1000+ links from domain to subdomain - impacting?
-
Hi there!
I'm wondering if anyone could kindly help me with this question.
I have a domain let's say: thisdomain.com - and I also have a subdomain called widgets.thisdomain.com
thisdomain.com has approx 2000 pages on it. There are site wide links in the top nav, side nav and footer pointing to widgets.thisdomain.com (all with the same anchor text - not branded - it's a money term).
My question is, do you think this would be causing some kind of algorithmic penalty (over optimisation / penguin)?
Or, do you think Google realises these links are pointing to a subdomain and says, "hey, OK we understand these two domains could be related" or given subdomains are seen as essentially standalone websites, the algo is saying "hang on a minute, pal, this looks fishy, why are you linking to this subdomain 1000+ times with sitewide links on the same anchor text"?
Should I nofollow these sitewide links? Do you think that will help?
I would really appreciate any help on this one.
Cheers!
-
If you do that and those links have supported rankings then there could be a traffic loss.
Yes, traffic/rankings have gone down so I've been investigating possible over optimisation especially on money terms.
If this was client site, I would be tempted to describe Door A, Door B and Door C.
Yes, you are not wrong. I like the analogy!
Really appreciate your help, EGOL.
-
I believe they've been advised a few years ago about the subdomain being the best approach.
That was probably good advice at the time. But times Google has changed.
however the client won't want that
You guys who have clients must have a lot of patience.
hence my thinking at least by adding the nofollow attribute, I can tell Google's algo I'm not trying to pass any juice across.
If you do that and those links have supported rankings then there could be a traffic loss.
FROM INITIAL QUESTION: do you think this would be causing some kind of algorithmic penalty
From this I think you are saying that the site suffered a rankings loss. If that is the case then taking action might be helpful. If that is not the case, I would be inclined to do nothing....
... well, honestly, I would be redirecting that subdomain to a folder if this was my site.
If this was client site, I would be tempted to describe Door A, Door B and Door C. And tell them that my best judgement says that there is shit behind A and B but safety, possible rankings increase behind Door C. If it was my site or my mother's site I would be using Door C. Then they have been given your best advice and choose the shit if they like it.
-
Thanks EGOL, I really appreciate your thoughts
Yes, I would love to get the client to move this content into a folder on the main site. I believe they've been advised a few years ago about the subdomain being the best approach. I'm glad you're getting terrific results from the move.
The reason for the links... The product on the subdomain is a separate business entity however it is still closely related to what the main company does. So they want people to be able to find these links easily. I agree, the footer link could be removed entirely, however the client won't want that, hence my thinking at least by adding the nofollow attribute, I can tell Google's algo I'm not trying to pass any juice across.
The situation is, they have three money term sitewide links from the main domain pointing at two separate pages on the subdomain. This means there are 1000+ links pointing at two distinct pages on the subdomain using a money term.
-
My question is, do you think this would be causing some kind of algorithmic penalty (over optimisation / penguin)?
Personal opinion... Probably not. But, if those three links each have different anchor text with money terms and are hitting different pages on the subdomain then I might be wrong.
Or, do you think Google realises these links are pointing to a subdomain and says, "hey, OK we understand these two domains could be related" or given subdomains are seen as essentially standalone websites, the algo is saying "hang on a minute, pal, this looks fishy, why are you linking to this subdomain 1000+ times with sitewide links on the same anchor text"?
Maybe.
Should I nofollow these sitewide links? Do you think that will help?
You could. That would be a good conservative response.
Why do you have all of these links? Does anybody click those footer links? I bet nobody is clicking them.
I know that the answers that I gave above were less than satisfying.
I responded to this question to suggest that the content on your subdomain could be moved into a folder on the root domain. I did this on a site and the results have been kickass. Kickass.
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
-
Acquired domains for SEO
hi there, For one of our insurance websites we acquired a domain, this domain is going to be redirected to our domain. After some research we discovered the domain we've bought also includes other domains which 301 redirect to specific 'insurance products'. These domains are also included in the deal. But what is the best technical solution for redirecting these specific redirected product domains? They already redirect to the product pages of the domain we've bought, so after redirect this domain, the sub (product) redirected domains will also link to us. It would be like this: A) www.sub-carinsurancesite.nl (301) -> www.domain-we-bought.com/car-insurance -> www.ourdomain.com/car-insurance
Technical SEO | | remkoallertz
B) www.sub-carinsurancesite.nl (301) -> www.ourdomain.com/car-insurance & www.domain-we-bought.com/car-insurance -> www.ourdomain.com/car-insurance etc0 -
Sitemap links
Hi, I´m running a sitemap using pro-sitemaps and I find several pages that shouldn´t be listed. How do I find how are these pages being generated? Can´t find the links the robot is following to get to those pages..
Technical SEO | | ceci27100 -
"One Page With Two Links To Same Page; We Counted The First Link" Is this true?
I read this to day http://searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-one-page-two-links-page-counted-first-link-192718 I thought to myself, yep, thats what I been reading in Moz for years ( pitty Matt could not confirm that still the case for 2014) But reading though the comments Michael Martinez of http://www.seo-theory.com/ pointed out that Mat says "...the last time I checked, was 2009, and back then -- uh, we might, for example, only have selected one of the links from a given page."
Technical SEO | | PaddyDisplays
Which would imply that is does not not mean it always the first link. Michael goes on to say "Back in 2008 when Rand WRONGLY claimed that Google was only counting the first link (I shared results of a test where it passed anchor text from TWO links on the same page)" then goes on to say " In practice the search engine sometimes skipped over links and took anchor text from a second or third link down the page." For me this is significant. I know people that have had "SEO experts" recommend that they should have a blog attached to there e-commence site and post blog posts (with no real interest for readers) with anchor text links to you landing pages. I thought that posting blog post just for anchor text link was a waste of time if you are already linking to the landing page with in a main navigation as google would see that link first. But if Michael is correct then these type of blog posts anchor text link blog posts would have value But who is' right Rand or Michael?0 -
Quality links are beneficial, but are neutral links detrimental?
So obviously a link profile featuring quality / authoritative / relavant in-bound links is preferable, but here's my question: If I'm starting work on a brand new domain, should I build links that one would consider neutral (i.e. from a non-spammy, but unrelated site) or should I not bother and only focus on quality links? Thanks
Technical SEO | | underscorelive0 -
Clickable links in video?
Hi, I am creating a website for mobile devices and have planned to use videos at certain places. I want to have a clickable url inserted at the end of the video. Any suggestions how may i do it? Regards
Technical SEO | | IM_Learner0 -
Selling Domain,,,,, OOOOPPPPPPsssss!
Hey Everyone, I think I may have screwed up big time. I have an old 4 letter domain that I've been sitting on for many years. I had no idea what it was worth and ended up putting it up on ebay. I have since been told that it's quite valuable. I just tried to end the auction and ebay won't let me end it. My thinking is that someone here may want to take advantage of my mistake. Even better, let me know if there are any tricks to ending the auction. The domain is http://proa.com If for some reason it doesn't sell, where is a good place to sell it at a fair price? Have a good one. David
Technical SEO | | dmac0 -
Internal Linking
Where is the best information on internal linking. I'm so confused and everything I read says something different. Ahhhh Thanks
Technical SEO | | meardna770