I'm Missing Some Valuable Backlinks

[Creator]

Hi everyone,

I have been on BuSo for some time now but rarely post. However, I need some help about a new site I am developing.

I bought an expired domain a few months ago with some nice links from top sites.

But some links arent going thru to the site. That is, the links arent pointing to the intended page. For example, a page url is: website.com/dothis. Now links that are supposed to go to this page are directed to website.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi.

I believe that the original page was resolving to that suspended page when the hosting account of the previous owner was suspended. But I suppose that shouldnt be there once I set up a new hosting.

I have waited a few months but the redirect isnt going away. I have cleared cache and its still the same.

Is this normal? Have I lost those links and should just forget them (It is close to a dozen from high DA sites)?

Am happy to reveal the site to any of the reputable members here. And will really appreciate any help or suggestions.

 

[Ryuzaki]

@Creator, I agree that that redirect came from the guy not paying for his hosting most likely.

No, it's not normal that the redirect is still in place. It should not follow you from one set of hosting to the next. I think you're right to first think that it's your own cache that's the problem.

Feel free to PM me a link that's redirecting in that fashion and I'll check it out. I suspect I won't see the redirect but I'm not sure why you're still seeing it.

I don't think you've lost the links. You need to either build out pages on those URLs or place a 301 redirect on them to aim to a closely relevant page. You can restore the juice that was flowing even if it's been broken for a while, but I wouldn't wait any longer than I have to.

 

[Charlice]

Thanks so much for replying. I'll send you a couple of the links making the redirection.

 

[Ryuzaki]

For the sake of the readers, I want to explain what I saw while respecting the privacy of these posters.

I don't want to presume too much, but I'm guessing that you're checking for these backlinks using something like Ahrefs, and are trusting what it says without digging into the pages themselves, and that's causing the confusion.

I was shown 2 example pages with links to the site. One of them no longer contains a backlink, and the other does but it leads to the /cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi URL. I'm not saying that it has a real backlink that redirects there. I'm saying that it directly links to that broken URL.

What I also noticed was that both of these websites use the exact same template, so I'm assuming they're on the same custom front-end and back-end system. I confirmed that both are owned by the same company.

It seems like they've automated the process of checking for broken links, and if they notice one is 301-redirecting they update the link to the new destination link. In this case it's that "bad URL". The next check probably see's that as an actual broken link and removes it. Which is why the first example no longer contains a backlink.

I've asked whether or not the bulk of these sites or all using the same system (template, design, layout, etc). That would explain the problem.