Coder Wants to Know If Back Links Cause Google Dings

A website designer has a question for other designers about follow versus no follow back links on websites. This person wanted to know if it is okay for them to put a back link to their own website on the footer of a client's website. They have this question because of a recent Google algorithm update. For example, they would put a footer that says "Powered by x.com", and that would include a hyperlink back to their own website so that someone who likes what they see could contact them or get more details about their work.

One person wrote back and said that they did that recently and got penalized for it. The same person said that in a recent video by a well-known designer, they heard a recommendation to put no follow attributes on footer back links because of the algorithm change. Another person wrote back and said that a follow attribute in a back link in a footer could violate webmaster guidelines, which is why the no follow attribute needs to be in place for those back links.

A different person replied and said to never do both things. The website's designer should either add a back link somewhere or put in a footer, but they should not do both. Google is penalizing the people who attempt to do both. Another person added that putting a searchable string of words, such as "Powered by the professionals at x.com" into a footer makes it easy for that web designer's competitors to find every site that they have built and reach out to those clients in order to draw them away.

A few people had other recommendations for the original poster. They said to ask for client referrals from clients who are satisfied with their work. However, this could also lead to only a slow trickle of new customers for the web designer. It would depend on the customer knowing another business owner who needs a new website built. Most people agree that footer links could draw a penalty if they are overdone, but nobody knows what "overdone" means. For more information click here https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/d6mhyp/backlinksfromdesigned_by/.