Can you nofollow a URL?
-
Hey Moz Community,
My questions sounds pretty simple but unfortunately, it isn't. I have a domain name (we'll use example.com for this) http://example.com which 301 re-directs to http://www.example.com. http://example.com has bad links pointing to it and http://www.example.com does not. So essentially, I want to stop negative influences from http://example.com being passed on to http://www.example.com. A 302 re-direct sounds like it would work in theory but is this the best way to go about this?
Just so you know, we have completed a reconsideration request a long time ago but I think the bad links are still negatively affecting the website as it does not rank for it's own name which is bizarre.
Actual Question:
How do I re-direct http://example.com to http://www.example.com without passing on the negative SEO attached to http://example.com?
Thanks in advance!
-
Looks like a lot of good information from folks here so I'll be brief.
Technically, there's no practical way to redirect the page without redirecting the links. Unless your page serves a 404 or 410 response code, those links will be associated with your domain.
The only way to disassociate yourself from these links is through use of the Disavow Tool.
-
It's a website for a mobile app and the references for it around the web (in iTunes for instance) all rank on first page, it has a unique name. The link profile has been fine since the penalty was lifted, a few links still need to be cleaned but they are all in the disavow file that is uploaded to Google. It's weird because we aren't even in the top 10 pages.
If the website was hit again then wouldn't a notice have come through in Google Webmaster Tools by now?
-
Hm, you're in a tough spot.
Is your domain a unique name, like "Moz," or is it a description of what you are, like "SEO Info"? I ask because it's possible that your brand name is really a competitive keyword that you're just not strong enough to compete for, which could explain why you don't rank for it.
Also, have you looked through your link profile since 2013? It's possible that you have been hit by a spam penalty again. Even if you haven't purchased more links, if someone hits you with some negative SEO or if you picked up a few low quality links without high quality links to balance things out, it's possible you've been hit again.
-
Hey Kristina, thanks for your reply, see my answers to each bullet point below:
- The www version does not rank for the brand name. Initially the non www version was the main website but we changed this to the www version during November 2014.
- The reconsideration request was submitted on 18/10/2013 and Google responded on 24/10/2013 stating that the manual spam action had been revoked.
- Not a lot of value right now but changing the domain name will be impossible.
-
Thanks Ryan, I guess you're right but we're trying to minimize the negative impact, a new domain name is not possible.
-
Thanks for the reply Monica. Unfortunately, a new domain is not possible.
-
To second Ryan's point: Google definitely sees http://example.com as a separate page than http://www.example.com, but I'd be surprised if you can distance yourself from bad links pointing to http://example.com by focusing on http://www.example.com. Google's pretty smart, it knows that those two pages are usually one and the same.
To your 302 redirect point: Google's seem enough improperly used 302 redirects (both accidentally and for SEO reasons, like this) to start treating 302 redirects as 301s if they stay in place over time, according to a test Geoff Kenyon worked on. A 302 redirect may work for a little while, but it's not a long term solution.
To dig into this a bit deeper:
- Does the www version of your site rank for your brand name? Is it just the non-www version that's been hit?
- When did you submit a reconsideration request, and what was Google's response? Did they say that your penalty has been lifted?
- What is the value of your current domain name? I've heard of companies that have a small enough brand awareness, it's better business sense to just restart from the ground up with a new domain. Is that where you are, or do you have a pretty solid business built up?
-
I think your problem may be one of differentiation. While example.com and www.example.com are technically two different domains, they're not substantially different enough when it comes to creating a new site on the ashes of a negative one. (i.e. canonical redirecting off www or non-www for the same domain name is a common practice for websites that aren't trying to change their image). I can't speak specifically to your situation but you might consider creating an entirely new domain if you think example.com is that negative.
-
Usually, you wouldn't 301 redirect this, you would use a canonical tag. If the value of the URL has a ton of negative link juice, is there any reason you can't 404 the page and start fresh on a new URL? That would be my advice. Even if you redirect the link, these are technically the same page, and the negative link juice will be passed through. I would cut my losses, get rid of the bad pages and start fresh.
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
-
Important category pages that can and should be found in SERP but can not be reached by navigating on the webshop itself
Hi, On a webshop we are optimizing, the main navigation consists of the 5 main categories to which all of the products can be assigned. However, the main tabs in the navigation just activate a drop down with all of the subcategories. For example: the tab in the navigation is 'Garden equipment' and when you click on this tab, the drop down is shown with subcategories like 'Lawn mowers', 'Leaf blowers' and so on. Now, the page 'Garden equipment' is one of the main category pages and we want this page to rank of course. This shouldn't be a problem, since there is a separate URL for this page that can be indexed and that can be reached through internal links on the website. However, this page can not be reached when a visitor initially comes on the homepage of the webshop, since the tab in the navigation isn't clickable. This page will only be reached when a subcategory is selected, and then when the visitor goes back to the category page through the breadcrumb or through an internal link. Is it a problem that these important overview category pages can not be reached immediately? Thanks.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mat_C0 -
404 broken URLs coming up in Google
When we do a search for our brand, we are get the following results in google.com.au (see image attachment). As outlined in red, there are listings in Google that result in 404 Page Not Found URLs. What can we do to enable google to do a recrawl or to ensure that these broken URLs are no longer listed in Google? Thanks for your help here! sBqpvtj
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Gavo0 -
Company Blog at a different URL
Ok, I have been doing a lot of work over the past 6 months, disavowing low quality links from spammy directories to our company website, etc. However, my efforts seem to have had a negative, not positive effect. This has brought me back to reconsidering what we are doing as we have lost a good amount of traction on the nationwide Google rankings specifically. Considering our company blog - platinumcctv(dot)net - we have used this blog for a long time to inform customers of new products, software developments and then to provide them links to purchase those components. Last week, I revamped the nearly default wordpress theme to another on a piece of advice. However, someone told me that all of our links should be nofollow, even though it is a company blog because we have many links coming from this domain, and it could be found as spammy. Potato/Potato - But before I start the tedious task of changing every link to no follow on a whim, i searched a lot, but have found no CLEAR substantiation of this. Any ideas? Other recommendations appreciated as well! Platinum-CCTV(dot)com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | PTCCTV0 -
Can too many NoFollow links damage your Google rankings?
I've been trying to recover from a Google algorithm change since Sep 2012, so far without success. I'm now wondering if the nofollow on external links in my blog posts are actually doing me damage. http://www.smartdatinguk.com/blog/ Does anyone have any experience of this?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | benners0 -
Does having a trailing slash make a url different than the same url without the trailing slash?
Does having a trailing slash make a url different than the same url without the trailing slash? www.example.com/services Or www.example.com/services**/** Does Google consider these to be the same link or does Google treat them as different links?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | webestate0 -
Robots.txt: Can you put a /* wildcard in the middle of a URL?
We have noticed that Google is indexing the language/country directory versions of directories we have disallowed in our robots.txt. For example: Disallow: /images/ is blocked just fine However, once you add our /en/uk/ directory in front of it, there are dozens of pages indexed. The question is: Can I put a wildcard in the middle of the string, ex. /en/*/images/, or do I need to list out every single country for every language in the robots file. Anyone know of any workarounds?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | IHSwebsite0 -
How can you rank for several cities ?
I have a website design client who wishes to rank for several cities they are willing to service locally. I have seen a competitor do this, Main-site.com/web-design content all about web design subcategories main-site.com/web-design/city-name-website-designer Content about web design plus content about the city itself and hiring a website designer in that city main-site.com/web-design/next-city-name-website-designer Content about web design plus content about the next city itself and hiring a website designer in that city Is this a great strategy, it seems to be working for them, or will Google eventually penalize this ? Or would you just put all 4 city names in the title and descriptions and content on one page ?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | jlane90 -
How to fix duplicated urls
I have an issue with duplicated pages. Should I use cannonical tag and if so, how? Or should change the page titles? This is causing my pages to compete with each other in the SERPs. 'Paradisus All Inclusive Luxury Resorts - Book your stay at Paradisus Resorts' is also used on http://www.paradisus.com/booking-template.php | http://www.paradisus.com/booking-template.php?codigoHotel=5889 line 9 | | http://www.paradisus.com/booking-template.php?codigoHotel=5891 line 9 | | http://www.paradisus.com/booking-template.php?codigoHotel=5910 line 9 | | http://www.paradisus.com/booking-template.php?codigoHotel=5911 line 9 |
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Melia0