Interlinking your own sites?

[hommi_16]

Hey guys,

I have about 15 sites hosted with Godaddy Deluxe hosting so they are all hosted under the same account.

Can I build links from my own sites to one of my sites that is hosted under the same account for SEO purposes. More importantly can it hurt?

Thanks in advance,

Peter

[hotftuna]

Yes it can hurt. The whole lot could get banned all at once.

If you feel that you need to interlink, make sure that there is no loop.

A to B, B to C, C to D. If D links to A, you have a loop.

Best not to interlink and find outside inbounds.

[Promet_MKTG]

without relevancy this is an issue. We run a handful of sites that are interlinked, but that is because they are relevant with one another.

[k_a_babji]

If you are on a shared hosting, your interlinking will have no effect. Google will not give any weight to your interlinks.

If you really want to interlink and have weight in google, try to spread your sites over different hosts and with domain privacy.

[~kev~]

Try not to create a link wheel - that can be bad.

However - lets say you have a high ranking site, you can use that site to help out the other sites.

Related article you might want to read - Google admits that employees change index rankings | ZDNet

There is an article on the financial times website about how "Groups magnify chances of Google hits" - but its only available to registered members. There is a link to the article on the zdnet site.

This is how large sites like yahoo, can push its other sites to the top of the results pages. Its gotten to be a serious problem.

If big sites like yahoo can link to its other sites and create a network, why cant you?

[BobJutsu]

Originally Posted by k_a_babji

If you are on a shared hosting, your interlinking will have no effect. Google will not give any weight to your interlinks.

If you really want to interlink and have weight in google, try to spread your sites over different hosts and with domain privacy.

This is wrong. Linking to sites on the same shared host does not determine whether or not the links will carry weight or not. It is one factor that can be used to pinpoint problems, but just one factor and certainly not a default "no go".

without relevancy this is an issue. We run a handful of sites that are interlinked, but that is because they are relevant with one another.

This is correct. Linking relevant sites to one another, where appropriate is good practice. Google (and nobody else either) cares who owns the sites, they care about whether the links are being created because they are relavent, or if they are being created just for links sake.

Just by the very nature of shared hosting, many websites on the same server are bound to link to one another naturally. Think about that.

What will get your "network" flagged is if you have x many of basically the same type of site, with the same(ish) content that doesn't have any real value, forming a predictable linking scheme that is easily spotted and picked out as a link network.

To be safe, just ask yourself if you would link there if it were someone elses site...if the answer is yes, then by all means make a link. But if you are linking just for the sake of a link...well, I'm not going to say don't, just take the time to do some research and know what you are doing.

As I have always said regarding seo, don't be afraid to get a site banned for the sake of research and experimentation. It's just a site, build more if you get deindexed.

[va_mom]

Thanks for the inputs. I was just thinking of doing some more sites under one host.. It is a good thing i read that it is a no-no..

[Messobage]

Link relevant sites is important.
How to judge site is relevant by google?

Originally Posted by BobJutsu

This is wrong. Linking to sites on the same shared host does not determine whether or not the links will carry weight or not. It is one factor that can be used to pinpoint problems, but just one factor and certainly not a default "no go".



This is correct. Linking relevant sites to one another, where appropriate is good practice. Google (and nobody else either) cares who owns the sites, they care about whether the links are being created because they are relavent, or if they are being created just for links sake.

Just by the very nature of shared hosting, many websites on the same server are bound to link to one another naturally. Think about that.

What will get your "network" flagged is if you have x many of basically the same type of site, with the same(ish) content that doesn't have any real value, forming a predictable linking scheme that is easily spotted and picked out as a link network.

To be safe, just ask yourself if you would link there if it were someone elses site...if the answer is yes, then by all means make a link. But if you are linking just for the sake of a link...well, I'm not going to say don't, just take the time to do some research and know what you are doing.

As I have always said regarding seo, don't be afraid to get a site banned for the sake of research and experimentation. It's just a site, build more if you get deindexed.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by k_a_babji

If you are on a shared hosting, your interlinking will have no effect. Google will not give any weight to your interlinks.

If you really want to interlink and have weight in google, try to spread your sites over different hosts and with domain privacy.

Hi k_a_babji,

I'm sorry, I must call you out on your assertion, I believe it is pure hogwash!

Have you ever read Page and Brin's paper on PageRank? I, as well as many other webmasters, have used interlinking between relevant pages with tremendous success. Sure, interlinking can be done poorly, but when done well it is a very effective optimization technique.

[dburk]

Originally Posted by va_mom

Thanks for the inputs. I was just thinking of doing some more sites under one host.. It is a good thing i read that it is a no-no..

Hi va_mom,

It just like a "Mom" to refer to as a "no-no", I love it!

You can choose to believe what you read, but you may want to consider if they are speaking with credibility, or simply pulling it out of their... uh... backside.

Building websites on the same server, account or IP Address is not a problem or a "no-no", a least not according to some credible sources:

Myth busting: virtual hosts vs. dedicated IP addresses
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Linking out: Often it's just applying common sense
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Good times with inbound links

YouTube - Is cross-linking websites bad?

YouTube - How should I link to a site that I have...

[bgmacaw]

Originally Posted by ~kev~

Related article you might want to read - Google admits that employees change index rankings | ZDNet

And take a look at the footer of that page...

Popular on CBS sites: US Open | PGA Championship | iPad | Video Game Reviews | Cell Phones

[k_a_babji]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi k_a_babji,

I'm sorry, I must call you out on your assertion, I believe it is pure hogwash!

Have you ever read Page and Brin's paper on PageRank? I, as well as many other webmasters, have used interlinking between relevant pages with tremendous success. Sure, interlinking can be done poorly, but when done well it is a very effective optimization technique.

Sorry if I am wrong. There are two things behind this post. One is a report about SEO I read recently which said the same thing.

The second thing is the link exchanges and links on sale. Since these are outside links, I was of the impression that you cannot interlink between your own sites and gain SE popularity.

[Shaunman]

The second thing is the link exchanges and links on sale. Since these are outside links, I was of the impression that you cannot interlink between your own sites and gain SE popularity.

Not only can you interlink between 2 sites that you own and gain SE popularity, you can even interlink between 2 pages that you own on the same site and gain SE popularity.

Of course external links are more powerful but a link from site.com/page1 to site.com/page2 will have some benefit to page2.

[BobJutsu]

Originally Posted by Messobage

Link relevant sites is important.
How to judge site is relevant by google?

What do you mean, how do you judge if it is relevant? Just ask yourself "is this relevant"...if you were reading your site, and you followed the link, would you be interested or obtain some sort of value from following the link?

I mean, if you have a site about "Hair Loss", your site about "bicycles" isn't relevant. However, your site about, say, "Rogaine", or "hats", or "Mens Health" may be relevant.

[jusin]

Originally Posted by dburk

Hi va_mom,

It just like a "Mom" to refer to as a "no-no", I love it!

You can choose to believe what you read, but you may want to consider if they are speaking with credibility, or simply pulling it out of their... uh... backside.

Building websites on the same server, account or IP Address is not a problem or a "no-no", a least not according to some credible sources:

Myth busting: virtual hosts vs. dedicated IP addresses
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Linking out: Often it's just applying common sense
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Good times with inbound links

YouTube - Is cross-linking websites bad?

YouTube - How should I link to a site that I have a personal relationship with?

Well, The video links of Matt Cutts that you provided here are very helpful and beneficial for those who are doing cross linking but, somewhere confused about the benefits.

Choosing the right and related sites for interlinking is what requires and worth getting more people to stay there.

[jazbo]

There are some real myths being spouted here as fact.

1. Google looks at domains, not IP's. So as long as you link from different domains it does not matter where they come from. I link between domains that have the same shared main IP address, and I can tell you now that the PR on the older domains boosts my new ones. No bans, not being ignored by Google.

2. Link relevancy is one consideration. A link is still a link. If it is from a decent site then relevancy is.....irrelevant.

[arpitagarwal82]

Just go with relevancy thing. If the links are relevant to page content, link them.
Unrelated links will sure hurt your sites in SE.

[brettb]

There's some total rubbish being sprouted in this thread. Interlinking is OK, especially if your sites are related (e.g. all in the IT niche).

[asirius]

Originally Posted by jazbo

There are some real myths being spouted here as fact.

1. Google looks at domains, not IP's. So as long as you link from different domains it does not matter where they come from. I link between domains that have the same shared main IP address, and I can tell you now that the PR on the older domains boosts my new ones. No bans, not being ignored by Google.

2. Link relevancy is one consideration. A link is still a link. If it is from a decent site then relevancy is.....irrelevant.

Wow, I am absolutely sure Google looks at both: domains and IP's. Google gives more authority to links from different IP classes. So it is wise to have your links spread geographycaly (by IP). Then your links get more weight, comparing to just linking your websites from one IP.

[hitmark]

Google does not give as much value to incoming links from sites you own as opposed to sites you don't.
Only interlink where it is appropriate for your visitors, and not just to get PR. If you have two sites, one sells blue widgets, the other one yellow widgets, it is appropriate to link them together because they are the same theme.

However if you sell blue widgets on one site, and offer, say, sheet music (that has nothing to do with widgets in any way) on the other site, this may not be a good thing to link to.

I think google takes a dim view on off-topic off-theme linking, especially when you own all the sites involved.

[andii72]

Google not allow the inner link of many sites because your all sites are run form single IP and from one location. So, if you do inner link exchange in your sites that means you are doing fraud with Google. May be your site will get penalized.

[rchudej1]

Originally Posted by andii72

Google not allow the inner link of many sites because your all sites are run form single IP and from one location. So, if you do inner link exchange in your sites that means you are doing fraud with Google. May be your site will get penalized.

with the emphasis on "May be..."

[~kev~]

Originally Posted by bgmacaw

And take a look at the footer of that page...

Yep - that is a perfect example of sites interlinking. And I bet they are all owned by the same comapny.

[Chantal-Louise]

I would lean towards the relevancy with this matter.. Also there was an IM Course out a while ago, not sure If allowed to mention, so I wont, but they endorsed interlinking your own sites at the footer of the page, and claimed this was the 'secret forumla' of also geting amazing rankings! Anyway, I didn't find that to help on sites that were not related to one another ...!

[dburk]

Originally Posted by asirius

Wow, I am absolutely sure Google looks at both: domains and IP's. Google gives more authority to links from different IP classes. So it is wise to have your links spread geographycaly (by IP). Then your links get more weight, comparing to just linking your websites from one IP.

Hi asirius,

When you look at how the PageRank formula actually works, you see that it isn't necessary for Google to ever look at, or even consider, IP classes or domains. The PR formula measures the importance of a page within a web of pages.

While it may be beneficial to link to a page that is on a different IP or domain, it's not the difference in IP nor the domain name that makes it beneficial. I believe you have this all wrong. It is the linking of pages contained within a different web that boosts the PR that is passing value into your web. Google never needs to look at your domain name or IP address, in the core PageRank formula those are unimportant attributes.

I believe that the concepts of "IP diversity" and "domain authority" are based on people looking at statistics and not understanding what is cause and what is effect. If you consider how Google utilizes the PageRank formula, you see that those notions of "IP diversity" and "domain authority" are based on statical probabilities, and as such are effects, not causes.

One could inject the possibility that "IP diversity" is used to calculate TrustRank, and that makes some since. However, I believe that it would create many problems for certain types of searches. There would be many pages that would never rank due to link profile patterns that don't match the statistical norms. Pages would be excluded, not for spam or PR manipulation, but simply for real-world statistical variances. Not a very good reason to exclude a page from the search results, is it? It doesn't seem to me that Google's engineers would use such a crude formula, I believe they are smarter than that.

[dfs_dean]

Originally Posted by asirius

Wow, I am absolutely sure Google looks at both: domains and IP's. Google gives more authority to links from different IP classes. So it is wise to have your links spread geographycaly (by IP). Then your links get more weight, comparing to just linking your websites from one IP.

What you are saying is that if you and I happen to use the same host and even happen to be on the same server (but not necessary to end up with the same IP class) and you see a site of mine and decide to link to it, your PR8 site would not send much link juice to my site? But, if we used different hosting companies my site would really get a boost from your link? Seems pretty arbitrary to me. Is that really how Google operates?

Peace