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> Nofollow in forum links putting hub status in jeopardy?

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post Nov 29 2005, 10:11 PM
Robert_Paulson
First, this doesn't have anything to do with the other site. I run an industry forum and people link out all the time to other sites about the work we do, the tools we use to do that work, etc.

I was considering adding a nofollow to the links appearing in those posts, but wonder if down the road that might put the potential hub/authority status of our site in question.

Opinions?
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post Nov 29 2005, 10:17 PM
jason_sot
My advice: get the opinion of your members. Its that easy. People will respect you for that.

For other reasons, are people benefitting from the links being followed? If so, is there anything you can offer in return?
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post Nov 29 2005, 10:50 PM
Robert_Paulson
Well, I would imagine that of all our members, I'm probably the only one that even knows what a nofollow is, so there'd be a lot of educating I'd have to do first. The only beneficiary is the third party that the member links to (I like allowing live links).

I should clarify something - I would only do this with the content within posts - the link a person has in their sig or their profile to their own business would be unaffected.
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post Nov 29 2005, 11:28 PM
Bompa
Personally, I don't think there is any such thing as "a hub".

A page is ranked wherever it is ranked in the SERPs, and that's it.

Anyone have some authoritative information on this?


Bompa
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post Nov 30 2005, 02:05 AM
MarkHutch
I'd just leave things the way they are. If the site is successful why try to fix a problem that doesn't exist?
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post Nov 30 2005, 09:05 AM
rustybrick
Nofollow should be used for links that you do not add yourself. So comments, forum links, guest books, and so on. Anything outside of that, it is not fully intended. Will the hub die if the nofollow tag is used more loosely then above? I hope not. smile.gif
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post Nov 30 2005, 11:29 AM
mugshot
QUOTE
Nofollow should be used for links that you do not add yourself.


to make spam worth less than dirt :evil:
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post Nov 30 2005, 11:36 AM
JasonTNYC
Personally if you believed in hubs as assets, why would you want to let your users control the parts of that hub.

I would use the nofollow in the posts and allow your members to contribute related resources which you can add to keep that "hub" alive.

That way not only do you not change the way that site links, you add a resource for your members which you have control over
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post Nov 30 2005, 03:19 PM
jason_sot
I think that if you are only adding it in posts, that is totally fine. Either that or just dont allow live links in posts.

If someone wants to credit a site with a link, they can add it in their sig.
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post Nov 30 2005, 04:05 PM
Wit
I like the way Threadwatch has become a "hub" for interesting stuff in a way.

Generous linking out from the posts, no nofollow, ruthless but invisible editing in case of spam and NO SIGS.

That and they are basically all grown up people who don't feel the need to spam THOSE blog/forum comments with crappy links. What remains: interesting links to good resources, linked-to from paragraphs of on-topic and original text. Plus some funny stuff to keep things from getting dry.

Nick was great at that, wonder how Aaron will cope....
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post Dec 1 2005, 01:37 AM
2k
I'm gonna say that it will affect your website, hub or no hub. The reasoning is simple - with nofollow you alter the page structure google and other search engines see and analyse. So this is same as asking "if I strip all my h1 tags will it affect my rankings"; the answer is IMO obious.
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post Dec 1 2005, 02:21 AM
JasonTNYC
<<ruthless but invisible editing in case of spam>>

Thats the key if you leave them but then it comes down to time. In a busy forum it may be near impossible to 1.) Catch every post with a link in it - and then 2.) Visit it to make sure its above board.
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post Dec 1 2005, 07:26 AM
bobmutch
Wit_: Nicks content and mode of reporting is at a quality level where people don't need SIG links to be induced to post. Nick also attracts people with his personality, his bad boy image, his in-your-face and brass way of reporting.

Some forums need to offer SIG links so the provided inbound links and click though will induce people to post. Using a nofollow is just removing the inbound link portion of the reward, which we just saw how important that is to some people over at SEOChat.

In the long run SIG rewards are not enought to build a good forum, but they can help it get going.

While most of us realize that SIG inbounds are worthless the click though is some what important. A forum would have to be pretty high end to induce me to post if there is no SIGs plus a strict rule of no link drops.
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post Dec 1 2005, 08:32 AM
gabs
I've pondered over nofollow on one of my forums for a long long time...

99% of the poster have no idea about backlinks and serps...
And almost all the people spamming know and are removed pretty fast...

The problem is google must give some form of credit for linking to great sites...

Any opinions ?
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post Dec 1 2005, 08:57 AM
SEbasic
I've gone out of my way to remove no-follow links on the publishing systems that I use (Usually WordPress).

I just don't understand the benefit of using it.

If someone tries to spam one of my sites, they will do it regardless as to whether or not I add a no-follow attribute to their links.

I also hate the fact that if someone were to link to an interesting resource on another site that they wont get credited for it.
QUOTE
Generous linking out from the posts, no nofollow, ruthless but invisible editing in case of spam and NO SIGS.
Absoutley. The fact that you can post live links on TW isn't what makes people post on there by any means, but the fact that users are treated like adults makes a big difference IMO.
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post Dec 1 2005, 10:30 AM
McFox
QUOTE
Nick was great at that, wonder how Aaron will cope....

I've clearly missed something. Has Aaron bought over TW?
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post Dec 1 2005, 10:40 AM
SEbasic
Yep....

I heard about it yesterday - Nick says it's because he doesn't have enough time to work on both TW and performancing.com, so agreed to sell it to Aaron...

It's a shame, but Aaron will do a great job I'm sure. At least it's not just part of a devshed network or something similiar.
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post Dec 1 2005, 11:28 AM
Jammer
Although I like the initial idea of the nofollow > "fighting spam" I don't like the way most people are using it. IMO there's a big difference between regular spam and things as sig links, forum links etc.

I think SE's will eventually treat nofollow just like a regular link. I don't use it on my forums but I have the option to select a user and add nofollow to his link posts and/or signature links. This way I can use it only for the users who aren't behaving without harming those thousands others.
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