Linking Four Web Properties The Right Way

[cz]

I have five web properties (I'll call them that). I have two sites that sell the same products Site A and Site B and one that sells a totally unrelated product line, Site C.

I have two stand alone Blogs. One Blog is related to Site C and links to the site on the side navigation bar and sometimes within the body of a post.

The other Blog is related to Site A and Site B and links to them in the side nav bar and within the body of some of the posts. None of my ecommerce sites link back to their related Blogs or to each other.

Can I opitimize this situation to my advantage with a different linking pattern than I am presently doing and without incurring the wrath of the SE's who have been okay with it for quite a while (or so it seems)?

Thanks,
Chuck

[crankydave]

Well, one way to do it, one of the best IMO, is from an "about us" or company page. That is provided they all fall under the same company umbrella.

Dave

[cz]

Thank you Dave, that's a great idea as my comapany name is on all of them. One more question please? Would this be okay for all of the "About Us" site pages, which are already on the sites? I think yes, that is kind of implied in your reply.

Thanks,
Chuck

[incrediblehelp]

CZ just do it in a way that makes sense for your end users that is all the SE's every worry about. Look at websites like cNet:

Free Software Downloads and Reviews - Download.com

The link to other owned properties without any issues in the footer.

[SnerdeyWebs]

My 1st thoughts regarding this is are all of the websites on the same server and IP address? To intensify the effect of the links each should have it's own IP address. Otherwise they will cancel out or carry little weight.

My little freebie tip today

Good luck and you seam to be on the right track.

[crankydave]

Originally Posted by cz

Thank you Dave, that's a great idea as my comapany name is on all of them. One more question please? Would this be okay for all of the "About Us" site pages, which are already on the sites? I think yes, that is kind of implied in your reply.

Thanks,
Chuck

IMO... sure.

Make sure the "About Us" page is unique for each site and add something along the lines of...

Be sure and visit the "Company Name" family of "stores/properties/websites"

...and list them with a very brief description of what a visitor can expect to find by following the link.

Dave

[cz]

Thanks again Dave!

Gotcha Snerdey Webs....a couple are and a couple aren't.....gonna do it anyway.

[Niche]

The links will only count for SEO if the sites are hosted on different servers with different c class addresses

[AjiNIMC]

Good question. I have debated about it with one of our client, who had similar issues. Now consider following things:

1) Sharing traffic is the main concern not sharing some link value.
2) Link value can be passed by just a link, sitewide links are not good anyway.
3) In most of the cases no two sites can even be completely unrelated from users point of view. It can be unrelated just for that point. People who are looking to buy product A today will might buy product B tomorrow, so it is good to put your product in their mind.
4) People don't buy from websites, they buy from businesses. If they trust you for one product, they may like to trust you for other.


This is how you can do it:
1) Create a common Database, that a person registered at any site can also access other sites without registration. It needs to done in a very proper way. I did the program for it and it worked like Google accounts.
2) Create a corporate site (instead of about us page on all the websites), this corporate site will contain the portfolio, linking to all 5 websites. It also explains your mission, latest achievements etc.
3) All other 5 websites can have a top bar XYZ corp > Product A, product B, Product C, Product C blog, Product D blog (all the links should be no follow)
4) See example at iFroggy Network

Hope it helps.
Regards,
Aji Issac