Citing sources on your website can help boost search engine optimization (SEO), but cramming too many links into your content can do more harm than good. Finding the right balance can be challenging, but below, Net Profit Marketing will break down everything you need to know about link limits.
How Citing Sources on Your Website Benefits Your Business
There are many reasons why you should include links within your web pages, but perhaps the biggest three are as follows:
Boosting Credibility
When you cite authoritative websites as a means of backing up claims you make about your products or services or why someone could benefit from them, you build your brand’s credibility. Readers will see (and appreciate) that you’ve done your research and provided them with reputable sources they can visit for more information.
Improving Your Rankings
High-quality linking — both internal and external — gives your website an edge over competitors that don’t include any sources at all.
Google wants to provide its users with the best experience possible and ensure the answers to their search queries get answered. With that being said, the more reliable citations you provide, the more Google will see your website as a valuable resource for its users, and your rankings will rise accordingly.
Generating Increased Web Traffic
Seeing as how linking boosts your SEO, it also helps drive more traffic to your site. The more users who find your brand, the more likely you’ll see an increase in sales.
Excessive Citations Can Hurt Your SEO
Despite the clear benefits, incorporating too much linking into your content can negatively impact your reach in the following ways:
Providing a Poor User Experience
Using excessive citations will cause your website to load slowly, negatively affecting the overall user experience. If Google sees its users having issues with your site and not engaging with your content, you’ll likely see a drop in rankings.
Generating Unnecessary Noise
Excessive hyperlinking can cause your web pages to have too much clutter, making it more difficult for users to find the information they’re looking for and for prospects trying to learn about your brand.
Distinguishing Important Content
When there are a disproportionate amount of citations on a webpage, it’s hard for search engines to distinguish between important and unimportant content. If Google can’t figure that out, it may not rank your site highly.
Limiting Your Webpage Links
According to Google’s guidelines, content creators should use a reasonable amount of links to reap their many benefits. However, they ultimately recommend fewer than 100 per page. You don’t need to include that many to get your pages indexed by Google, but you don’t want to exceed that limit.
Search Engine Optimization Made Easy With Net Profit Marketing
Adding links to your website can drive traffic and boost sales, but too many at once can prove to do the opposite. If you need help creating web content that adheres to Google standards and helps put your brand on the map, turn to Net Profit Marketing, which prides itself on being the perfect partner. For more information on our top-tier SEO Services, contact us today.
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