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Can I assume "nofollows" in comments are safe?

  1. Pcunix profile image90
    Pcunixposted 6 years ago

    Sometimes I have articles at my main site that I'd like to refer to but I don't want to run afoul of the "overly promotional" rules here, so in two recent cases I referenced the article in the comments instead of the main text.

    Note that I'm not talking about pasting twenty links in, I mean one link.   Yes, I could have put it in the hub itself, but I think I understand that even if you don't do more than two per hub you can still be overly promotional if you do it in too many hubs.

    I doubt that I am anywhere near having to worry about that, but I have no real need to promote my main site (it does just fine all by itself) so why not be extra careful?  But there are times when I want to refer to something there for my readers benefit.

    So, is putting a link in a comment (where it automatically becomes nofollow) "safer" in this overly paranoid scenario?

    1. Marisa Wright profile image93
      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago in reply to this

      The rule is, you're allowed only two links OR one RSS feed to the same domain in one Hub.

      The rule also says it's overly promotional if all your Hubs link back to the same domain - however, I know a couple of Hubbers who finish every Hub with a signature and link to their main site, rather like the Resource Box on Ezinearticles, and there's no sign of them being sin-binned.

      I think they get away with it because they write long, original, quality Hubs which are clearly not spam. 

      So in answer to your question - yes, I think you're being overly paranoid!

  2. Mark Knowles profile image60
    Mark Knowlesposted 6 years ago

    I am thinking "overly paranoid" are the operative words here. wink

    Personally - I think it is sneaky when I see people do that. A lot of people add affiliate links in the first comment box, so you are not the first to think of it. I will complain to the hub police toot sweet. big_smile

  3. 0
    Website Examinerposted 6 years ago

    I would not assume that it is safer either. First, it defies logic; second, there is this excerpt from the FAQs concerning overly promotional:

    "linking to the same domain in the body of the text AND in an RSS feed"

    As you can see, they have specifically distinguished between "body of the text" and RSS feed in this regard. In all other regards, conversely, the FAQs draw no such distinction, which I take to mean that the hub is considered a single unit, and therefore the specific placement is irrelevant.

    1. darkside profile image85
      darksideposted 6 years ago in reply to this

      Pcunix, if you were to be posting a third link to the same domain but a different page of the site then I can't see how it would hurt.

      1. Pcunix profile image90
        Pcunixposted 6 years ago in reply to this

        It wasn't a third link :-)

        It was the only link.

        1. darkside profile image85
          darksideposted 6 years ago in reply to this

          Then there'd be no way to run afoul of the "overly promotional" filter unless the hub contained duplicate content.

          1. Pcunix profile image90
            Pcunixposted 6 years ago in reply to this

            As I said in the beginning, I THINK I read that you could be penalized for too many links overall - for example, two in every single hub, all going the same domain.

            I would exoect I'm in no danger of that, either, but as I do not know whether that is a percentage or just an aggregate total that would be objectionable, I'm concerned that someday, without malice or intent, I could exceed that limit.

            1. Marisa Wright profile image93
              Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago in reply to this

              You are right, if every single one of your Hubs links to the same domain, that will trigger the overly promotional filter.

              However, like I said, I've noticed some Hubbers who link the majority of their Hubs back to their business website without penalty.  So I'm pretty confident it's an all or nothing thing.

              Besides, breaking that rule wouldn't get you banned, it would just get the Hubs unpublished - you could then remove the links and republish, no harm done.

  4. Pcunix profile image90
    Pcunixposted 6 years ago

    OK. I am probably overly paranoid.

    As I said, I'm not trying to pass juice and am only doing it when I really feel it is relevant, so I probably don't have to worry about it.

    1. 0
      Website Examinerposted 6 years ago in reply to this

      In which event you may as well place the links in the body text, right?

      1. Pcunix profile image90
        Pcunixposted 6 years ago in reply to this

        If it fits, yes,

        Sometimes it comes up because of a comment someone else left.   I suppose I could have gone back and worked it in, but..

  5. Alison Graham profile image92
    Alison Grahamposted 6 years ago

    I would like to ask a question on the subject of links to another site in the text of hubs.  If you have a hub and include two links to a your own site but to different pages of the site, each link using different anchor text and then you write more hubs on the same subject and do the same, are you more likely to be penalised if you then group all these hubs together with an RSS Feed that you add to each of these hubs?  Or am I getting paranoid as well?!

    1. 0
      Website Examinerposted 6 years ago in reply to this

      Whether or not you group them together, the total amount of external links through all hubs will be constant. As long as the RSS feed includes only links to the hubs, not to the external site, no additional external links are generated.

  6. Alison Graham profile image92
    Alison Grahamposted 6 years ago

    Website Examiner, thank you for your clear and concise answer, much appreciated.

 
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