Random backlinks from pages I did not create

  • Hi ya’ll!

    I have bought an expired domain and when I was checking the backlink to my site I’ve found 11 different url slugs off of my domain. What is happening?

    example xxx.com/privacy_policy

    xxx.com/store/signs.html

    None of these pages are indexed when I check via site:____________

    There was a blanket 301 redirect from the http to the https when I added my ssl certificate, but I’ve toggled that off and the links still remain. None of these slugs existed when I check on archive.org. I really don’t know how to even start to figure this out. Any help would be appreciated.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • catacaustic

    (@catacaustic)

    Where/how are you checking backlinks?

    Keep in mind that most services will be caching those results, so anything done in the past few days/week/month(s maybe) will not out-of-date, depending on the system that you’re using to check.

    Random backlinks from pages I did not create

    Do you mean backinks to non-existing pages on your site?

    This goes with purchasing an expired domain: unless you took time to do a deep-dive historical SEO research, you don’t know the history of the domain, what URLs it had previously, what backlinks it had, what SEO issues had, etc. Archive.org, unfortunately, doesn’t tell the full history of a domain.

    Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do directly to stop or control external links coming to your site, even for a fresh domain with no history.

    Treat this as you’d treat any other non-existing pages: serve your usual 404 page, return 410:Gone http response, or redirect them to what you consider to be appropriate page(s).

    Thread Starter hk011722

    (@hk011722)

    @catacaustic:

    Semrush is where I see the links. Ahrefs does not show them.

    I went as far as to delete the original post and semrush still shows the links

    Thread Starter hk011722

    (@hk011722)

    @gappiah- no. I made to in-text links to another domain. When I checked Semrush to validate the link, I see over twenty links from my domain, from pages I did not create all with different url slugs that I’ve never seen before.

    I did do the deep dive into this domain, it took forever. Checked all the backlinks and referring domains with Semrush, Ahrefs, and Majestic. Checked every year on Archive.org. That’s why I’m very confused. None of the new urls were associated with the site. They are not indexed by Google.

    The thing is, is that these pages are not on my WP-admin page. How would I redirect them if I did not create them, nor can I find them in WP-admin? Check the hosting?

    • This reply was modified 3 weeks ago by hk011722.
    • This reply was modified 3 weeks ago by hk011722.

    The thing is, is that these pages are not on my WP-admin page. How would I redirect them if I did not create them, nor can I find them in WP-admin? Check the hosting?

    You can redirect ANY URL at your domain to any internal or external destination, whether or not there’s a WordPress permalink for the URL you’re redirecting.

    You can do this from your webserver directly, use a WordPress redirection plugin, custom WordPress PHP code, or even an external domain registrar or CDN or Proxy with redirection functionality (eg Cloudflare).

    Thread Starter hk011722

    (@hk011722)

    @gappiah

    Thank you. Do you have any idea why this type of thing is happening?

    catacaustic

    (@catacaustic)

    You bought an expired domain. Those links would be from that old domains website, not yours. You can’t do anything about it because there’s nothing to be done.

    Be patient and let the back link systems catch up to the new site and don’t worry about what they say for the old domain. That’s what you need to do.

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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