Hi, I have a few different online shops and was wondering if it is fine to put the links of the sites in the footer. I am guessing this is good for link building however I am just wondering if it is something that could lead to a penalty.
It is beneficial seeing all sites are in the same industry.
Kind Regards,
Yes, if these sites are related, for examples those are all shops, you can connect it. No problem, google will not penalty.
I don’t see anything wrong with that… to make sure you can review google Link Schemes: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66356
I do it with all my sites and it hasn’t harmed them at all over the last 6 years. As the previous poster suggested, something like partner or associate sites is a good route to go down.
It certainly won’t affect your SERPS.
Moreoften, that service is what we called Link Swapping. It doesn’t have give any negative value though, the thing that makes it penalized is when you do link farming, wherein you’re honoring such irrelevant websites. To make it even more look good, why don’t you put a “Partner Site” caption on your footer just an indication that you are emphasizing a more relevant site.
If the sites are related, there aren’t too many of them, and you make it clear that these are other sites within your empire rather than a link farm, it shouldn’t lead to a penalty.