Can hotlinking images from multiple sites be bad for SEO?
-
Hi,
There's a very similar question already being discussed here, but it deals with hotlinking from a single site that is owned by the same person.
I'm interested whether hotlinking images from multiple sites can be bad for SEO.
The issue is that one of our bloggers has been hotlinking all the images he uses, sometimes there are 3 or 4 images per blog from different domains.
We know that hotlinking is frowned upon, but can it affect us in the SERPs?
Thanks,
James
-
Sorry, hotlinking was the wrong word to use, we're actually just embedding the images.
Is it possible that Google recognises that spammy sites (as an example) tend to embed lots of images and therefore use it as an indicator of spam?
Also, is poor netiquette ever taken into account? Again, maybe because Google is trying to find spammy sites?
For the record, it is something we'll be fixing (especially from a copyright point of view), but we're trying to prioritise this. If there's a potential SEO impact, we'll sort it quick, if not, then we'll do more pressing things first.
-
Okay, so hotlinking is the wrong terminology to use. Do you think embedding images is taken into account by Google?
For example, would Google see spammy sites embedding lots of images, and therefore use it as an indicator of spam?
-
That's confused me too! Embedding an image from another site is hotlinking. A href doesn't have anything to do with it.
-
Excuse me, it's late in the day. Embedding is still referencing the sites image URL right?
Also, what if the site changes the directory or something and all the images on your site now 404.
-
Another thing to consider is that requesting images from multiple sites will create a lag in load times. Most modern browsers will download multiple files in parallel from the one host. Multiple hosts will mean the page load will occur in series (not parallel) and this will create a slower load time.
Hope this helps!
Dan
-
Sorry, I assumed you meant you were hotlinking images, rather than just embedding them. If you're just using tags with no <href> defined (so just embedding, not hotlinking), then you're right - this won't cause a problem.</href>
-
Create and host your own image or use a royalty-free image so you won't suffer from someone claiming copyright, this should be your biggest concern here.
-
Takeshi is right. Bandwidth can cost money, so there's that as well as the copyright theft. You could also fall victim to a 'switcheroo': http://www.deuceofclubs.com/switcheroo/index.html - I've done this myself before by adding a polite message asking someone not to hotlink.
Google don't include hotlinked images in Google News so it is something they may take into account when ranking a page in their general search.
-
Surely that only works if it's an actual link, right? Simply using the tag shouldn't be regarded as a link by Google?
-
You are definitely missing out on image traffic by not hosting your own images. Plus, hotlinking is poor netiquette since you are using someone else's bandwidth without their permission. If the images are copyrighted, then you could be hit by DMCA requests which can negatively impact your SEO.
-
Hi James
A lot of this will depend on the site you're linking to.
It's long been a part of the ranking algorithm that if you link to sites that are seen negatively by Google, due to spam/malware/etc, then your site may be viewed negatively itself. Without knowing where your blogger has been linking from, it's hard to say - but it's worth running a check just in case.
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
-
I am working on a site with a .global TLD. What are the SEO implications?
In particular, I have a PA and DA score of 1 across all pages on the site - is this the cause?
Technical SEO | | Ronanmartin0 -
Can panda penalize News publisher sites?
Hey Guys,I was wondering how Panda behaves with news publisher sites.A site with +-1M visits a day that publishes +-300 news articles a day and the life of each article is one week top, given the nature of a news articles -->only relevant now.After one week the the news articles have virtually no page views. This results on a site with thousands of quality content pages that has no page views for years.Is it possible that the site gets penalized by panda for having thousands of pages with no visits?
Technical SEO | | Mr.bfz0 -
How can I use a keyword based domain to rank for my existing site?
Hi everyone, From my understanding if your keywords are in your domain name it can help you rank for the keyword. My site www.pixelchefs.com was affected from the latest Google Algorithm changes, as I used my main site as a testing ground for all my back linking. Our site was a single page with Jquery slide, late February the same time with the Google algo changes we uploaded our new site, larger site with lots of pages and info. Result of that was that home page has PR3 and all other pages PR0. Well I don't really depend on Google for any work as most of my work comes from referrals.......but While searching for names for my private page I came across the domain name www.DesignOrlando.com, The specific keyword gets 22,210 view per month according to Google analytics and also contains part of the keyword for all the keywords I am after. I want to use the domain name for my main site but i am not sure what is the best way to forward the domain so Google can start reading my site as DesignOrlando.com Any Suggestions will be very appreciated.
Technical SEO | | alex_pixelchefs0 -
Will bad things happen if I cancel 301 site redirect?
Hi, please someone help! We have two identical websites, say A & B. Because of the not so good SEO establishment, site B was built and site A was 301 redirected to site B weeks ago. For some reasons, we have to reuse site A, which means we have to cancel the 301 redirection. (Sound a little crazy) So the question are: 1. Can we conduct the action? 2. If we cant, what's the reason? 3. If we can, what would be the best practice? Thanks for help in advance! Plus: we also CARE what would happen to site B if the 301 is cancelled? Will it grow healthy like a new site?
Technical SEO | | Squall3150 -
Planing Seo For New Seo
Hello; I have the domain which registerd in 2006 and i opened website 1 months ago and i start to do some seo like bought links pr1-pr7 50 links and 2500 social bookmarks 2000 blog links and also some wiki links am i doing good or bad ?
Technical SEO | | Sadullah0 -
Go Daddy can anyone explain the point of their auction site
Hi i am very confused. I found out that go daddy was selling in2town.com and they are the owners of the domain name so i went ahead and bid for the domain name. i then won it and was told i would have to wait six days to use it and now i have received this email from them. This message is to notify you that the current registrant of in2town.com has renewed their domain name and we have ended the auction per the terms of the legal agreement (Universal Terms of Service) that you acknowledged at the time of bidding. If you have already paid for this domain name, you will automatically receive a refund within the next 6 days. We're sorry you did not win this domain. However, we have thousands of other great names available at Go Daddy Auctions. Visit our Web site to search for your next domain. If you have any questions, Customer Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: – Email: auctions@godaddy.com
Technical SEO | | ClaireH-184886
– Phone: (480) 505-8892
– Online Support Sincerely,
Go Daddy Auctions Team0 -
Browser Pop Ups - Can it be SEO Friendly and how?
Hi The designer of the company I work for is re-designing Pop Up browsers as well as inline Pop up and Drop down menus. He needs SEO requirements - how can they be SEO friendly? Thanks a lot for your help! SL. Please see below the detail: Browser Pop Ups all include:
Technical SEO | | charsimona
• a browser title,
• a logo and title in the title bar,
• a close window button and
• a call to action (that closes pop-up when clicked). Usage:
Use when you'd like to offer additional information to the
user but, not take the user away from the main page. Inline Pop up and Drop down menus. The inline pop-up & drop down is used to display additional menu options, functionality
or content on the page without dedicating real estate in the page layout. It's a part of the page HTML to retain SEO value and thus does not trigger pop-up blockers. A title bar displays when content of the pop-up or drop down is not in context of
the trigger. When used as a drop down, it is attached to the the bottom of it's trigger and left-aligned (unless it would exceed beyond the browser chrome, then it's right-aligned). When used as a pop-up, it is centered vertically/horizontally in the users browser window.
The inline pop-up/drop down can be triggered differently per instance (e.g. onclick, onhover with delay). It can be closed by: clicking on link/location that triggered the pop-up/drop down (a.k.a. close icon) clicking anywhere outside the pop-up/drop down There are 5 widths to choose from, based on the needs of the content: 196px (3 columns) 266px (4 columns) 406px (6 columns) 546px (8 columns) 658px (10 columns)0 -
Managing SEO during web site migration
We have an old web site which currently has good traffic and search ranking. However, the old design is not helping us convert traffic into customers and we have decided to re-design the web site. Due to challenges resolving 4XX issues in the current setup, we will be moving the site to a new CMS and hosting provider. The domain will remain the same. The plan is to create exactly the same pages in the new CMS, as what we have today. And to use the same URLs for each page. Content will remain the same in step one. We will only apply a new layout and design. Besides keeping the URLs the same as in the old system. What else should we be aware of when doing a web site migration, that might impact our search ranking?
Technical SEO | | petersen0