Comments on: Is having two different websites, in which one has a link to the other, black hat seo?

By: Andy Beard

Andy Beard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:57:59 +0000

1. Don’t use the words "Sponsored by" – it would make it look like a paid link.
2. Clearly have company information in the footer of both sites so it is very clear you own both of them
3. Have different useful content on both of them & there isn’t a problem linking between them

Rather than using links in the sidebar, I would opt for relevant links in the content though make it clear the visitor is being sent to a sister site that is more topic focused.

This doesn’t guarantee that Google will count the links for various linking factors, but as everything is logical, it is unlikely to be frowned upon by Google.

Just ensure that what you do provides a good user experience.
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By: John M

John M — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:34:59 +0000

This is no different really from the standard white-hat technique of having a microsite with "for more information please see xyzroofing.com". As long as the content on each site is different there is no reason to believe that this is black-hat (although as has already been suggested I would tend to avoid the word "sponsored" in the link).
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By: Wax

Wax — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:58:59 +0000

I don't see black hat strategies here. No duplicate content I guess and it's your website so don't have to worry about that. The bad move here is you include the word "sponsored", as an advice, include it to your favorite link list if you have that section.
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By: Ed Atun

Ed Atun — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:10:59 +0000

Yes. It is considered "cheating" by the major Search Engines. If you only do it once, no one may notice.
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