Backlinking
-
I read the moz begainers guide and I am confuse over this point.
" If i have too many back links from a single site. It's considered too spammy. "
Q: I have a blog and it constantly black links to my ranking page, is this considered bad?
Q: I have an active forum that I go to and I am constantly contributing to the topic however i will always try to relate back to my website, is this considered spammy too?
-
It does seem like you may be setting up some obvious patterns of backlinking for SEO gains, which Google Penguin can penalize. It especially depends on what anchor text you are using.
Remember that Google prefers linking to be "natural." This means that you produce great content, and then in turn, others will want to share that content by linking to it. A backlink to your website should be seen as an "editorial vote" from one website to another, as opposed to you going out and creating all of your backlinks yourself. Here is a video from a bald Matt Cutts on techniques for building links.
If your primary SEO strategy is to go about linking to yourself on various forums and blogs, and especially if you are using money anchor text like "seo company new york" then you may be setting yourself up for an over-optimization penalty of some kind.
In regards to the discussion forum you participate in, I would check to see if those links you are creating are marked with a rel="nofollow" attribute. If they are, then I would not worry so much about them harming you, but also know that they can't really directly boost your ranking either.
-
Hi there,
Q1. I would monitor the amount of links you add and also make sure that you aren't overusing the same anchor text. This could potentially come up as a red flag to Google even if the links are quite natural.
Q2. That technique does sound a bit spammy. If you are trying hard to relate back to your website just for links, this too might be seen as shady by Google and other participants in the forum. I would continue to contribute but only mention / link to your website when it's absolutely necessary to make your point.
Hope this was helpful!
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
-
Difficulty getting relevant backlinks
I run a very niche blog on getting section 8 housing. I've had the blog for about 6 years and have paid attention to it on and off. For the past few months, I've been ON again. What's appealing to me is the amount of potential traffic the keywords have and small competition. I have knowledge on the subject. I've read Moz seo guides, etc... The problem is government sites rank high (understandably) or other sites that are nonsense / scams when you search 'section 8 application'. It's very hard to find active bloggers to do link exchange is with as the sites that rank high are trying to scam people and obviously I can't get government back links. I've tried reaching out to people with no avail. I think I have good informative content. All of my adsense goes to charity but at this point it's not much. I'd like to get it out there, white-hat style, but I'm having difficulty. Any suggestions (please be specific), on how I can target sites that would be relevant to this topic and not do generic back-linking (unless you think news submissions, etc will work)? Thanks!
Link Building | | sstrick1 -
Why have I lost 1/3 of my backlinks (about 5,000) in 3 months?
In August, my client's site (I work at a marketing agency) had about 15,000 backlinks. Now they suddenly have about 10,000 backlinks. And their Domain Authority has dropped from 48 to 40! Can someone please help me understand what could've happened? At first I assumed this had something to do with the latest Penguin update, since I knew my client's site had some extremely spammy backlinks they hadn't cleaned up yet. (The site was hacked at some point and hidden pages were created as part of some kind of link-building scheme, and there were lots of links from sketchy sites to those pages. The hidden pages have been taken down and the URLs now redirect to my client's home page.) But that would only explain a sudden drop in Domain Authority, right? How could Penguin suddenly cause my client to lose 5,000 backlinks? And if it's not Penguin, what could it be? Thanks in advance for any insight that anyone can share!
Link Building | | matt-145670 -
App SEO: do backlinks to your google play app help?
I have an app in the Google Play store and I am trying to improve it in the play store search rankings. I was wondering if back-links to our play store URL help? If so do today's rules around back-link quality matter or its it about volume? Any other advice would be welcomed. thanks
Link Building | | surfeasy0 -
Backlinks in client website footers - best strategy?
I work for a web design & development agency. We are looking to rank for 'web design' and 'web development'. Typically we have a credit in the footer of every site we build (below). We have a lot of backlinks (>60,000) this way. web design and development by We link 'web design and development' and '<our name="">' separately.
Link Building | | JeromeSavon
Does this strategy sound ok and can anyone suggest improvements?</our> Thanks0 -
Where I can find a backlink community exchange?
I know is difficult but it's worth to try. I am looking for a community eager to exchange links. I am in the venue rent for weeding and conferences in London  and I would be delighted to find other people to exchange the links. At the moment my page is PR4 I have seen communities for games where they exchange anything, why don't link exchange!!!!
Link Building | | lnietob0 -
Why is a website with no backlinks beating me?
In Sydney we have an import car dealership and even though it does not show any backlinks to it: http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/links?site=www.edwardlees.com.au%2F (make sure to search on Google.com.au for any relevant keywords I mention) However this website is ranking at the top for many competitive keywords, for example: 'japanese imports' It is dominating. Our website has many backlinks: http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/links?site=www.sportsautogroup.com.au But no keyword rankings. I understand we need to fix up our on Page SEO, but how does our EdwardLee's rank top with no backlinks?? Or is the tool just missing data?
Link Building | | HeadStud0 -
Concerned about quality of backlinks - should I take action?
I regularly work on websites to which previous SEOs have built questionable backlinks. This morning I've just been analysing some backlinks - found 40 odd were coming from 20 odd websites which all had the same gentleman as personal registrant, who happens to be the boss of an SEO company. The SEO company name is mentioned in registrant details too, and often on the websites in question (including weblinks from some of these 20 odd websites to the SEO company). I did note the IP addresses / hosting for these websites did vary though, as did the postal address of the individual in question, perhaps throwing Google off the scent a bit. I should add that these websites are virtually all tourism related/themed, with up to a few dozen backlinks per page - usually articles. It's very clear they are backlinking to keyphrases. Now, this kinda thing<a></a> sets the alarm bells ringing. Firstly, this looks like an infringement of Google Webmaster Guidelines. Secondly, it doesn't sound like a White Hat technique for building links! Am I correct? I guess it might be denied they are partner pages due to the quality of content, perhaps, which isn't as spammy as it might've been. However, I suggest these are at least paid links because there is no other clear way of getting content on these pages, as far as I can see.<a></a><a></a> Should I demand these backlinks are taken down? What level of risk is posed do you think? I don't want this website to suffer a Google penalty at some point, particularly not after I've started work on it. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.
Link Building | | McTaggart0 -
My customer needs to change hosts! What part of the SEO process should I worry about most? Backlinks?
I just hired an agency to build quality backlinks and articles....should I worry about the new webhost? Should I wait? Ill assume if the page names are the same, all will be good. What if they change? Newbie Help! Thanks Mozzers.
Link Building | | Giggy0