Network of sites - Best way to cross link

I've got a network of 4 sites (or will have! - I've got the domains!) all covering a very specific niche subject.

Ideally i want to link all the sites together, but what is the best way of doing this? Are the any potential penalties i need to be aware of?

Its a very uncompetetive niche so i should be able to pull good rankings without much worry.

 

Just make sure they are all on different ip's and you will be fine.

 

I don't think they need to be on seperate IP's to be honest.

 

This has worked best for me.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but the niche is so uncompetetive that i don't think i'll need to go to those lengths just yet.

 

Nothing will happen..... interlinking your sites will not get you penalised though it may have less SEO value.. and it has i agree..... google will value you less if you are getting all links from a network of sites but you wont get penaised for this. I have many sites all connected with each other

 

I agree. If it's only 4 sites on the same topic, just link em all up using sitewides.

 

just check how gawker media, weblogs inc or 9rules do it. ther is always the way how to dig out some of your pages burying another ones at the same time.

 

So sitewides are the way to go then?

I was thinking just a couple of 'in article' links on each homepage.

The problem is they are all targetting the same set of keywords, so i'll rotate each sites keywords for each site they are displayed on.

Thanks.

 

Sitewides are the better option IMO if they are similar themed sites. You get the best of both worlds, SEO and direct traffic.

 

Sitewides it is then!

Thanks for your advice

 

No worries. I am just checking out your blog now, some cool stuff.

 

Only best way is to not over interlink them

 

Host them in seperate class c ips and you can share their benefits.

 

I realise seperate hosting is the way to go in an ideal world, but the subject is so niche i estimate i'll recieve around 500 visitors each month, when i'm dominating that search term.

I should be able to rank no.'s 1 - 4 with interlinking and a couple of external links per site.

Adsense earnings will be low due to number of visitors, but for the niche that it relates to each lead is potentially work 0000's to my business, when / if i develop that side of the business.

I'm preparing myself a good few years in advance!

 

Just link them together. Put it in the Links section and don't do any further linking.

 

Links pages were so 2005

 

Wow, Thank you very much for the suggestion.

 

I've plumped for sitewide links, not the best test in the world because i've got so little competition, i'll let you know if i have problems, then you can avoid site wide linking on the same IP address.

 

I would consider putting sitewides on all the sites, to all the other sites, as over-interlinking that could get you penalised.

I have seen this work in the past, but it's not something I would recommend. It leaves a very obvious pattern for search engines to pick up on, and their crosslinking filters can easily be tightened up a notch, devaluing all your links.

My advice would be to link them all together where it's appropriate, but not sitewide on all the sites. Overlinking them will tell the search engines that these sites are all owned by the same entity/person, and they will probably devalue the links and treat them as though they're all the internal links of one big site.