High Domain Authority Even Though It has spam links to it...?

[barnst]

I own a domain that can provide links to my website, but it seems to have picked up a lot of spammy links - 2000+ linking domains. SeoMoz toolbar still gives it a domain authority of 66.

Should I use the domain to link to my site? Or will it have a negative impact?

[PeterAlexLeigh]

As long as your website hasn't got a particulary spammy link profile then adding spammy links to it should make no difference. Google recognises the fact that anyone can link to your sites and potential 'spam bomb' your site with numerous dodgy links, so rather than penalising you for it, if Google didn't like a link, it would just devalue the link to your site.

If it's got a DA of 66, then it's probably worth linking to your site. Although DA can't tell us if google has penalised a particular site, it's still a good measure.

On another note, be aware that google has the ability to detect sites that are linking to each other from the same server, C-Block or even with similar registration details. Therefore it's possible for your link to be devalued if it recognises it as coming from the same source/owner.

[barnst]

Thanks that's a very helpful answer.

The domain name is the same owner and same server IP, so probably wouldn't massively valuable - however, it makes sense from a business point of view anyway, so I will probably do it, as long as it isn't a negative effect.

[barnst]

Just a thought...would it be more beneficial just to use a 301 redirect to redirect the domain to my main domain name?

Would it retain the link domain authority?