How Accurate Is The Awstats Linking From External?

[danmarx]

I've always used the AwStats "links from external sites" to see who/how/where people are coming from to visit my site. It's a great way for me to see where people are linking from to get to my site and I so far I've always been able to spot my domain on sometimes random sites where people share similar interests. But just recently I've been troubled to find that two sites that supposedly link to mine are pornographic in nature. I haven't ventured to browse these sites to see if in fact there is a link to my domain and don't intend to. The number of hits is small, around 16 from each, but is it possible that these sites do actually contain links to my site? Should I be concerned that someone is hiding pornographic content on my server without my knowledge and then linking to it? Is there any way I can get more information on where these sites are linking to within my site? Has anyone else noticed this? It really bothers me to think of what purpose such sites would have with mine. I'm tempted to remove the site all together, but don't want to take such a drastic measure, especially if that particular statistic is innacurate. Thanks for any help.

 

Dan

[SEO]

... is it possible that these sites do actually contain links to my site?

Yes, it is possible (anyone can choose to link to you).

 

Should I be concerned that someone is hiding pornographic content on my server without my knowledge and then linking to it?

No. I will assume that you are on a shared server. What ever else is on that server is not associated with your site (i.e. no one can hide anything on your space within that server).

 

A slight tangent with regard to the statement "What ever else is on that server is not associated with your site" could be slightly misleading if we are talking about the server specifically (e.g. IP address) and not a specific site. However this is not associated with your concern.

 

 

One more note with regard to AwStates. It seems that others have seen sites referenced to theirs that do not contain a legitimate link (i.e. maybe what you are experiencing). You will be interested to read the thread entitled: External Links/Ranking, question with AwStats.

 

I agree with you about 'not looking' but the only way to be sure is to look. Maybe someone here would be willing (sorry, I feel the same way you do). If so, you could PM them the link and your site and they could confirm the context of the link (if any).

 

Hope this helps.

[Virtual Imager]

We had this discussion several weeks ago: "I AM A SPAMMER Sites Hiding Behind Blogs"

 

http://www.totalchoicehosting.com/forums/i...?showtopic=5687

 

There are some good links given in that discussion to other boards and sites that also deal with the problem.

 

I probably had a dozen I AM A SPAMMER referrers in my stats at that time. The next month (December) I had none. I thought TCH did something to block them, but apparently not... I guess I'm just lucky that they disappeared on their own.