How to Build Links for SEO That Google Will Count

Most people count backlinks. Google doesn’t count them all.

You can have 80 links in your report and still see nothing move. The links are real and they’re live. But Google may be giving most of them very little credit.

Here are five ways to create links that Google can’t ignore, and the mistake behind each one.

How sure are we?

Google never publishes a list of which links count, so nobody outside Google knows exactly. I’ve split the evidence into two kinds, and each section below carries a label:

Google says The point comes from Google’s own documentation or statements.

Research suggests, not confirmed The point comes from patents, leaked documents and SEO research. It’s a careful reading, not Google’s word.

A note on where this post comes from: I got an email from Cyrus Shepard of Zyppy on this topic, and I wanted to rewrite it in simple words for my readers. Big credit to him for the research behind it.

1. Earn the link. Don’t arrange it

Google says

Google calls links made mainly to move rankings “link spam”. Its list includes paid links, link swaps, and guest posts or press releases sent out in bulk to pass credit. Even a free product sent in return for a review with a link counts.

Google has also said its systems aim to cancel these links out. They’re not always penalised. They’re often just not counted, and there’s no warning in Search Console.

Do this: Pay only for ads and sponsorships, and mark those links rel=”sponsored”.

2. Get links from many sites, not many links from one

Google says Research suggests, not confirmed

Google lists widely spread footer, template and widget links as link spam. Research adds that Google likely counts only a limited number of links from one site, so thousands of repeats add very little.

Do this: Judge a site by whether it links to you once, in the right place. If you build sites for others, use a plain brand name and mark it nofollow.

3. Let the anchor read like a person wrote it

Google says Research suggests, not confirmed

Google’s advice on anchor text is simple. Keep it descriptive, short and relevant to both pages. Don’t stuff keywords, and don’t chain links one after another.

Research suggests Google may also watch patterns over time, such as many links with the same wording, or the same phrase said five slightly different ways. You don’t need a pie chart of exact-match percentages. You need links that read like a person wrote them.

Do this: Don’t hand out anchor text. Give people a page worth linking to and let them word it.

4. Get links from pages on your topic

Research suggests, not confirmed

Research suggests Google checks that the page linking to you, the words of the link, and the page it lands on all talk about the same thing. Google’s own guide says good anchor text is relevant to both pages.

Do this: Before you chase a link, ask one question. Would that page’s readers care about mine?

5. Keep the page on topic after it earns links

Google says Research suggests, not confirmed

Google calls it abuse to buy an expired domain and fill it with content that doesn’t serve users. That part is confirmed. Research also suggests that when a page’s subject changes, the links it earned earlier may count for less.

Do this: Keep pages on the same topic the links were about. In a site move, redirect each old page to its closest match, not everything to the homepage.

What to do next

One more thing. Don’t rush to disavow links you think look bad. Google’s John Mueller has said you don’t need to disavow random spammy links. Keep it for a serious problem, such as a manual action.

For a quick check, open your backlink report and look at your 20 newest links. For each one, ask: did I pay for it, is it repeated on every page, is the topic wrong, and would a real person click it? The ones that fail are the ones to stop chasing.

FAQ

Sources