Connecting Two Websites Without Upsetting Google
-
I have a question that I think I know the answer to, but want to cover my bases.
We have a successful blog and are creating a second similar blog for a more specific type of reader. We want to backlink between content because it makes sense for the reader. Our fear is that we may come off spammy to Google by having so many backlinks.
Is there a way we are able to tell Google these two sites are related so they don't penalize either site for anything?
-
Thanks for your thoughtful response. As you point out, there are many different business models, and what might be best "general" practice, might not quite fit every model.
Moz Q&A is great for this type of discussion.
-
It depends on the topic. I normally agree with this sentiment, I have given the same advice often over the year. In this case it was something that made sense to do because the audience via social and email is a very different demographic than we had on the main blog. The second blog was not built for backlinks or any spammy purpose, which is why we wanted to clearly show the relationship to Google without getting flagged for trying to spam. The purpose for the links would only be for user experience and not for SEO, we are good making all those links nofollow links. Even if we did them all nofollow we just wanted to see if there was anything else that could be done to show the relationship between the two sites.
The second blog was started less than 2 months ago and already has 50k+ pageviews even without the help of the original blog. Not a single backlink during that time, mainly because we were protecting our assets. Thanks for your feedback and not holding back on this topic, I like that even if I may not like the advice given that we're all open to the truth here in the Moz community. I definitely agree with you here about doing this for the backlinks, there has to be a purpose to a second site. In this case there really was a purpose, and it was all audience driven. Cheers!
-
This is what I figured, but just wanted to see if there was something I was missing. I thought a remembered hearing about a way that was similar to cross-domain tracking where you were able to show the relationship between the two site clearly to Google. I kept going back to NoFollow links and trusting that Google is smart enough to see what's going on.
-
I think that it makes better sense for the reader and better sense for you, to put all of this stuff on the original blog.
The backlinks that any second blog will create will be worthless unless you have links into the second blog from third party websites. So, instead of building that second blog, just put all of that great content on the main blog and get the backlinks straight to the the site you are promoting.
Building a second blog just for backlinks is like trying to kill a rabbit with a ricochet. Just shoot the damn rabbit.
I don't think that Google is going to like this second blog very well if you are making it to manufacture backlinks for your first blog. Google was killing that stuff twenty years ago.
-
Hello Jeff,
Yeap, with Nofollow tags on that links.
Best luck!
GR.
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
-
How Does Google Treat Scapper Sites?
I have seen several sites that have data or some type of information about a website. Often the site appears to be trying show the value of a site. How does Google treat the links this scrapper type sites give? Should these types of links be ignored or should they be disavowed? Here is an example: http://www.sitetracer.com/www.tourexperience.com
Link Building | | Firestarter-SEO0 -
How can I find all the outbound links from a website domain?
I want to find all the outbound links (basically whatever comes in <a>tag) from a domain (say www.abc.com) as well as all the subdomains under it (say abc.com/a etc). Open Site Explorer provides the inbound links from a website but does not provide any functionality to get all the outbound links from a website. Is it possible to do?</a> <a>Thanks in advance. Deepak Jain</a>
Link Building | | Deepak_Jain0 -
Google to devalue guest blog links?
There's a lot of talk at the minute about google possible devaluing guest post links. I wondered what people thought of this and whether it is likely to happen? If it does happen then how will google identify 'spam' guest posts and links? I guess it's fair to assume that if the post is well written, autoriative and adds value to a site with a knoweldgable perspective then it will be counted? It can be very hard to define how google will define a 'quality guest post'? Any ideas? Here's what Matt has to say... http://www.webpronews.com/matt-cutts-weighs-in-on-guest-blogging-for-links-2012-10
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
Any good site for Blog Submission (without any waiting/approval) ??
Is there any good blog submission site which does not have long waiting period before article is published and which allows followed link from blog? I have a list of such blog submission sites but they all either need weeks delay till it gets approved or never gets approved. So I would really appreciate If you can tell me some of such sites that you are aware of..
Link Building | | Personnel_Concept0 -
How does Google treat multiple backlinks on the same page?
Hello mozCrew Just a quick yay or nay. We have an embeddable code on our site for customers who want to post our link on their website listed here: http://www.accupos.com/etc/embed-code-restaurants.php But in our link, there are actually 2 separate links, one branding link that says the name of our company, AccuPOS, and another link which targets a specific target keyword "Restaurant POS Software". My question is, does Google only give credit for the branding link, since it is listed FIRST? Or will we get double credit? Is this a good or bad practice, and what would you recommend? Thank you! Derek Moore
Link Building | | DerekM880 -
Google Webmaster Tools notice of detected unnatural links ...
Hi, We recently got "the message" from Google about unnatural links for two of our 50 sites. Ranking has dropped significantly since, we did not take any action to remove the links. All our 50 sites were managed by the same SEO company but only two got this message. We are in the process of understanding the best ways to deal with this situation, but currently there are two main approaches we can detect: Remove the links, resubmit for reconsideration Ignore the message and do not do anything, if you do something it is actually like admitting you did something wrong, and Google can not prove that you did... Any insights on what approach we should adopt? Thanks in advance.
Link Building | | jid1 -
Do affiliate links count for Google?
Hi, I have been reading about affiliate links - links with a tracking code in the URL (i.e.: www.xxx.com/?aff=123456) and I can't find a definitive answer. Does Google count them as natural links or maybe they do not even pass any link juice? And if they don't, what if I get a natural link from a website (without tracking code) and later that website becomes my affiliate? Would the first link still count? I guess that there can't be any certainty about all this, but I would love to know your expert opinions 🙂 Thanks!
Link Building | | jorgediaz0