Does Google index Twitter short URL’s?
This post by Digital Inspiration got me thinking about something that never previously occurred to me (and that is the mark of a good blog in my opinion). Whenever someone posts a link on Twitter as a short URL, does that link get indexed by Google (and the other search engines)?
Think about it - how many links get posted to Twitter on a daily basis? Too many to count! Twitter users recommend websites all the time plus they are commenting on the news and commenting on things they have seen and heard. Other people then click on those links, pass those links on for other people to click on and so it goes on and on…..
But because those links have been converted into short URL’s, are they picked up by the search engines, recognised and indexed? If not, then those sites are losing out on some serious SEO juice. Those sites are being recognised and appreciated by human users and so they are not getting the full credit / PageRank that they deserve from the search engines.
It would be good if we knew one way or the other for certain. What we need is for one or more of the major search engines to come out and clarify the situation for us. It’s important to know from a SEO perspective.
Or what about a short URL service such as TinyURL? I’m sure they know if their URL’s get picked up by the search engines. I might try firing off an email to them and see if they respond. Nothing ventured….
No related posts.
January 1st, 1970 at 12:00 am
anyone have the answer to this question? http://bit.ly/FFYR
January 1st, 1970 at 12:00 am
testing out this url thing…
http://tinyurl.com/4lmdg5
January 1st, 1970 at 12:00 am
@cameronstewart according to http://tinyurl.com/4lmdg5 google cant index the shortened URL… so I’m not so sure
June 20th, 2008 at 3:59 am
Excellent post, interesting thoughts. Let us know if you find the answer!Regards from Chile.
June 24th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I’ve been using TinyURL in Twitter for about a year and I’ve seen nothing come of it. Not a solid test but interesting nonetheless. I still use TinyURL but I mix in some direct links as well to be sure I’m getting something.
March 31st, 2009 at 10:31 am
google follows 301 redirects.
but twitter uses nofollow. so those links are not indexed!
June 25th, 2009 at 12:31 am
As Manuel says, Twitter links, whether actually inserted manually in the message or from a feed, are nofollowed, so it doesn’t matter if Google indexes them, you won’t get link juice from a tweet.
However, the line at the bottom showing from whence the tween originated, does include a followed link. Simply means it has to be worth the effort to build a program to feed the twitter API from the site wanting the link.