Optimizing Free Sites

[Halfdeck]

I assume "200" was not a typo and you really didn't mean "20"...20 is what I typically use.

Nah, by "200" I mean a truckload of recips. IMO 20 is too many but your mileage may vary.

Should you always no follow your affiliate links?

No, but if you want your free site pages indexed in Google, not nofollowing aff links can cause problems for two reasons: 1) Google doesn't like to see aff links that pass juice, since they're not editorial 2) Less juice flowing to your free site pages.

[Maj. Stress]

Originally Posted by Halfdeck

No, but if you want your free site pages indexed in Google, not nofollowing aff links can cause problems for two reasons: 1) Google doesn't like to see aff links that pass juice, since they're not editorial 2) Less juice flowing to your free site pages.

Maybe that's a myth. I have a free site that ranks #1 at the moment for it's chosen kw. It does not use no follow tags.

[Halfdeck]

Maybe that's a myth.

It's no myth.

I didn't say lack of nofollows cause problems. I said they can.

Ranking proves nothing because if all your competition does exactly what you do they're in the same boat as you are.

Looking at SERPs will tell you very little about SEO.

PageRank is also not the only ranking factor. The primary reason for using nofollow is to get pages to stick in the main index. If you can pull that off without using nofollow, so much the better.

[Maj. Stress]

Originally Posted by Halfdeck

It's no myth.

I didn't say lack of nofollows cause problems. I said they can.

Ranking proves nothing because if all your competition does exactly what you do they're in the same boat as you are.

Looking at SERPs will tell you very little about SEO.

PageRank is also not the only ranking factor. The primary reason for using nofollow is to get pages to stick in the main index. If you can pull that off without using nofollow, so much the better.

This is just my opinion but I think people read way to deep into what search engines like and dislike. The "nofollow" tag was originally designed to eliminate ranking comment spam. Why would a good algo read a "nofollow" in a zone that was not designed to allow comments?

Just use the basics and build a unique page or site. Depending on your kw competition you might have to add some ibl's or a little extra (or sometimes a lot). Nofollow is not going to help in a place where it's use is not intended. That is trying to manipulate the serps.

[Halfdeck]

Nofollow is not going to help in a place where it's use is not intended.

Major, I agree with your attitude. SEO is not needed if you're happy with your Google rankings. If you're not happy with your rankings, on the other hand, getting inbounds and creating good content is just the tip of the iceberg.

The "nofollow" tag was originally designed to eliminate ranking comment spam. Why would a good algo read a "nofollow" in a zone that was not designed to allow comments?

I don't have time for an elaborate reply Major, but here's the short of it:

REL=nofollow has evolved since inception.

Technically, rel=nofollow is a granular META ROBOTS NOFOLLOW, which prevents all links on a page from passing link value. From Google's POV, rel=nofollow is not limited to blog comment spam, though it was introduced to combat it.

Google recommends nofollowing uneditorial links, paid links, advertisement banners, affiliate links, etc. (I don't have the time right now to dig up where Google recommends this).

Google also recommends using nofollow to get more pages indexed by controlling the flow of PageRank.

[LowryBigwood]

Originally Posted by Halfdeck

Nah, by "200" I mean a truckload of recips. IMO 20 is too many but your mileage may vary.

Exactly. Everyone has their own preference and seo tactics. However, when you use fewer recips, you get fewer incoming links... no?

I would also say to no follow your aff links, I don't think it could hurt but probably won't help either.

[Halfdeck]

However, when you use fewer recips, you get fewer incoming links... no?

I'm talking abouit pulling juice from multiple index pages and bombing a single main.html with it. If you only want index.html to rank, it doesn't make much difference what you do.

[LowryBigwood]

Originally Posted by Halfdeck

I'm talking abouit pulling juice from multiple index pages and bombing a single main.html with it. If you only want index.html to rank, it doesn't make much difference what you do.

Ok, I was on a completely different page. I didn't catch the part about you making mirrors of the index and linking to single main page. If I made mirrors then I would probably try that method.

However, from a search engines point of view... Do you think they would approve of this tactic or consider it a way of manipulating pagerank?

[Halfdeck]

However, from a search engines point of view... Do you think they would approve of this tactic or consider it a way of manipulating pagerank?

Matt Cutts, the head of Google's spam team, has no problem with "sculpting PageRank" internally:

http://groups.google.com/group/Googl...b12da30e8b0de2

The nofollow attribute is just a mechanism that gives webmasters the
ability to modify PageRank flow at link-level granularity.

[Halfdeck]

Here's another snippet about aff links: if you ask a Googler, he/she'll tell you they are easy as hell to detect and discount:

we've spent most of our time talking about paying money for
text links or paid posts, because Google does a pretty good job of
detecting and handling things like affiliate links or banner ads.