorithm has changed a lot since then -- and has changed even more since 2014. (By the way, Moz's studies conducted around the same time that Cutts references in the video (2007-2009) confirm what Cutts says about how anchor text used to work.)
-
Hello Christie,
Ok for the layout, but why do you keep the first link nofollowed ?
Studies reveal that only first link attribute and anchor text are taken into account... So it could be fair that the first link be followed also (or remove it and correct CSS layout... with CSS rules!)
-
I think his question is more "why nofollow the icon? google only considers the first link to a domain per page (which in this case is the nofollow icon) which cancels out the 2nd dofollow link"
I don't think this is the case but he cited a French case study that supposedly affirms that statement. Based on the translated version of the article, I don't think there was anything to support it but I could be misunderstanding.
Any French SEOs want to delve in?
-
Hi Nicolas,
Thanks for your question! The first "link" goes to an "invisible" icon, which was the easiest way back in the day this code was written, err... updated to keep our code from breaking without having to mess with the CSS when adding custom URLs to this section of the user profile. If you look at the rest of the code for this section, you will see that each social profile is linked to both an icon and the profile name in the same manner, except that the social icons are not just placeholders. (That is, they are real and visible icons.) In each case, the icon link is always no-follow, and the text link is the real link, regardless of whether it is followed or no-followed.
Why link to icons at all? Well, some folks click on icons for profile links instead of the anchor text in social profiles, so it's set up that way for usability.
When a community member earns 200 MozPoints, the no-follow attribute on the link to their first custom URL is removed (that is, the real link), while the no-follow attribute to the "invisible" icon remains in place, as it is only a placeholder.
I hope that helps answer your question. Let me know!
Christy
-
I'm checking out the results and it looks like the the page C doesn't rank for any of their link anchor texts so I'm not sure how they came to a conclusion.
From what I understand...
3 pages each have 2 links to page C. Each link has a unique anchor text that isn't found on Page C.:
- 2 dofollow
- 1 nofollow, 1 dofollow
- 1 dofollow, 1 nofollow
Then searching for the specific anchor texts that were linked should show Page C in search results. I don't see page C ranking for any of the anchor texts tested.
Am I missing something?
-
Yes here : http://blog.axe-net.fr/ancre-de-lien-nofollow-dofollow-test-seo/ (in french)
if there are two links to the same URL on a give webpage, only the first link is taken into account, so in the moz profile webpage, the first link is nofollowed. And it's really strange to have two links, one nofollow and one follow?
-
Why wouldn't the second link be followed? Do you have any studies to cite "tests show that in this case the second link is not taken into account"?
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 is comment moderation blocking all my comments? There are no links in them.
For the past few days, every time I try posting a comment, no matter how long or short, how informative or simple, I've been getting the error message that the comment isn't being allowed. I only tried a few times, once on several different posts (not spamming, God forbid!), and I never include links in my comments... So what's wrong?! So frustrated, I am so not up to this right now. Why can't I share my insights and questions on Moz anymore? Gaaaaaaa!
Product Support | | whiteonlySEO1 -
It seems something wrong with Moz Profiles?
I just noticed that Moz Prfile is not getting update since couple of days. Is it Just me or you also having the same issue?
Product Support | | Mustansar1 -
Keyword rankings "soon"?
On the insights portion of one of my campaigns, I continually see this message: " You will see rankings for the 100 keywords we found for you very soon. In the meantime, add more keywords for [XXXXX].It has said "very soon" for quite some time. How do I get this section to work?
Product Support | | seo-nicole0 -
I have already canceled my subscription. How do I remove my credit card details from my profile to make sure that I ma not charged?
I have already canceled my subscription. How do I remove my credit card details from my profile to make sure that I ma not charged?
Product Support | | itsmesakshi0 -
Remove of No follow when you become a specialist on Moz
Hi It says when you get over 200 moz points that you "Removal of "nofollow" from first custom URL on profile", this isn't the reason I have become more active on the network, but I was wondering do I need to do anything or does it happen automatically. Thanks Andy
Product Support | | Andy-Halliday0 -
Latest Moz reports (pro) not including competitive link analysis
Hi Pls advise when these have been regenerated once fixed or will they just be emailed out automatically ? My clients all after their New Year monthly & quarterly reports hence this info is needed urgently, pls advise ? Also when will reports start showing social data in the reports and also when will the data that currently shows on the dash start to be accurate ? (or are you leaving this 'as is' on pro since your migrating to Moz analytics ?) Many Thanks Dan
Product Support | | Dan-Lawrence0 -
Can't add "Custom links" in my Moz Profile
Hi, I was trying to add a custom link to my profile but I got an error message: "There was a problem saving your custom URLs" Can somebody look into it for me? Kind Regards
Product Support | | Laurensvda0