Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Does linking to a subdomain give link juice to the main domain?
-
I have a few domains that I'm going to use for link building, will the link juice from the sub domains transfer to the main domain?
-
Yeah it can get really confusing. Here's the concept. Each Root domain can have many subdomains, as well as sub-folders.
Any link pointing to any subdomain or subfolder will provide some linking value to the entire root. It's not as much as that individual subdomain or subfolder gets, however the cumulative impact is there and it's real.
The reason is pretty straight forward - any sub, (domain or folder) is naturally associated with the root. It contributes to the overall weight of that root.
It's not unlike the branches of a tree. While the rain may fall directly on a branch, some of the water has the ability to work it's way back to the main trunk of the tree.
Just like water that seeps into the ground and soaks into the roots, can and will work it's way up the trunk and to the branches.
-
I always thought that a link to a subdomain did not benefit the main domain. Alan, can you explain this more? If an external website links to subdomain.mydomain.com will mydomain.com get link juice from this?
-
If you mean - if we get an inbound link pointing to the subdomain, will the root domain benefit?" the answer is yes to a certain extent. How much will depend on how closely related the subdomain topical focus is to the root domain, as well as how strong the link is from the perspective of the source site.
If you mean - if we point a link from within a subdomain to a page on the root domain, will the root domain benefit?" Then the answer is also yes, but how much depends on many other factors. And those links will carry less value than most quality inbound links coming from other root sites not in your control.
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
-
linking domain issues
Hello guys. I am having issues with my linking domains. These domains are made outside of my website. I have tried to disavow these links but not able to do it. These are mostly from google redirects links. Here is the```
Link Building | | Rom1988z
code_text0 -
Backlinks vs External Links vs Referral Links vs Outbound links
Hello all, I was just wondering if you could explain the difference between all the links above? I'm confused as they all seem to be the same or similar and I would just like to clearly know what distinguishes them from eachother. Thanks for your help, Jayne
Link Building | | NCOREGSEO0 -
Other websites copy content and giving a link back
Hi, I've just noticed a few back links in Google Search Console, I was excited. But when I saw the backlinks, 2 other websites that had completely copied my content and then gave a backlink to my website. Is this bad for SEO and would google penalise my website for this?
Link Building | | thinkLukeSEO1 -
Footer Links And Link Juice
I'm starting to learn about link juice and notice in GWMT > Traffic > Internal Links, that the list is in this order by the links counted on each page. Some are in the footer and some are in the header, with some being more important than others commercially i.e. /register /privacy /terms /search /sitemap /disclaimer /blog /register So I am wondering if I should add a 'no-follow' attribute to the footer links i.e. privacy, terms, disclaimer and leave the others as they are? Does this help retain link juice on each page where the links appear? Or am I missing the point all together? This is my website: http://goo.gl/CN0e5
Link Building | | Ubique0 -
Reciprocal links
Are they worth anything, if they are from relevant sites? I'm I better off avoiding linking back wherever possible?
Link Building | | littlesthobo0 -
Text Link vs image link?
Which passes most link juice a text link or an image with the correct 'alt' attribute? Do the pass the same amount or is one more valuable than the other?
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
Do links within imbeddable widgets carry link juice?
I'm dipping my toes into infographic design. On of my desired outcomes is to gain links by having other sites embed my graphic. I'm considering using Tableau's interactive data visualization software to do so; thus creating a widget, embedding it on my blog, and including the embed code for others to post. Is it possible to include a juice passing link in such an infographic? I know its possible to include links inside the tableau graphic but not sure if they have straight SEO value. If these links are not juice passing would it be better to go with a simple image link that passes value?
Link Building | | JesseCWalker1