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Note To All About Linking

voodooman asked 4 years ago
Folks,

Be careful if you link to your own sites (or ask for recip links) without the www and without using a 301 re-direct. Google will index these as two separate sites and give you a duplicate content penalty.

I’ll use Dominique’s sig here, as as example (I hope that’s OK). She has her Bingo Area hyperlinked without the www. When I clicked on that link, I did not see that URL re-directed to the www version (You can see this in the address bar on your browser and it indicates that a 301 re-direct is in place.) What may happen is that Google will index both the www and non-www of her page (which it has) and will penalize her site in some way. Now, I am not sure of the degree of this penalty, but when I first started Play Video Poker Slots, my site was indexed twice (once with the www and once without) it caused me a lot of headaches!

In Dom’s case, it could just be that her one Bingo Page will be penalized, I can not say for sure, but since Dom does not have 301 re-directs enabled on GamesandCasino AND she has linked to her Bingo page in her Sig WITHOUT the www, this may cause problems.

Dom, if you are doing this for some other reason that I am unaware of, I apologize for using your signature links, as an example, but if you were not aware of the ‘no 301 re-direct’ Google Duplicate Content Penalty, it might be a good idea to change the Bingo Link in your sig to include the www.

6 Answers
PokerBoy answered 4 years ago
You won’t have a penelty for not using a 301 redirect on the non www version of your website. If that were the case thousands of websites would be knoced out of google. You site will be indexed twice, BUT google will pick a version and treat the other version as sandboxed.

However, many SEO guys use a 301 redirect to ensure that every link is pointing to the same place and any PR or value is redirected to their main domain.

Dominique answered 4 years ago
voodooman wrote:
Folks,

Be careful if you link to your own sites (or ask for recip links) without the www and without using a 301 re-direct. Google will index these as two separate sites and give you a duplicate content penalty.

I’ll use Dominique’s sig here, as as example (I hope that’s OK). She has her Bingo Area hyperlinked without the www. When I clicked on that link, I did not see that URL re-directed to the www version (You can see this in the address bar on your browser and it indicates that a 301 re-direct is in place.) What may happen is that Google will index both the www and non-www of her page (which it has) and will penalize her site in some way. Now, I am not sure of the degree of this penalty, but when I first started Play Video Poker Slots, my site was indexed twice (once with the www and once without) it caused me a lot of headaches!

In Dom’s case, it could just be that her one Bingo Page will be penalized, I can not say for sure, but since Dom does not have 301 re-directs enabled on GamesandCasino AND she has linked to her Bingo page in her Sig WITHOUT the www, this may cause problems.

Dom, if you are doing this for some other reason that I am unaware of, I apologize for using your signature links, as an example, but if you were not aware of the ‘no 301 re-direct’ Google Duplicate Content Penalty, it might be a good idea to change the Bingo Link in your sig to include the www.

Gee, thanks for pointing that out! I used that URL for the soft launch and then changed to the www. and it’s an oversight.. I’ll take care of that right away!

Luckily it hasn’t hurt me yet – #1 in MSN for Bingo Forum and #2 in Google for Bingo Forum.

Thanks again, voodooman! What would I do without my friends at CAP!

kdollar answered 4 years ago
how can you do a non www redirect? I am thinking about doing it because I keep here people saying it should be done.

webber286 answered 4 years ago
I thought Matt Cutts mentioned that the canonical issue was fixed with the Jagger update. At least as far as the duplicate content issue. As far as PR leak, yes you would want a 301 redirect. Unfortunately if you are on a Windows server it isn’t that easy. My host is dumfounded, so I’ve given up trying, I know it can be done in ASP fairly easily (have done it for sites outside of this industry and for other reasons than PR), but not sure if it is the right method to please Google.

voodooman answered 4 years ago
Dom-> No problem.

Pokerboy-> You may be correct, however, I do not agree. Thousands of sites were affected and it may be fixed now, but it wasn’t for awhile.

Webber–>Yes, Google used to map the www and non www together etc, I dont know if it was fixed with Jagger, but it WAS a BIG PROBLEM with Bourbon

Also, PM me. I know how to do a 301 redirect on A Windows Server (Two of my sites below are on Windows Platforms) and I can pass this info along to you to do yourself or pass on to your host.

voodooman answered 4 years ago
Dom-> No problem.

Pokerboy-> You may be correct, however, I do not agree. Thousands of sites were affected and it may be fixed now, but it wasn’t for awhile.

Webber–>Yes, Google used to map the www and non www together etc, I dont know if it was fixed with Jagger, but it WAS a BIG PROBLEM with Bourbon

Also, PM me. I know how to do a 301 redirect on A Windows Server (Two of my sites below are on Windows Platforms) and I can pass this info along to you to do yourself or pass on to your host.