Footer backlink for/to Web Design Agency
-
I read some old (10+ years) information on whether footer backlinks from the websites that design agencies build are seen as spammy and potentially cause a negative effect.
We have over 150 websites that we have built over the last few years, all with sitewide footer backlinks back to our homepage (designed and managed by COMPANY NAME).
Semrush flags some of the links as potential spammy links.
What are the current thoughts on this type of footer backlink?
Are we better to have 1 dofollow backlink and the rest of the website nofollow from each domain?
-
From my experience Google's search algorithms primarily focus on factors that reflect the relevance and quality of the content to user queries, rather than the presence of specific types of links like those in client website footers to a web designer or company. These footer links, often labeled as "designed by [Web Designer's Name]," are typically used for branding and attribution rather than for improving SEO.
Links that are widespread across many pages of a website, like those found in footers, are typically less impactful than contextual links found within the body content of a site. Google understands that footer links are more about site design and structure than a genuine recommendation or editorial endorsement. So we do add[Website Designed by Plus 8 Digital or Web Development & SEO rather than the location based links such as web design in Eastbourne or website design in Brighton for example.
It's more about accreditation and brand but with that said without them I think domain authority would drop.
-
@dahmon90 Yes
-
You’re absolutely right about the role of footer links in SEO and user experience. They serve as a navigational aid, allowing users to access important pages easily. Moreover, they contribute to SEO by enhancing the crawling and indexing of web pages. However, it’s crucial to use them judiciously to avoid penalties from search engines like Google for manipulative practices.
-
Footer links are hyperlinks placed at the bottom (footer) section of a website. They can include links to social media profiles, contact information, copyright notices, or other internal pages. Properly optimized footer links can enhance user experience by providing quick access to relevant pages and help search engine bots crawl deeper within a site. Crawling and Indexing: Footer links allow search engine bots to index deeper pages more efficiently. They help distribute “link juice” throughout the site via interlinked articles. Overuse or poor optimization can make footer links appear spammy. Google may penalize sites if footer links are used solely to manipulate rankings.
-
We also add Web Design in Hull in the footer of all our websites and I'm convinced it helps more than it hurts. I've read in a lot of places that Google advise against it, but I really don't think we'd be ranking as high as we are for local searches if we didn't do this.
-
A footer backlink for a web design agency is a strategic and valuable element placed at the bottom of a webpage, serving the dual purpose of enhancing search engine optimization (SEO) and providing users with a direct link to the web design agency's website. In the ever-evolving digital landscape, where online visibility and user experience play pivotal roles, footer backlinks have emerged as a crucial tool for web design agencies to showcase their expertise, build credibility, and drive traffic.
At its core, a footer backlink is a hyperlink strategically embedded in the footer section of a website, typically under the heading "Web Design by [Marketing Agency]" or a similar attribution. This discreet yet impactful placement ensures that the backlink is present on every page of the website, creating a consistent and pervasive digital footprint. This not only aids in SEO efforts by contributing to the website's link profile but also establishes a clear connection between the website and the web design agency responsible for its creation.
-
we also build many web design in milton keynes. But i am not aware of this fact because we also added footer link with develop by our agency name so that we can get more business and grow individually.
-
We would like to post at the footer of some websites:
developed by Marketing Raccoon Eyes
So the question is: should we have this backlink, as dofollow or nofollow? -
@MultiAdE said in Footer backlink for/to Web Design Agency:
I read some old (10+ years) information on whether footer backlinks from the websites that design agencies build are seen as spammy and potentially cause a negative effect.
We have over 150 websites that we have built over the last few years, all with sitewide footer backlinks back to our homepage (designed and managed by COMPANY NAME).
Semrush flags some of the links as potential spammy links.
What are the current thoughts on this type of footer backlink?
Are we better to have 1 dofollow backlink and the rest of the website nofollow from each domain?In the past, sitewide footer backlinks were commonly used by Digital Agencies as a way to showcase their work and generate traffic to their own websites. However, search engines have become more sophisticated in their evaluation of links, and there has been a shift towards emphasizing the quality and relevance of backlinks rather than quantity.
Having a large number of sitewide footer backlinks with exact match anchor text from multiple domains can indeed raise flags in SEO tools like Semrush, as they might be seen as potentially spammy or manipulative. Search engines may interpret such links as an attempt to artificially boost rankings rather than a natural endorsement of your services.
To maintain a healthy backlink profile, it's advisable to diversify your link sources and focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites. While having a single dofollow backlink in the footer and making the rest of the website's links nofollow could be one approach, it's important to note that search engines can still recognize patterns and evaluate the overall link profile.
-
-
@MultiAdE Sitewide footer backlinks to your homepage hold value, but maintaining balance is crucial. If Semrush flags potential spam, assess quality and relevance. One solution is to have one dofollow backlink while making the others nofollow. This helps mitigate negative effects while still maintaining a reasonable link presence. Remember to prioritize high-quality, relevant backlinks that enhance user value. Stay updated, avoid spam signals, and craft an effective strategy for long-term success.
-
@MultiAdE I personally don't believe removing them is a good idea unless you experience a great deal of negative difference in SERPs.
-
@MultiAdE Truth be told, it is better to avoid such references so that there are no negative consequences. At the moment everything is fine, but if there are a lot of them, and Google suddenly adds an innovation, it will be unpleasant.
-
The latest insights are that Google will discard most sidewide links. The time of Google delivering penalties for this kind of behavior is behind us.
So unless you have terrible rankings and or warnings in Search console let it be.
Best practice for the future is to limit the amount of sidewide links to the necessary ones. Also it looks a bit spammy for the clients. "design by Company" is enough, if at all.
-
In our case we saw it happening both on Moz and Semrush.
Of course this must be a false positive. I haven't read in any official google page/post that we shouldn't do that.
Just imagine what will happen to your Domain Authority Score if you remove 200 unique backlinks...
So we just ignore it and move on.
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
-
Migrating Subfolder content to New domain Safely
Hello everyone, I'm currently facing a challenging situation and would greatly appreciate your expertise and guidance. I own a website, maniflexa.com, primarily focused on the digital agency niche. About 3 months ago, I created a subfolder, maniflexa.com/emploi/, dedicated to job listings which is a completely different niche. The subfolder has around 120 posts and pages. Unfortunately, since I created the subfolder, the rankings of my main site have been negatively impacted. I was previously ranking #1 for all local digital services keywords, but now, only 2 out of 16 keywords have maintained their positions. Other pages have dropped to positions 30 and beyond. I'm considering a solution and would like your advice: I'm planning to purchase a new domain and migrate the content from maniflexa.com/emploi/ to newdomain.com. However, I want to ensure a smooth migration without affecting the main domain maniflexa.com rankings and losing backlinks from maniflexa.com/emploi/ pages. Is moving the subfolder content to a new domain a viable solution? And how can I effectively redirect all pages from the subfolder to the new domain while preserving page ranks and backlinks?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | davidifaso
I wish they did, but GSC doesn't offer a solution to migration content from subfolder to a new domain. 😢 Help a fellow Mozer. Thanks for giving a hand.0 -
How to get rid of bad backlinks
So I noticed my rankings going down and spam score going up. So under my spam score there are over 100 links for different websites but ALL redirect to semalt.com I researched it and it says they hijacked a bunched of backlinks but don't know much more. How can I get rid of all those backlinks? I was told I could use the disavow tool but apparently that can hurt my ranking as well. The semalt.com site has no backlink to me - it looks like the pages that have/had my backlinks, they've redirected to them. For instance this is one of the links http://www.oxvideos.xyz/indianantyphotoxxx 422005fb-9240-40a4-8b65-f5b1f5079dea-image.png
Link Building | | landlwoof40 -
Do links from International SEO counterpart site carry weight?
Hi everyone! One of our clients has a competitor who has an international reach with their website. Their hreflang goes from Brazil, German, US, China, etc. We found that the Chinese site (.cn) sends over 900,000+ backlinks to the main US site (.com). The hreflang for the site has the .com US version of the site as the canonical. So my question is - does our competitor get any link equity from the 900,000 links they are getting from their Chinese (.cn) version of the site? My initial thought is that because they are marked up with hreflang and canonical tags, those 900,000+ links wouldn't' have any equity? Would love some thoughts/guidance on what others think.
Link Building | | JKhoo0 -
Redirecting broken backlink to my site
Hello guys, I found an expired domain with inbound links from 41 different root domains, almost all of them from relevant sources. I have 2 ideas in my mind: A) I am thinking about buying this expired domain and place a 301 redirect to a post in my blog who talks about a similar subject.Relevance: let's say the content of the expired domain is about "horses wallpapers" and the content of my site is about "horse transport". Not the same, but a post in my blog could talk about "top 10 horse wallpapers". Do you see what I mean? B) Contact all the webmasters with broken links, alert them and expect they are nice and place a nice link to the post in my blog talking about "top 10 horse wallpapers". What do you think? Should I take A or B? Any other idea? I added a picture with the Domain Rank of the broken links 🙂 Thanks a lot !!! Luis V1LZBC3
Link Building | | Yeeply.com0 -
How long before backlinks take effect?
In general how long would it take for Google to update the SERP after it found the external link activity? Does it depend on the website the link is on as? So for example, after it found a link on the BBC would the SERP update a lot quicker then after a link on a small blog? Maybe Google updates on a certain day?
Link Building | | activitysuper0 -
Web master tools
What constitutes a link showing up in Google web master tools? I know I have links to my site that do not show up in WMT. Have they just not been indexed or does not everything just show up? If it just doesn't show everything, what is the criteria for links to be displayed? Also when I run OSE it does not show all the links that have been displayed in my Google profile for a while. Why is that?
Link Building | | shiftins0