Links, relevance and link spam
Why links matter, what makes one valuable, and the practices search engines treat as spam.
- Lesson
- 6/7
- Reading time
- 8 min
- Sections
- 4
- Through the course
- 86%
A link from another site is a signal that your page is worth visiting. Links help discovery and are one of many ranking signals, but quality and relevance matter far more than count.
What makes a link valuable
- Relevance: a site about your industry or area.
- Placement: within the main content, where readers see and use it.
- A well-connected linking site, linked to from many other sites itself.
- Natural anchor text, often your brand or the page title.
Link attributes
- rel="sponsored": paid or exchanged links.
- rel="nofollow": links you don't want to vouch for.
- rel="ugc": user-generated content such as comments.
- Search engines treat these as hints; they qualify the link rather than hide it.
Check your understanding
A blogger links to you in return for a free product. Which rel value fits?
Link spam to avoid
Search engine spam policies describe buying links that pass ranking signals, excessive link exchanges, automated link building and keyword-rich anchors placed to manipulate rankings as link spam. These can lead to links being ignored or a site being demoted. Earn links with useful content, real partnerships and digital PR.
Lesson 6 of 7
Links, relevance and link spam