Need suggestion: Should the user profile link be disallowed in robots.txt
-
I maintain a myBB based forum here. The user profile links look something like this http://www.learnqtp.com/forums/User-Ankur
Now in my GWT, I can see many 404 errors for user profile links. This is primarily because we have tight control over spam and auto-profiles generated by bots. Either our moderators or our spam control software delete such spammy member profiles on a periodic basis but by then Google indexes those profiles.
I am wondering, would it be a good idea to disallow User profiles links using robots.txt?
Something like
Disallow: /forums/User-*
-
Maybe you should noindex user profile pages until they've been active on the site long enough that a) you're sure they're not a spam bot and b) they're actually active users, with some interesting information to share on their user page?
Like Shaliendra said, this is your call. It's really about your website goals, and what those user pages do for the site. Are you getting much organic traffic from user pages? If you aren't, it's probably easiest to just noindex all user pages. But if some profiles are bringing in organic traffic, I'd recommend that you add a noindex tag immediately, but remove it once someone has commented a few times.
Does that help?
-
I am only talking about user profile pages not the links inside them. I have already taken care of them.
Request others to please come up with suggestions.
-
If you are talking about user profile pages, it is your call.
If you are talking about links that users post in profile pages, use as signatures or use in threads, make sure to mark them nofollow.
Regards
-
Let me re-phrase my question a bit. Would it be a good idea to get the user profile links noindexed in the first place? or should we keep them indexed in Google?
-
Use meta="noindex" tag for the user profile pages. It is more effective.
Regards
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
-
Wordpress #comment links?
We just started our trial account and have the results from our first Moz Pro Site Crawl. It's showing that we have a large portion of our pages have 'Too Many Links' and I'm trying to determine exactly what this means and how to fix it. The article referenced is from 2011 and doesn't fully address what I'm looking for. Here are a few questions: 1. Can we lower the 'link count' by adding a 'no follow' or does too many links, count links regardless? The question being, is the only way to solve this by removing links or are their no follow or no index options that will prevent us from having this issue moving forward? 2. Comment Links: Our site is in Wordpress and I just recognized that each of the comment links are followed: https://screencast.com/t/b0CIKVafWw. These aren't links from our users, rather these are links within Wordpress and are structured like this: https://mysite.com/blog-post/#comment-6970. From my screenshot you can see they are highlighted as 'followed links'. Is there a setting within Wordpress to turn this off or is there another option I should consider? Should we just make these no index, no follow links? Will that solve the 'Too many links' problem? I searched through the Q&A's and couldn't find an answer directly to my question. Most were around people leaving links in the comments section, which isn't what I'm looking for. Thank you for any help you can provide.
On-Page Optimization | | FabulesslyFrugal0 -
Suggestions on dealing with duplicate content?
What are the best ways to protect / deal with duplicate content? I've added an example scenario, Nike Trainer model 1 – has an overview page that also links to a sub-page about cushioning, one about Gore-Tex and one about breathability. Nike Trainer model 2,3,4,5 – have an overview page that also links to sub-pages page about cushioning , Gore-Tex and breathability. In each of the sub-pages the URL is a child of the parent so a distinct page from each other e.g. /nike-trainer/model-1/gore-tex /nike-trainer/model-2/gore-tex. There is some differences in material composition, some different images and of course the product name is referred multiple times. This makes the page in the region of 80% unique. Any suggestions welcome about the above example or any other ways you guys know of dealing with duplicate content.
On-Page Optimization | | punchseo0 -
Should I link G+ and social accounts to internal pages?
Hi Gang, We are a multi-state law firm (Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico) that is looking to increase ranking for Michigan and New Mexico for 2015. (Michigan and New Mexico used to exist as subdomains under 2keller.com but have now been incorporated as pages under the main domain.) The question is whether or not we link directly to what we call the "main state pages" from various accounts like G+, FB, Yellow Pages, Yelp, etc.? For example, should we link from our New Mexcio G+ page to our New Mexico main page, or should it be linked to the main domain at 2keller.com where our general branding is on display? I seem to remember somewhere seeing a Whiteboard Friday or some other forum in which Rand had spoke to something similar. I believe he advised AGAINST trying to control the "user experience" for instances like these, but I can't locate same. I understand that clients/customers are looking for our main brand, but it would seem to be the better experience to get users in state specific locales to their state specific page. Am I thinking wrong about this? Thanks in advance! Wayne
On-Page Optimization | | Wayne760 -
Are Back Links King
We have worked as closely as possible to the guidelines and advice on this forum, if we compare our on page Analsis with other companies in the same field as ours we have a far better site as far as SEO is concerned, our DA authority is higher and most of our page authority is higher but we just cannot seem to get up to their level in the search engines, one site that is in competiton with us do not use Facebook and also they do not use Twitter very much, I looked at some of their backlinks and their top one which was a blog had not been updated since 2011, over the years we have amassed far more what I would call worthless links as this was the done thing then, how can I get on the right track, are there any companies who could assess our site for a reasonable cost to point us in the right direction, we are doing our own blog, Facebook, Twitter, Onlywire?
On-Page Optimization | | Palmbourne0 -
How to handle lots of outbound links
I decided to create a page on my website where I would list all of my favorite resources and 3rd party tools. There are now 35 links in the main content section of the page, all with anchor text, pointing to websites in my industry. My question is this: what is the best practice here? Should I add nofollow tags to the links? Should I do something else to indicate that these links shouldn't be crawled? Frankly, I don't mind passing some link juice to these tools (in this case, and from this particular website), but I might make a different decision with a client's website. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Here is the page I'm referring to, in case anyone wants to look: http://willmarlow.com/resources-2/the-digital-marketing-toolbox/. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | williammarlow0 -
Do I need a unique post meta description
Just wondering what the best practise is for unique meta desriptions on blogs. When I post a blog on my wordpress, clicking the title takes you to an individual page with that blog on it. I understand how important the title tag is on this page but when I create a meta description: a) is it useful? b) Should it be unique or is it ok to copy part of the post and insert that as the meta tag? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | acs1111 -
Title Tag suggestions for blog....
Hi Guys. I have been sorting out title tags for a photography site. I have given each page within the website a different title tag but now Im unsure as what I should do with the blog. Blog title tag is currently "Portrait Photographer London | Company Name Blog" This is fine however wordpress combines the homepage title tag with the title of each blog post and imo makes for a long & cumbersome title...such as : "The Obamas Family Portrait | Portrait Photographer London | Company Name Blog" I'm pretty sure I could do better and should do better but Im at a loss, what do you guys think?
On-Page Optimization | | RankStealer0 -
Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization | Help needed
I just ran a grade report for one of my niche websites and I can't seem to fix the following issue: Avoid Keyword Self-Cannibalization
On-Page Optimization | | severtservice
Easy fix Cannibalizing link "Buikspieroefeningen voor thuis en een lager gewicht" and "Buikspieroefeningen voor thuis" Explanation It's a best practice in SEO to target each keyword with a single page on your site (sometimes two if you've already achieved high rankings and are seeking a second, indented listing). To prevent engines from potentially seeing a signal that this page is not the intended ranking target and creating additional competition for your page, we suggest staying away from linking internally to another page with the target keyword(s) as the exact anchor text. Note that using modified versions is sometimes fine (for example, if this page targeted the word 'elephants', using 'baby elephants' in anchor text would be just fine). Recommendation Unless there is intent to rank multiple pages for the target keyword, it may be wise to modify the anchor text of this link so it is not an exact match. -- Well, I've tried really everything (I believe) but this issue is not going away.
Could anyone help me out with this? My site = www.debuikspieroefeningenvoorthuis.nl Thanks!
Dennis0