SEOs and web developers frequently leave links to their site in the footer of their clients' sites. Does this negatively impact the site with the links?

[KatMouse]

Does this provide any SEO value to the receiving site?  Has anyone  experienced problems doing this?

[CPLDistribution]

I have just had a look at the search results for the query "web design sheffield" which ranks as 48% keyword difficulty using the keyword difficulty tool.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=web+design+sheffield

The No 2 results evoluted.net appears to have built most of it's links through footer links which suggests it does have value for SEO purposes.

I guess the concern is that the clients sites content is likely to be completely unrelated to the developers sites content, however, it is a legitimate relationship and the developer is simply being credited for their good work.

[seanmccauley]

Hi

I believe that this practice is at best a little old hat and at worst has a negative effect on the client's site. On a homepage there will be links to deeper pages eg brands, categories, etc. It is through the homepage that juice will flow to these pages. If there are unnecessary outbound links on the homepage then this juice will be diluted, if only by a little. As the objective of an SEO is to optimise the clients page they really shouldn't post footer links. If they insist? then they should be no follow.

[JamesNorquay]

I think it is a strategy which has been around pretty much since SEO started, I have seen this done for soo many years say the last 12.

I saw recently for a very strong term a site was over taken by a site that has 1/4 the total links of the top site, reason been the top site has say 1000+ and they place site wide footer links for a term on all these clients website.

It is obvious Google is aware of this practice and is de-value these types of links.

It is good for the company but I guess because they provide free advertising and also links back to their main website.

But it seems to hold some value, overall the best links are within content, near the top of the page on authority websites.

[RyanKent]

Does this provide any SEO value to the receiving site?

No

Has anyone  experienced problems doing this?

There are not any problems that can arise from this issue unless the target site which belongs to the SEO receives a penalty. If you stick with SEOs whom use only white hat techniques this should never be a problem.

Does this negatively impact the site with the links?

No. If you want to really look at this topic under a microscope then a very small amount of PR would flow from your site to the SEO's site. How small? If your site had 100 links per page and the PR flowed evenly to all links then we are talking about 1%. Google has inferred they devalue footer links so most likely it is a fraction of one percent.

If the SEO is doing their job well and you are pleased with their performance, I would suggest leaving the link. If you are unhappy with the SEO's performance and would not recommend their services, remove the link.

Personally, the link is something I discuss with clients upfront. I inform them exactly the words I shared in the above paragraph. If you are happy with me, leave the link and otherwise remove it.