Scribd embed links - bad idea?
-
My client's site in question has a TON of outstanding, constantly updated, highly detailed articles. The site owner also has a branded collection of nearly all of them on Scribd. I guess I can live with that because dupe content isn't an issue and the pdfs there link back to the site and another domain of ours. Plus it gets a lot of eyeballs on our newish brand and content, and we can run reports on users.
BUT, we have Scribd social share buttons on each article on our site that (among other things) allows a user to grab a direct link to the content on Scribd or an embed link for their blog or whatever.
So, two questions really -
- Foremost, shouldn't we get rid of that embed option on our page? I mean, isn't is stealing from our backlink potential? I can't imagine juice would somehow pass back to us through a Scribd-located doc or embed but I haven't found info affirming or contradicting that.
- And secondly, isn't a Scribd collection a bit analogous to posting videos on YouTube and hoping your page will ultimately benefit from it via clickthroughs, etc? At this year's MozCon I heard a strong argument against that.
Thanks -
-
"Foremost, shouldn't we get rid of that embed option on our page? I mean, isn't is stealing from our backlink potential? I can't imagine juice would somehow pass back to us through a Scribd-located doc or embed but I haven't found info affirming or contradicting that."
Yes, I absolutely agree that you should remove these. I'd also look for embeds of their Scribd documents and do a little bit of link reclamation and see if you can get a link added to the original content. Can't hurt, right?
"And secondly, isn't a Scribd collection a bit analogous to posting videos on YouTube and hoping your page will ultimately benefit from it via clickthroughs, etc? At this year's MozCon I heard a strong argument against that."
You could go a few ways on this - I don't think it's causing a huge issue. I might name the Scribd document something different from their own blog post, to try and rank for different variations on the titles.
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
-
About to give up - shall I buy links?
So I have been at this for years! I cannot get Google to improve the rank on my travel site. The site has great relevant content that is constantly updated, it's optimized, has good page speed, active on social media. I have added backlinks where I could. I changed domain name about 4 years ago which probably impacted my rankings at the time. MOZ just did a walk through with me and couldn't really suggest any improvements. I remain with a low domain authority and consistently place under my competitor on Google. Last resort is to buy backlinks through fiverr. Is that a big mistake? https://tamarindobeachinfo.com
Branding | | artsp0 -
Is a press release a bad idea?
We've never sent out a press release before using one of the services, and thought it might finally be time. Then I saw that Google seems to be calling services like PR Newswire out. "Links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites." https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66356?hl=en So, is it worth it to spend a few hundred bucks to distribute a press release, or am I better off just publishing it on my blog for my blog writing service and promoting it all the regular ways?
Branding | | scodtt0 -
Should I fix a high quality link when the website linking was complaining? What would you do?
While reviewing 404 errors in Webmaster Tools, I noticed that a client had a link from a high authority, well respected forum, to a page which no longer exists. When I checked out the linking post, it was from 2004 and showed a campaign against the company for it's advertising tactics. I'll spare the details but the company has since changed their ways. It's tempting to implement a 301 to get the link juice from this DA 80 post, but since the reason for the link is a negative one and the co-citations are not going to be positive, is it better to just let this link go? Or what about something more up-front, such as setting up a page which states the company's mission statement and commitment to quality and standards and 301 redirecting to there? Even if we let this link be broken, a potential customer could be put off, so it might be a good idea to address this past issue on site? Let me know your opinions on whether there is a way to benefit from this link or whether we are better off allowing the 404.
Branding | | McCannSEO0 -
Author Site And Book Site - Multiple Sites Bad Idea?
The question: I've been doing work for authors lately and a common question is if they should have a site for their book and a site for themselves. Separate sites with different domain names. At first I thought this would be a bad idea. Why spread information across two sites if they can be related and used together in one? But I see a lot of authors doing this and some with marketing companies. One site for the author with information about them, their books, their social media presence. Then another site for their book, with new social media accounts, other info, etc. What do you guys think? Has anyone tried both and seen any pros and cons? Is there a perfect answer?
Branding | | JoshBowers20120 -
What can i do to regain top 3 for local map listings if I already created a bunch of citation link to my site?
I got hit by a penguin refresh on Oct 5th and lost over 10 #1 rankings. I'm currently #4 on the places listing for my main keyword and really trying to regain top 3 position. I created a bunch of local citation with matching info and really piped out my map listing since it is 100% complete. I'm quite stumped on how to further optimize my map listing to where i can hit top 3 positions. Does anyone have any recommendations on this issue? Thanks Sam
Branding | | junkcars0 -
Is having two websites that sell most of the same products a good idea?
Hi - Please read this in full before you answer. I currently own a website that sells kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities that match the kitchens. This website has been operational since Arpil 2009 and we have built good rankings over the past 3 years. The site is operated on the Volusion platform (my mistake from the beginning, but we're kind of stuck now). We are in the process of designing a new website on the Magento platform - everything will be 100% different from look, speed, the way our customers shop, content, product skus, etc. The original plan was to keep the same domain but implement 301 redirects for subpages (subpage urls would have to change) and shut down the Volusion site and transfer the domain name to the Magento site. Our current website does make money right now and we would hate to lose rankings (even if only temporarily) during the switch or have something go wrong. What I am now thinking is keeping our current website on Volusion where it is currently making money and having the new Magento site have a new name/domain. The sites would sell most of the same products (the Magento site would sell more types of vanities and accessories though). The two sites would have different email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses. Is it a bad idea to try and rank two websites selling pretty much the same thing? We have competitors out there that sell the same products as us, I would just prefer to compete with myself rather then someone else. Another issue is our name, one of our competitors names is extremely close to ours and we rank for pretty much all of the same keywords and customers get us mixed up all the time. This other site would have a different name (one that makes more sense). I want to make a decision that will not come back and bite us later. I know there are a lot of bigger sites that operate tons of niche sites, and of these website could eventually be similar to that. I really appreciate your help and guidance! Thanks
Branding | | tyler7560 -
Can creating a subfolder and seperate domain blog build external links?
So I am currently going through the creation of a blog with a client that has a company that sells tennis equipment. I have talked to their development team, who is a third-party ecommerce platform, and come up with an idea to create an sub-folder (domain.com/blog) with an article page using their existing framework that would feature full articles in a blog format. Then I would create multiple blogs for them using tumblr and wordpress with their company name and a few with unique names targeted to their niche. These would feature snippets of the content taken from their article page (domain.com/blog) with some responses or reviews on the full articles to further their outreach and then link to the main articles on their article page. These snippets would be divided up amongst the blogs and posted on different days of the week to divide the traffic. Each blog will feature fresh content and focus on a rotating schedule of the latest videos, re-blogs, memes, photos, highlights, scores, upcoming tournament reviews, etc. I will set each one up to rotate through these different topics on different days and times to create a steady stream of traffic. I want to make sure that I stress the fact that I wont be stuffing the unique blogs with links only to the clients company store, I will be making sure to keep it to an amount that isn't spam worthy. Now if these blogs feature rich content including the snippets of the articles from my sub-folder page (domain.com/blog) will these blogs pass link juice to the blog set up on my sub-folder? Also is this a good way to ensure brand awareness and create external links without damaging their reputation? Are there other risks that people have encountered by doing something similar? Please share your experiences so I can make an educated decision.
Branding | | cscoville0 -
How to increase the value of naturally created low value links
My site is starting to generate natural links (hooray!). Basically, as part of my client sign-up process, I encourage my clients (home improvement contractors, plumbers, roofers, electricians) to link back to their own profile page on my site from their own site, either manually or using a badge I've created and made available. I have 2 questions about this. First of all, the vast majority of these links are from seriously low quality sites with basically no backlink profile whatsoever. Many of these sites aren't even indexed. So I'm starting to feel like I'm doing all this hard work for nothing. Is there anything I can do to increase the value of these incoming links, without spending too much time or money? I'm thinking directory submission and/or link wheel gigs on fiverr (really crappy SEO, I know, but just to get these sites bumped up a notch, and hopefully not do any damage to my site, as they're a step removed.) Second question, the profile pages that my clients can create on my site includes a nofollowed link to their site. Does the nofollow save me from having all of my incoming links tagged as reciprocal? Is there anything else I should be doing?
Branding | | menachemp0