Link exchange with nofollow bad for ranking?
-
Hi,
I wanted to give my EMD (Exact match domain) some more links and added it to some general start pages, just as my competitors did. The disadvantage of such link sites is that you have to add a link back to them.
So I created a new page in my footer "links" and added a link back to those who requested that. However, I made all links a nofollow because I don't want them to benefit from my rankings.
Those sites really have nothing to do with my subject and are just interested in a link to give them some boost I guess.
I'm sure not everybody like my approach, but my question is. Will those nofollow links on my page back to the ones that requested it affect my rankings?
Or should I remove the nofollow?Thanks!
Dennis -
Please note that those page that I want a link from are just "start pages". Better known as "directory sites". Those pages are very famous in the Netherlands and millions of people have it as their startpage when they start-up their browser.
So no weird or scammy sites here...
-
Linking back to them could potentially damage your rankings.
Many link-exchange setups also double as link-sellers, and most are not exactly subtle about it. As a result of this they can potentially become blacklisted by Google.
There's no way to definitively say whether or not a site has been blacklisted by Google, but if those sites have been blacklisted and then you link to them, you can get penalised. A hyperlink is like saying you endorse these guys.
Check to make sure they are not obviously selling links or doing anything really bad before you link to them. I learned all this the hard way myself
I'm not sure if 'nofollowing' your reciprocal link will protect you from penalisation. I have never tried that myself
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
-
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.
Link Building | | propertyshark0 -
Are links from charities really better than 'normal' links.
Hi Guys. Just wondering about this idea that links from Charities are particularly good. I've heard people say that links from .org sites are particularly strong. But anyone can get a .org domain, it's just that charities tend to use them more often. Right? I just don't get the logic. Can anyone give more detail about this? Is it a myth? Is there quality info on this topic I can check out? We're working with several charities at the moment, and they all seem happy to blog and link to us...so I just wanted to know a little more. Isaac.
Link Building | | isaac6630 -
Is link exchanging ok in 2015
hi i wanted to check if link exchanging is ok and not considered as black-hat seo technique in 2015 if its used as part of a link building strategy, and what percentage of links can be used a from link exchanges.
Link Building | | Direct_Ram0 -
Will 404-ing a URL neutralise any bad incoming links?
We're cleaning up one of our sites which was affected by Penguin. If we rename an example page1.html (which has 400 bad incoming links) to page2.html (with no 301 redirects), will Google disregard the poor links entirely? So, page1.html will return a 404 page. Many thanks for your help. James P.S. I am aware that we may lose any positive link juice from any 'good' links which come in to page1.html.
Link Building | | bytestart0 -
Why aren't links to my site from YouTube showing up in my link reports?
Our company is paying for a service to create hundreds of videos/month for us with links back to our primary domain. If I go to YouTube I see the videos with the links, but YouTube does not show in my link reports. Why not?
Link Building | | jtroia0 -
Are links from every page of a partners website to my website bad for seo?
I have asked a partner website to link to my website in the Menu Bar. Which has resulted in a link to my website from every page of the partners website (Over 1000 Pages). The link is not a "nofollow" link, it is a regular link. Can this have any negative effects in terms of SEO?
Link Building | | raghavkapur0 -
Which is better - A) links from multiple IP addresses, or B) Links with more associated social signals?
If you had to choose: A) 100 links contained in posts on 100 PR2* blogs, all on separate IP addresses, where none of the posts had associated social signals, or B) 100 links contained in posts within a single PR2* blog (single IP address), where each of the posts had 20 associated social signals, Which would you choose to increase your SERP performance? *I chose PR2 so that PageRank would not be a factor in the decision.
Link Building | | JohnScottDixon0 -
Forum links
If you are building links in forums how can you decide which forums to post to? Of course you can have a look at averall traffic in Alexa or mozrank but is there anything else you can look at?
Link Building | | sesertin0