Backlinks
Backlinks are an important factor in search rankings, as they display trust and authority to pages on a website. However, there are a number of best practices that need to be adhered to, including ensuring links are relevant and not seen as spam. Below, we’ve compiled a list of key takeaways and SEO best practices for backlinks from Google’s regular SEO Office Hours sessions.
For more on optimizing your website’s links for search engines check out our additional resources:
5 Internal Linking Strategies to Boost SEO and Drive Organic Traffic.
Google Counts Links When Removed From Disavow Files
Removing URLs from the disavow file means Google will count these links again the next time they are processed.
Not All Links Shown in Search Console
Not all links are shown in Search Console. Google tries to pick ones that are relevant and doesn’t include every example of a sitewide link.
Multiple Options for Internal Search Pages with External Links
Internal search pages are commonly blocked from indexing in robots.txt. However, if you have external links pointing to internal search pages you can block and allow URLs in a few ways to maximise link equity.
Link Authority Is Lost When a Site Completely Changes
If the content on a site significantly changes to a new topic, any authority from backlinks will be lost.
No limits to the Number of Nofollowed External Links on a Page
Google doesn�۪t have a limit for the number of nofollowed external links on a page.
Search Console Backlinks Include Nofollowed Links
Google includes nofollowed links in the Search Console backlinks data to discourage a focus on followed links, and help you understand which content is generating the most links.
Don’t Disallow a Migrated Domain
If you disallow a migrated domain, Google can’t follow any of redirects, so backlink authority cannot be passed on.
Google Resets A Site’s Backlink Profile If The Content Changes Completely
Google can recognise when a new site is hosted on an old domain and ignore any older links to the site before it changed.
Backlinks are reported in Search Console on the canonical domains
If you canonicalise domain variants (www/non-www/http/https), all of the backlinks will be reported in Search Console under the canonical domain.
Links to 404 Pages Don’t Influence Penguin
If you 404 a page, all links into the page are dropped from the link graph, and won’t impact Penguin algorithm.