undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • MozCon
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
    Moz Pro

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

    Try it free!
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Link Building
  4. What count as irrelevant links?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

What count as irrelevant links?

Link Building
5
6
1.6k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • seocoza
    seocoza last edited by Jul 5, 2013, 6:17 AM

    I recently had a link audit done for a client selling mechanical parts. This client supplies to the mining and construction industries. The link audit showed all links on mining or construction sites as irrelevant.

    When I questioned about it, they explained that my client is in the mechanical parts industry and therefor Google would penalize me as those count as irrelevant links.

    I don't agree, but need an expert opinion. Can anyone help?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • seocoza
      seocoza last edited by Jul 8, 2013, 4:41 AM Jul 8, 2013, 4:41 AM

      Thank You for all the Responses. It is good to know that I am on the right track!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • MikeRoberts
        MikeRoberts last edited by Jul 8, 2013, 4:37 AM Jul 5, 2013, 12:30 PM

        That sounds like the textbook definition of a Relevant Link. Client makes mechanical parts, sells to mining & construction industry, links to/from mining & construction industry... not sure what would make that irrelevant. Google won't penalize you for those.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • PremioOscar
          PremioOscar last edited by Jul 8, 2013, 4:37 AM Jul 5, 2013, 6:53 AM

          I agree with Devanur.

          it is very difficult to define relevancy for links as you can always link to industries less related to your core business but still relevant.

          Also, when you naturally get links, you can't control where those links come from and unless they are from dodgy sites, very low quality sites, you won't spend too much time in dealing with them (especially if the number is not too high)

          I do think that Google doesn't penalize you for having those links as they are still relevant for your business in some way.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
          • MoosaHemani
            MoosaHemani Banned last edited by Jul 8, 2013, 4:37 AM Jul 5, 2013, 6:49 AM

            This is not really irrelevant... I mean I have a website that dedicated offer SEO service, and I have few links coming from good web design websites and this is not irrelevant because somehow there is a connection!

            Similarly, here the links that are pointing to the website have some connection... I mean if the websites that are link back to your website have a bad health, then you must stay away from their links but saying that the links are simply irrelevant is not true!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
            • Devanur-Rafi
              Devanur-Rafi last edited by Jul 5, 2013, 6:29 AM Jul 5, 2013, 6:29 AM

              Hi, I don't think those are irrelevant links as the niche that the client operates in is somehow (the client's product is used or consumed by mining or construction industries) connected to these industries. Having that said, there is no clear line that can be drawn to define relevancy while doing link building. However, if you have a website about computer software and you fetch links from a porn website is something apparently irrelevant. Coming to the current case, I do not think there is anything that should be frowned upon and that you should be worried about. Just my two cents.

              Best regards,

              Devanur Rafi.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • 1 / 1
              1 out of 6
              • First post
                1/6
                Last post

              Got a burning SEO question?

              Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


              Start my free trial


              Browse Questions

              Explore more categories

              • Moz Tools

                Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

              • SEO Tactics

                Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

              • Community

                Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

              • Digital Marketing

                Chat about tactics outside of SEO

              • Research & Trends

                Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

              • Support

                Connect on product support and feature requests.

              • See all categories

              Related Questions

              • NCOREGSEO

                Backlinks vs External Links vs Referral Links vs Outbound links

                Hello all, I was just wondering if you could explain the difference between all the links above? I'm confused as they all seem to be the same or similar and I would just like to clearly know what distinguishes them from eachother. Thanks for your help, Jayne

                Link Building | Aug 31, 2017, 5:03 AM | NCOREGSEO
                0
              • ThridHour

                RSS feed links

                Is this an RSS feed link? How was this page generated? http://blog.moregoodfoundation.org/category/technology/feed What causes it to show up as a backlink in open site explorer? And how would you go about removing these links? Lots of questions there 🙂 Thank you.

                Link Building | Mar 14, 2014, 7:32 PM | ThridHour
                0
              • pauledwards

                Changing links

                Hi guys i wanted you views on changing the anchor text of links. I have quality links coming in but with year terms such as 2012 in there, if i want to change them all to 2013 for example would it be badly seen by Google? I cant say i feel comfortable about doing it but they are my links and are related to our products. Any advice much appreciated.

                Link Building | Jul 26, 2012, 12:14 PM | pauledwards
                0
              • tcolling

                Does the ratio of external nofollow links to external "do follow" links matter in terms of SERPs ranking?

                My site has an external link nofollow:dofollow ratio of approximately 1:1 That is, there are about as many nofollow external links as "do follow" external links. I have an impression that the ratio of no-follow to "do follow" links is a factor in the way that our website shows up in SERPs. I have the impression from reading a variety of sources, and from looking at Seomoz, that calculate "trust" factors as if they mattered (in SERPs), that seem to value a relatively low nofollow:dofollow ratio. Am I correct about that? Thanks,
                Tim PS - I don't know whether or not this matters, but our website is at: www.trustworthycare.com - Tim

                Link Building | Jun 29, 2012, 6:22 PM | tcolling
                0
              • ScottBaxterWW

                Having a link from a foreign site

                I just ran an OSE on a competitor of ours that they have a few links from this website, http://www.tz-online.de/ would this not damage there site?

                Link Building | Apr 2, 2012, 9:45 AM | ScottBaxterWW
                0
              • SamCUK

                Text Link vs image link?

                Which passes most link juice a text link or an image with the correct 'alt' attribute? Do the pass the same amount or is one more valuable than the other?

                Link Building | Mar 28, 2012, 10:27 PM | SamCUK
                0
              • JesseCWalker

                Do links within imbeddable widgets carry link juice?

                I'm dipping my toes into infographic design. On of my desired outcomes is to gain links by having other sites embed my graphic. I'm considering using Tableau's interactive data visualization software to do so; thus creating a widget, embedding it on my blog, and including the embed code for others to post. Is it possible to include a juice passing link in such an infographic?  I know its possible to include links inside the tableau graphic but not sure if they have straight SEO value. If these links are not juice passing would it be better to go with a simple image link that passes value?

                Link Building | Nov 16, 2011, 8:10 AM | JesseCWalker
                1
              • pricefutures

                Link Frequency

                I understand that good link building is all about the quality of the link / the anchor text attached to it. But, what about frequency? Should I build until I can't build anymore? or create a plan to submit links to a certain # of sites per week/month?

                Link Building | Nov 13, 2011, 3:25 PM | pricefutures
                0

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              • Digital Marketers
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • Local Citation Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy

              Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.