External link
-
Hi guys!
You must get many questions about external links... This is mine.
If I get an external link with good authority ranking in google, but it is not relevant to the site (for example, my site is about marquees, but we could get links from schools, which are our main clients, or any type of client) Does that affect negatively somehow to the rankings? or there is good value on it even is not related?
Thanks!
Adriana
-
This reply was very useful, because it tells me that even if it does not help me with a particular keyword, it helps us with the domain authority. They are legitimate business... So, it should be fine...
-
Thanks!. There will not be any mass link manipulation, I believe that if we create a system with the clients we already have encouraging them to link us if they are happy with the result, could bring good results. And the amount of links pointing at us will increase. then, I will not need to chase links or anything, I believe that SEO should be handled inside the company, and should be somehow part of the marketing strategy. If we could achieve that, I believe time will increase our authority.
-
Thank you for your reply. It is something we are planning to do, but because the variety of clients is so wide (banks or clubs or schools) I got a little concerned about how to relate them to what we do. But thanks!
-
Getting links from seemingly unrelated businesses will not negatively affect your ranking unless as mentioned below you suddenly gain a lot of links from dubious sources.
There is value in an authorative link even if it isn't relevant so i would recommend that you ask the schools that are your clients if they can link to your site. As well as the SEO value, someone may see it who needs a marquee for their organisation or event.
-
Any link will help relevant or not, just on a different level.
Note: If you start making "clever schemes" and mass link manipulation you may get in trouble if reviewed by Google.
-
From the way you've described your situation, yes, there is good value in the links you are getting.
What you want to be concerned about isn't one particular site linking to you and whether they are or are not related to your product / service. What you want to be concerned about is low quality sites that are highly associated with dubious content such as spamming, link buying and selling, cloaking, keyword stuffing, porn, gambling, etc. It is highly unlikely your clients are involved in any of these activities.
All that being said, Google understands site owners have limited control over who links to them. If you have an opportunity to get a link from a high quality site, count yourself lucky. Even more so if the link is truly authentic and is placed within copy that is related to what you do. In fact, I would go so far as to recommend you start asking your clients for a link to your site if they are happy with your service.
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
-
Why are bit.ly and ow.ly links showing up as Inbound Links?
Hello! I noticed this question was asked a while back (around 2013 i think), but I still don't quite understand why I'm seeing these shortened URLs come up as Inbound Links? Can someone please explain? Thanks,
Link Building | | txwildcard
Carlos0 -
Link from a directory
Hi, im submitting a clients website to some directories. They are a dental practice and I'm adding them to this website http://goo.gl/Tvyabd Once i added the business to its directory it asked me to add a link (in so many words) back to its website from my clients website. Is this ok to do or is it seen as spam? Im confused about this as sometimes directories are free and sometimes they ask for a fee for it to be fast tracked to put it on the website. I always check the Domain authority of the websites and make sure they are relevant to the industry that I'm working in but again not sure if this would be seen as "paying" for links. Thanks Ade
Link Building | | popcreativeltd0 -
Why Links from Top Level Domains doesn't Pass Link Equity?
Hello, I have a doubt about Equity-Passing links report of OpensiteExplorer.org According to Sam Weber http://moz.com/community/users/432678 links which pass value from one page to another including followed 301 and Meta refresh links are under Equity-Passing links. I am surprising after looking at the links report generated by opensiteexplorer.org. Most of the article and directory links which have low DA and PA are under Equity-Passing links. Whereas websites like EzineArticle or Articlebase which have good DA and PA are not found in either Equity-passing links or under only nofollow category. Please suggest me if the report of Opensiteexplorer is not good enough or the links from the site like Ezine Article doesn’t pass the link equity. Thanks.
Link Building | | TopLeagueTechnologies0 -
Link Analysis shows no external sites linking to me?
Hi All, I hope you can help. Link Analysis shows no external sites linking to me? but I know for a fact there are. Why is this? I have submitted my site to a few local directories and can see my site is on their site but when I run a Link Analysis it shows that I have no links. Does anyone know why this is? Many thanks, Aidan My site is http://www.theethicalsilkco.com/
Link Building | | aidanlawlor0 -
"Activating" Links - Do External Links Have to Be Clicked On to Really Have Value?
I heard an SEO talk about the concept of "activating" a link - meaning that if an external link to your site exists, but google doesn't detect that it has gotten any actual clicks, they will significantly discount or ignore the value of the link. Obviously between Chrome, toolbars, and GA, google does have a lot of ways to detect whether a link has gotten clicks. What is the SEOmoz take on this issue?
Link Building | | kbrake0 -
When placing content on external sites, what are some best practices for back links?
Hi there, I am working on a content strategy that includes placing content (i.e. bylined articles, how-to's, guest blogs, etc.) on other web sites and embedding links back to our site. In some cases we're very limited to what we can do with our bank links (i.e. just a company url), and in other cases we are free to place multiple anchor links within the content. In cases where we have no limitations, what are some best practices for implementing back links? I understand it's important to link to deep pages (not just our home page), have diverse anchor text, and make the anchor links relevant to the surrounding content. Are there other things I should be thinking about in order to maximize the SEO value of such placements? For example, is it better to have just one anchor link per placement? Or should I aim to embed multiple anchor links within a single placement? Any advice would be much appreciated! Sincerely, Debra
Link Building | | Cherwell-Software0 -
Drop in the external links
Hi, We notice a sudden drop in our external links over a month (May to June). The numbers have fallen drastically from ~55K to ~28K.The followed linking root domains has changed from 781 to 776. I am using OSE to download the inbound links data an analyse, however the downloaded csv lists only about 25 links from every domain so I am unable to figure how we have lost the external links over time. But, the Domain Mozrank has seen a gradual increase. Now I suspect the reason for the DA of our site to fall from 58 to 57 is mainly because of the external links loss. Am I right in assuming this? Is there a way to figure out the lost links? Please help! Thanks,
Link Building | | madedotcom0 -
Link values
I have an interesting question, it's more to see other peoples opinions than looking for an exact answer, as I know noone can give that. If you had a good link on harvard.edu.. how many very low quality links on low DA domains that are full of junk, would you need to match the harvard link... if all other factors were equal. I'm gonna go for 500.. I've had great results with a few high DA/trust links. I'm not looking for anyone to give me a definative answer, just curious as to the views of other SEOs 😄
Link Building | | PeterM220