Anything to bear in mind when setting up a related 'family' of sites with linking between them?
-
We've spun out content from a single finance related news/analysis site (running for about 2 years) into several topic-specific sites on individual topics (markets, investment etc etc). They're all on the same server, use the same CMS (using a multisite setup), and share largely the same codebase, though obviously with customisations for the site names, and we've made sure each has a distinct identity.
At the bottom of each page, we're linking to 'latest posts on the network', aggregating the 5 most recent posts from all the sites and displaying them in the footer. We've obviously made sure the actual content is completely unique on each site though.
Just wondering if anyone has any tips about ensuring we don't dilute our SEO too much. and how to maximise our effectiveness?
-
Thanks Ryan - that's great to know. We'll definitely bear both of those in mind!
-
There are only two concerns I would express from a search engine perspective:
1. Be sure not to perform any black techniques, intentionally or unintentionally, on any of the sites. Your sites are related and a penalty may affect multiple sites.
2. Be aware of any content which may be duplicated between your sites.
-
Thanks guys - point taken on the fact that the links won't be worth a great deal - the actual intention with spinning out the sites was to serve quite distinct users, rather than to try anything black-hat, and obviously we'd expect the site value to decrease by at least the amount of any content moved off the site. The topics are pretty distinct, so the feeling is that over time, they'll each be able to build up value in those distinct areas.
I guess the real question (and I could have phrased this better!) was whether there's anything else we should be particularly careful to avoid? We're fine with engines realising that all the content is from the same source, and it's pretty well advertised all over the sites, but the last thing we want to do is take a big SEO hit beyond that initial one of just shifting a couple of posts around to have a few things on the other sites after launch?
-
We've spun out content from a single finance related news/analysis site (running for about 2 years) into several topic-specific sites on individual topics. Anything to bear in mind when setting up a related 'family' of sites with linking between them?
Yes... the links between these sites will be nearly worthless.
-
Since your sites are on the server they will be recognized as a network of sites and the links will be devalued.
From a search engine's perspective, the value behind a link is when it represents an independent endorsement of your website. It is basically a "vote" for your site. When you link to your own site, the vote should not count.
Search engines will examine your site's content, code, IP address and other factors in an effort to determine if your site's links are independent in nature, or part of a network of sites as in your case. There is not a white hat means to create a network of sites on related financial topics as in your case. From a search engine's perspective, the desire is for you to make a single site and provide all your content at that location. They reward this action with increasing DA for your site. The idea of creating many micro sites is not ideal for SEs nor users, and the effect is to litter the internet with many small sites.
The SEO methods used on the blackhat side for micro sites is to scatter the sites across different IPs, change the coding and other efforts designed to manipulate search engines view of these sites. Some results are effective, others are not. Most people who are successful at performing this type of manipulation are only getting away with things for a period of time until they are caught. It's a shell game.
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
-
Best way to set up a support site - sub domain, separate site or com/support?
My company is setting up our support site. It has been suggested that we set it up as a separate domain - www.company-support.com, rather than setting it up as a sub-domain (www.support.company.com) or the usual www.company.com/support. The person who proposed this believes it wlll create link juice, but i wonder if splitting the traffic will create more harm than good? Opinions please!
Link Building | | googilvie0 -
Someone not removing a link to our site
Hi Mozzers, We recently worked with an SEO company that bought a few sitewide links without our permission which caused us to get a huge slap by the last panda/penguin update. We managed to remove most of the links except one site (The biggest one).
Link Building | | Ouzan
He simply doesn't reply to our emails etc... What should I do in such case? Thanks.0 -
Multiple Links from High Ranking Site Vs. Links from Multiple Domains - What's More Important?
I understand it is important to get links from many quality domains. Currently, I do have links from top domains (PR, Trust) and it I can get more from (high rank) pages on these same domains. Would it be better to focus on expanding my reach (find additional domains to link from) or to continue to build links from the current domains I have a connection with? What is weighted more? I realize doing both is important, but trying to figure out how to best use my time. Thanks! David
Link Building | | DWill0 -
Links for edu and gov sites
So it is general knowledge that links from .edu and .gov sites are valued higher by Google. So, I hired some guys on freelance sites to help me buildlinks and get some love from SERPS. But one thing I notice quite often is that some of these links are actually like *.edu.tw (with a international TLD after .edu) What is your thoughts on links like that, do they have ANY edu value?
Link Building | | limens1 -
Does Seomoz Help Me Identify The Most Linked Articles From My Competitor Site
Does Seomoz Help Me Identify The Most Linked Articles From My Competitor Site -- Is there a feature to help me sort the results by this parameter I would like to set ?
Link Building | | helpwanted0 -
Is it even worth getting a link from PR0-2 , unrelated themed sites?
Is it even worth getting a link from PR0-2 , unrelated themed sites like http://www.area-rug-news.com/ or http://www.denvercohomerentals.com/ to my PR4 health training site that has been around since 2007? Can getting a sitewide blogroll link do more harm than good?
Link Building | | gundogs0 -
Multiple same domain links on Open Site Explorer
In doing competitor link analysis on Open Site Explorer, I've noticed quite a few links coming from the same domain listed separately. This seems to be especially prevalent with Google directory listings. For example, I'll see a link to the site from google.hu/...., google.am/..., google.kz/..., etc. In some cases, it will be prefixed with an IP address, followed by the subfolder address. Correct me if I am wrong, but these seem to be all counting as separate root domains that are linking to the site. How is this done? Are directory submissions given to each country's google directory? Does an original DMoz listing get re-submitted to all of these? Just looking for some clarification on this and how it's accomplished. Thanks everyone!
Link Building | | NiallTom0 -
Should You Avoid Links from Sites with Big Difference Between PR and MozRank?
If a site has a Google toolbar PR of 2 and a Mozrank of 5, does that most likely mean that the site is penalized and a link would probably provide little value. I know that Google rarely updates toolbar PR so I suppose the site could have also earned a lot of quality links since the last update. Thanks Mozzers!
Link Building | | SparkplugDigital0