Links to Website Author
-
I'm a website developer, and in the past I have usually added a tiny backlink to the footer of my clients' websites like this:
Website Design by MyCompanyName
I understand that Google sees this as a low-quality backlink. However, I was wondering if such links can hurt my rankings. Does Penguin sees these links as spam? If so, should I add a rel="nofollow" to the links? Is there anything else I should change?
I do not want to remove these links completely because they are good for marketing my business. I just want to minimize any negative SEO impact of the links.
I appreciate your input. Thanks.
-
George provided a great link.
You certainly need to be aware of the amount of links and anchor text you are putting out in the world. I believe Cyrus Shepard mentioned a very good alternative to carpet bombing footer links inside a template you made
"... instead of a footer link, how about a single, well placed editorial link somewhere on a real page? (this might be hard to manage with some of your clients, but it's worth a shot).."
I like this option because I am personally of the impression that if you are paid to develop a website then you should also be up front about any other benefit you receive by doing so, and a link (advertisement) is certainly a benefit to you. This could and should IMO be negotiated in a professional manner with the client. Now if you are just selling templates ala template monster or a similar site, then I would remove my name from it period. Since you can't control what happens to the template after it is downloaded.
Hope that helps.
-
Hello! Here's another similar question that has been answered:
http://www.seomoz.org/q/google-penguin-question-re-footer-links
Personally, I would continue using your brand name and just remove the keywords. Others may feel differently, but I like to continue marketing my brand and a link with my brand name is going to be more natural than exact match anchor text for the keywords I'm targeting.
Here's what I would do:
Website designed by Brand Name
Hope this helps!
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
-
My content has been shared across different websites - how do I become the canonical link?
I wanted to ask about canonical links. Basically I produced some content for my website which was an interview with a famous band who were playing at a festival that summer. I told the festival and they asked to have exclusive dibs on releasing the piece in exchange for linking back to our domain. I said yes as I knew the link would be a good one. So this interview got posted up, I then posted in on my website's blog, and a month later the local newspaper also featured it on their website. Is there some way to have a creative license over this interview piece (which has been copied word for word) without getting the other websites to edit their code and add a canonical reference? I did ask them but my request was unsuccessful. I'm thinking there might be no way to claim this content as my website was not the first domain to post it? Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks
Technical SEO | | gazdye830 -
Google Links
I am assuming that the list presented by Google Webmaster tools (TRAFFIC | Links To Your Site) is the one that will actually be used by Google for indexing ? There seem to be quite a few links that there that should not be there. ie Assumed NOFOLLOW links. Am I working under an incorrect assumption that all links in webmaster tools are actually followed ?
Technical SEO | | blinkybill0 -
Server Vs Authority
Deciding on whether to go for a Sub directory or CC tld structure. So the tradeoff would be one server location (which can affect local rankings if the server is outside the country) VS a better passing of link authority. What factor is more important?
Technical SEO | | Tourman0 -
Linking to unrelated content
Hi, Just wanted to know, linking to unrelated content will harm the site? I know linking to unrelated content is not good. But wanted to know weather any chances are there or not. I have a site related to health and the other one related to technology. The technology site is too good having PR 6 and very good strong backlinks. And the health related site has very much tough competition, So i wanted to know may be i could link this health site to technology site to get good link from it. Can you suggest me about it. waiting for your replies...
Technical SEO | | Dexter22387874870 -
How can i increase my website traffic
Hello, my boss has decide a build website we have more than 12500 products in ourwebsite its mtscellular.com, im new as seo but im confused and need help i want to know how somebody help me to increase my website traffic
Technical SEO | | jimmylora0 -
Affiliate links
Is there a best practice for linking out to affiliates URLs post panda? I know some believe it can be a factor.
Technical SEO | | PeterM220 -
What should I do about links coming in that are from link farm type sites?
I just noticed two back links to a couple of sites around pharmaceuticals/attorneys. The one link is to a chinese site with url: http://e.lifestyle.com.cn/fashionweekly/nzj/353093_2.shtml, and the other is to a site called Adroo: http://adroo.com/us/?view=list&list_id=104154&lang=en. Both appear to be some type of link farm sites, one has come in as a nofollow (surprise, you can buy "ads" on their site, both have decent DA. There is no reason for them to link to theses sites, should I find a way to stop the link? Also, on one of the sites we had a dmoz link and it is not showing in OSE? Link is still open in dmoz though. Thanks for any input.
Technical SEO | | RobertFisher0 -
Bad back links
Hi Folks I seem to have approx 587 back links to my homepage from this site kitchendetailsanddesign.com since my entire site has under a 1000 back links; I wonder if I should be worried? I've tried contacting the webmaster to remove them but no luck any tips 🙂
Technical SEO | | PHDAustralia680