More than one link on an external website
-
Just wanted to clarify my understanding of this...
I'm of the understanding that if an external site has more than one link going to your site, then it is only the one link that passes value. If this is the case....
-
Which is the link that passes value (i.e the first link established or the link that, all factors being considered, is the most valuable for passing authority?)
-
If a second link established on an external website comes from and goes to a different webpage than the first (and is done for the purposes of targeting and boosting a different keyword category/theme), is this then a beneficial practice?
-
If multiple links on an external website all serve to generate solid referral traffic, will this boost rankings, and thereby be a sound practice?
Thanks in advance for your help in clarifying this for me!
-
-
No, you're absolutely right Patrick. The answer is, an external site (emphasis on "site") can pass link equity to more than one page on your site. An external page can too, provided those links are pointing to different pages on the recipient site.
If, for example, Site A has a footer link that points to Site B's home page, those links will be devalued or penalized by Google because they're unnatural and rarely viewed or clicked on by users. If Site A feels compelled to use them, they should be nofollowed, effectively telling Google you're not trying to game the system.
If, on the other hand, Site A has a unique link on Page X that points to Site B, AND it adds value, AND it's a follow link, then it will pass value. If Site A has two identical outgoing links on the same page or if one of those links is identifical except for the anchor text, then only the first will pass value.
If site A has unique links on Page X that point to different pages on Site B, AND they add value, AND they are follow links, then they will pass value.
-
Hi Donna
Thanks for sharing the link to the Q+A about this question - my confusion was in the language of "site" vs "page".
"I'm of the understanding that if an external site has more than one link going to your site, then it is only the one link that passes value."
If we are talking about one "page" with multiple links, then I can understand Google's counting one link from that page (although again, this is the first time I am hearing about it), but "site" is a harder pill to swallow for me in only counting one link - hence my confusion.
I would also ask why do you need multiple links from one page pointed to your site? To me, if that's happening multiple times across different websites, this could potentially trigger spam filters and look like a link scheme or manipulative link building, especially if linking pages are irrelevant to your content or website, or over-optimized anchor text.
Just my thoughts - good luck!
-
Edited now that I've seen Patrick's response which I agree with and want to elaborate on a bit.
"... if an external site has more than one link going to your site, then it is only the one link that passes value. " There has been some discussion of that point in the past. This is the most recent I found and I believe it is still accurate.
Moz best practices for anchor text also touch on your point.
- Yes, but it the anchor text of the first link that will count most.
_2) _Yes, because the link destinations are different.
3) It's possible those links will boost rankings indirectly IF they provide sticky traffic, not not by virtual of the links themselves. Sticky traffic is traffic that doesn't bounce.
-
Hi there
I am not entirely sure I have ever heard that rule before - can you source that?
-
First, you have to figure out if the links are follow or nofollow. Follow meaning they pass value or nofollow meaning that more often than not, they don't. There's a common misconception that you only want follow links - this is simply not true. Even if a link is a nofollow link or not passing any equity, it's still potentially valuable from multiple standpoints. All links can provide value, by the way, it's not limited to just one link.
-
Yes, if where the backlink is pointing to is relevant to the content on your website. For instance, if the link is linking from a page about lawn mowers to a page on your site about toaster ovens, I wouldn't consider that a valuable link because it's not relevant. Does that make sense?
-
I suggest you read Google's stance on link schemes, as paid links are something that they have heavily cracked down on. I would suggest that you nofollow the link pointing to your website to avoid any unintended repercussions. I would also suggest you take a look at this Whiteboard Friday post to learn more about how paid media investments can have SEO value - you just have to be smart about it!
I have to say this though - don't "link build" with the intention of boosting rankings. I know that's an odd thought but you have to remember that any link you acquire should be done with the intention of adding value to that link and the user that is arriving because of it. Stay away from heavy anchor text or site-wide backlinks as you could obtain a manual action for attempting to manipulate Google's algorithm.
I also suggest you read Moz's The Beginner's Guide to Link Building - there are a ton of great resources and tactics in there that can help you stay on the right side of the track.
Hope this all helps! Good luck!
-
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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.
Related Questions
-
Too Many links in a Ecommerce website
Hello, I am running a website, which is a kind of e-commerce website. We are providing doctors appointments and online consultations in Pakistan. I am checking my page's SEO using moz tool, it shows me too many links on the page. My question is how many links should we have on a single page?. As on my website every single doctor has a link to his profile, I am using paginations plus i have added internal links to other pages which is related to same specialist doctors. looking for the answer to this question
Link Building | | MuhammadNoman-Imam0 -
A website with a spam score of 5 is back linking to me. How important is to get that link removed?
There is a website that OSE has identified with a spam score of 5, it back links to me with a very specific key word. How important is it to have them remove those links?
Link Building | | absoauto0 -
If i get link pointing to a specific page , will that link add up to the count of linking root domains too ?
If I create a fresh link pointing to specific page on my site, apart from adding a number to "page linking root domains" does it also add up to root domain linking ?
Link Building | | Techbate1 -
Linking to sites that link to porn or casinos, my site getting penalized?
I have some link exchanges with some sites to get web traffic but when i ran the bad neighborhood link checker, i found that one site links to some casinos and another site has one link to a porn site. Is this getting me penalized? should i remove the links to these sites? Thanks, Ron
Link Building | | Ron100 -
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,
Link Building | | tcolling
Tim PS - I don't know whether or not this matters, but our website is at: www.trustworthycare.com - Tim0 -
Best way to create deep links - Building links to inner pages
I am looking for a cost effective way to rank 30 inner pages, which are all low competition, long tail keywords. What type of links are the best for this type of project, social bookmarks, article marketing, high pr links, etc.... Also who would be good to hire for this type of project?
Link Building | | newcitymoving0 -
How to find high PR & Domain authority websites to build links?
Hi Guys, Please can you help me if you can. How to find high PR & Domain authority websites to build links? I really want to learn as much as I can from link building, but I am not sure how to find out how to find high PR websites to build links from.. Can any help me?? Thanks Gareth
Link Building | | GAZ090 -
Asking other websites to link your website when the want to be in your directory
Hello, We have 3 web directories, and I wonder if it is legal for search engines to ask people who want to be in the directory to link to a particular website in order to be in our directory. I mean, it is free adding the url in the directory but if they lwant to be in the directory they have to ink to a website we have decided.
Link Building | | teconsite.com
Is this correct, or is punishable? Thanks!0