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Oct
12

Is large number of external links on a webpage bad SEO ?

Many people ask this Q, how many links are allowed on a page, maximum. And is there a limit at all to the number of external links allowed on a page ?

Interesting question. Interesting because, though Google have clarified it many times that their engines have improved over time, some popular sites seem to restrict the number of external links on single pages. If its okay to add as many links as possible, why restrict ?

Google suggest that ideally, its alright to add as many links as you want on a page, as their bots can handle more file size and more number of links than ever before. (Earlier this was limited). So adding many external links is fine.

But..think about what will happen to your website if there were an unnatural amount of links on any single page ?

- The page size would increase, and even though Google would crawl them and figure out what the context is, would they harm your user experience ?

- If your website is built for visitors, is there a necessity to display large number of external links on a page, unless its a directory or something.

So even if your site had hundreds of links on a page, and assuming Google crawls it all, your users might not like it, unless the site is meant for it (like directories). They may find the page load time and lack of organization annoying.

So in my opinion it makes sense to limiting the number of external links on a single page to a minimal level, a number that makes sense, is in context with the content, and is organized.

Pumping in external links anywhere on the site – not good. Even if Google is okay with it.

Hope its clear.

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Category: SEO Tips | Author: Mani Karthik
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  1. Is large number of external links on a webpage bad SEO ? « Grey SEO

    [...] more here: Is large number of external links on a webpage bad SEO ? Tagged as: engines, external-links, improved-over, links-on-single, number, people-ask, [...]

  2. Amit BanerjeeNo Gravatar

    Google suggests to keep the number below 100.One question : What if we include rel=nofollow and add the large number of links ? That won’t be a concern as far as the bots are concerened.

    Reply

    Mani KarthikNo Gravatar Replied:

    Obviously Amit, when they are set with the nofollow tags, they aren’t supposed to be crawled. But we have also seen (and heard) from Google that even though the links are tagged, they might still crawl the site or follow the link, while excluding it from indexing or cache-ing its contents. However its wise to add nofollow tags selectively on links when you think there are many and not each one has to be crawled.

    Reply

    Rajeel - The 'For' TeenNo Gravatar Replied:

    Great info Mani,

    But I have some doubts ?
    – Will adding links slows down our page while loading ?
    – Will it affect our link juice which is the essence of PR ?
    – Will Google ban us if we add more links, thinking that we are selling links ??\

    If these questions are irrelevant, please pardon me !
    Or please help me to read these info !

    Reply

    Mani KarthikNo Gravatar Replied:

    – Will adding links slows down our page while loading ?
    - It might but a lot more depends on other content like images used. use a page load test tool always.
    – Will it affect our link juice which is the essence of PR ?
    - As I said, more than the number its the quality that matters so a manual check on them always pays off.
    – Will Google ban us if we add more links, thinking that we are selling links ??
    Not if you are actually selling them. Google could easily find out non-relevant spam links, so dont blindly add them.

    Reply

  3. Amit BanerjeeNo Gravatar

    it’s clear.Thanks Mani

    Reply

  4. JavsNo Gravatar

    Pretty clear. Simply put Users are more important than SE’s.

    Reply

  5. sbunting108No Gravatar

    Thanks got the message VISITORS FIRST !

    Reply

  6. DavidNo Gravatar

    And what about javascript links? Does Google count them as links as well?
    I am building a website with a lot of filters (made in a user friendy way… don’t worry) and I’d like to avoid GGL seeing them all as links..
    Also… using tools like SEO-Spy or SEO Chat link structure, I can see that Expedia and other website have around 300 links per page… They are counting all types of links (including internal on the same page, javascript, etc.) Is that the way it should be “counted”?

    Reply

    Mani KarthikNo Gravatar Replied:

    Hi David, I think JS in most events won’t be counted as they are not crawlable, unless you’ve made other arrangements to get the pages crawled (like external links pointing to it.) And like I said, though technically its okay to add as many links as you like (conditions apply), what many people ignore the users perspective. What purpose does adding so many links serve ? Is it just a method to increase the visibilty to pages ? These are the more important questions to ask I guess.

    Reply

    DavidNo Gravatar Replied:

    Thanks for your answer.
    In my case, I want to use these links as a type of filter. I have a vertical search engine which shows specific features for each of the results (calm, sunny, etc.). I want all these features to be clickable. This would then refine the search by adding this feature as a search parameter and give a new SERP including only results with this feature. I haven’t seen it anywhere yet, but think it could be quite user friendly (…. to be tested…). But of course… having 10 features and 10 search results, I easily get to 100 links. Adding a few other links here and there and it makes a large amount. That’s why I wanted to “hide” a few links in the JS.

    Reply

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Mani Karthik Hi, I'm Mani Karthik, SEO, Blogging & Social Media Enthusiast. I primarily blog about SEO and Social Media on this blog, basically How-to articles and tutorials to help the SEO learner. Feel free to have a look around and drop comments. Hope you enjoy your stay.
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