Can I Use Meta NoIndex to Block Unwanted Links?
-
I have a forum thread on my site that is completely user generated, not spammy at all, but it is attracting about 45 backlinks from really spammy sites. Usually when this happens, the thread is created by a spammer and I just 404 it. But in this instance, the thread is completely legit, and I wouldn't want to 404 it because users could find it useful.
If I add a meta noindex, nofollow tag to the header, will the spammy pagerank still be passed? How best can I protect myself from these low quality backlinks? I don't want to get slapped by Penguin!
**Note: I cannot find contact information from the spam sites and it's in a foreign language.
-
Thanks for responding. I think you're absolutely right, we need to take those precautions and then deal with the bad backlinks. I will try the disavow tool as well. Thanks!
-
Thank you for your response! I will try the disavow tool.
-
As LesleyPaone suggested below, ensure your post links are set to nofollow; this is especially sought after for spammers and bots.
I would not suggest using a noindex tag, unless you want your pages to be removed from the SERPs (which I don't think you do).
Don't be afraid to use the Disavow tool, but only use it on sites/pages that you identify as spam. The issue with Disavowing is that some users disavow an entire domain and the domain may not be spam related, thereby removing wanted links from a site's backlink profile.
If you know the site is spammy and do not want backlinks from that site, then feel secure disavowing the domain.
-
Hi Ray-pp,
In this instance, no, a bot is not creating spam on MY site. Someone is linking to my site from an external, spammy site. So yes, I am "wondering how to combat external forum threads that link back to your website, but are spammy." As you put it.
You mention using the Google disavow tool...but I have read that it can be dangerous to use. Would a case like this really warrant use of Google disavow? And back to my original question, can I use meta noindex, no follow to block bad link juice?
-
I help moderate a relatively busy forum, sever hundred thousand active users, let me share some of our insights.
It sounds like you have links in posts being followed, no follow all links in posts no matter who posts them. For footer signatures, make a threshold, say 25 posts before the user can have a footer signature. If you want to give people more incentive to post, have a do follow link in their profile after a certain threshold has been passed, like Moz does.
Fighting forum spam is a full time job almost, but it is easier to beat it in the beginning than just handle it as it comes in. Create a honey pot on your registration form and change it out weekly. Something like this could work, http://solutionfactor.net/blog/2014/02/01/honeypot-technique-fast-easy-spam-prevention/
As for the links on the other sites I would disavow them, but once you stop the spam, they should stop. What they are doing is called link laundering. They are placing a link in your forum, then they are using a service like fiverr or similar to build backlinks to the forum link. They do this in hopes to raise the authority of the forum post and in turn raise the authority of links pointing to their site. They are pretty insulated from penalties by doing this, but they risk you getting a penalty.
-
Hi TMI.com,
Are you saying that you have a forum where spam/bots create a forum thread to link back to their website? Which creates a number of spammy threads on your forum which you then have to remove?
If so, then you would first want to combat that spam through your Forum software. How can you create barriers for bots creating new threads?
-
Require someone to create an account and login prior to posting
-
Require threads with a link to go to admin moderation
-
Make it so only users with X Activity have the ability to post links (e.g. users who have previously posted 10 legit threads can enable posting links in forum threads)
-
Integrate a CAPTCHA when posting threads/comments
These are a few common strategies for preventing on-site forum spam.
If you're wondering how to combat external forum threads that link back to your website, but are spammy. Then identify those pages and use the Google Disavow Tool to distance your site from that spammy content. If you notice a domain being habitually offensive, you may want to disavow the entire domain for any future backlinks.
-
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
-
Multiple similar links without the penguin?
Hi, I´m working with a site where clients proudly will publish a link to us as sort of a sign/partner symbol for using our services. Potentially we could have thousands or at least hundreds of links pointing to us and we could tailor/provide snippets for the links that clients can use on their site. I´m part of a team that just started working with this site and I realize this is a great opportunity that has not yet been exploited. I´m also a little paranoid that this tactic might be picked up by the penguin or that google sees it as black hat if not done wisely ? But links will only come from respectable business sites although ranging from different genres both really big and small.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Agguk
Today links are mostly leading to our frontpage from our clients but I would like to tailor links so that each client could link to a page that is targeted on the keyword/service they have been using (and awarded diploma for) I think this would serve both the client and our SEO better ? I would really appreciate suggestions and comments on how to approach this best! Here is my plan so far, trying to make good/right use of the opportunity without offending google:
-Most links will be through a logo/sign that shows the award/diploma earned through our service.
I think the "alt" -tag should include both our company brand name and the service/target keyword for the page it´s leading to. -We could also provide a short text describing the earned award and our brand name and this whole text would also lead to the same page on our site.
...I guess using only the targeted keyword as anchor -link within the text would be a bad idea? -Where possible I would also like to customize this short text a little for each client (although that will be hard and only possible to some degree). As we provide "link material" for the client to include on their site, would it be wise to have them use an image that is hosted on our site or send them the image so they can publish that instead? Grateful for any feedback on this! Thanks!0 -
Online Store in trouble - What can I check?
Hello, One of our online stores has half the traffic that it did a month ago. What can I check and what can I do to troubleshoot? I can't list the domain here, but what would you suggest? Could RankBrain be the problem? So far I've Checked the functionality of the site including the checkout functionality Checked rankings for main terms, they seem to be holding Checked competitors, there's some sales but I don't see that cutting us off this much. Added content continuously for the past 2 months - quality, targeted, helpful Updated the home page text to be more helpful recently Checked for structural changes that would effect backlinks - found none. Analyzed Google Analytics, still looking deeper. What would you suggest as further troubleshooting?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | BobGW0 -
Can I post an article on my blog if it has already been published and taken down?
Hi Guys, A writer for my site has offered to let me post her article on my blog, however the article has already been published on another blog, but the blog has now been taken down. If I publish this on my blog will there be any harm to my blog? I want to stay clean and not be in trouble with penguin in any way shape or form! Cheers everyone appreciate some advice here!
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | edward-may0 -
I'm Getting Attacked, What Can I Do?
I recently noticed a jump in my Crawl Errors in Google Webmaster Tools. Upon further investigation I found hundreds of the most spammy web pages I've ever seen pointing to my domain (although all going to 404 errors): http://blurchelsanog1980.blog.com/ http://lenitsky.wordpress.com/ These are all created within the last week. A. What the hell is going on? B. Should I be very concerned? (because they are 404 errors) C. What should my next steps be? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | CleanEdisonInc0 -
[linkbuilding] link partner page on webshop, is it working?
Hello Mozzers, I am wondering about the effect of link building by swapping links between websites and adding a link partner page to the web shop containing hundreds of links. I have this new competitor coming in to the SERP of Google competing on the keywords I am targeting. The competitor has way more links than our web shop. The competitor has a page with hundreds of links to other web shops witch on there turn has a link to there web shop. (not all off them link back btw) I always thought it is no use sharing links with other websites this way in creating a huge page with hundreds of links. it is of no benefit for neighter website to do this. Still it does seems to work (?) and tis strategy is used by a lot of web shops in the Netherlands. How are you guys looking at this?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | auke1810
Witch of you guy's are using strategy like this?
Should I pick up this strategy myself?0 -
What do you say in your emails to horrible sites to remove your links?
Morning guys, I've the unenviable task of having to rectify poor link building (a previous company's work, not mine) which inevitably means emailing tons and tons of horrible directories with links to the client from as far back as 5/6 years ago. I'm sure many of you are in the same boat so it begs the question: What have you said to these types of sites that is effective in getting them to remove the links? This could even be a two/three-parter: If you've had little joy in requesting removals, have you dis-avowed the links, and what (if any) effect did it have? Thanks, M.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Martin_S0 -
Duplicate content or not? If you're using abstracts from external sources you link to
I was wondering if a page (a blog post, for example) that offers links to external web pages along with abstracts from these pages would be considered duplicate content page and therefore penalized by Google. For example, I have a page that has very little original content (just two or three sentences that summarize or sometimes frame the topic) followed by five references to different external sources. Each reference contains a title, which is a link, and a short abstract, which basically is the first few sentences copied from the page it links to. So, except from a few sentences in the beginning everything is copied from other pages. Such a page would be very helpful for people interested in the topic as the sources it links to had been analyzed before, handpicked and were placed there to enhance user experience. But will this format be considered duplicate or near-duplicate content?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | romanbond0 -
How Can I Check Competitors Linking Profile?
If I'm looking for weak points in my competitors linking structure, how can I use Open Site Explorer to do that? In other words, I'm not sure how to use Open Site Explorer? Zane
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Springboks0