What Are Unnatural Links?
Unnatural links are links created to manipulate search engines and increase a site’s rankings on search results pages. These links are created using black hat SEO link building techniques that violate search engine guidelines.
Unnatural links may be inbound, that is, they originate from another site and point to your site, or outbound, that is, they point from your site to another site. The opposite of unnatural links is natural links, which refer to links obtained without payment or solicitation by the site receiving the link.
Unnatural links can be created using link building techniques that outright violate search engine policies. For example, paid links, link farms, and private blog networks.
However, they may also result from the content containing the link. For example, low-quality content and keyword-rich anchor texts. Even white hat SEO link building techniques, such as link exchanges, are considered unnatural links when done aggressively.
Importance of Unnatural Links
Unnatural links are not beneficial to SEO. While they may sometimes provide some SEO benefits, the gains are short-term and disadvantageous in the long run.
Google has multiple algorithms and systems for identifying unnatural links. This includes the Penguin algorithm update, which penalized sites engaged in manipulative link building schemes. Penguin has now been added to Google’s algorithm.
Google has a webspam team staffed by humans who manually investigate sites for webspam. Once detected, they would issue the page or site a manual action penalty, leading to its demotion or removal from search results pages.
Sites that receive a manual actions penalty can only return to search results pages after filing a reconsideration request. Even at that, there is no guarantee that they will recover their lost rankings. So, unnatural links can have severe, long-term effects on your search results rankings.
However, it is crucial to understand what constitutes unnatural links, as even seemingly ordinary link building techniques may be considered unnatural.
This knowledge further comes in handy during SEO audits or when you hire a third party for your SEO or link building. Low-quality SEOs usually get backlinks to your site using unnatural link building techniques that violate Google’s Search Essentials guidelines.
Examples of Unnatural Links
Google considers all unnatural links as link spam. Like link schemes, link spam is done to manipulate search results pages. We have listed some of them below.
- Betaalde koppelingen
- Koppel boerderijen
- Aggressive link exchanges
- Private blog networks (PBNs)
- Over-optimized anchor texts
- Hidden anchor texts and links
- Requiring backlinks as part of a terms of service
- Low-quality directory submissions
- Automated linking
- Comment spam
- Footer and widget links
1 Paid Links
Paid links are links purchased from other websites in exchange for money or other items or services of value. Google requires paid links to include a sponsored link attribute to indicate that they were paid for.
2 Link Farms
A link farm is a group of websites linking to one another. The content published on the blogs is usually of low quality, and the links are created for the sole purpose of gaining backlinks.
3 Aggressive Link Exchanges
A link exchange is a white hat SEO technique. However, it is considered unnatural when two or more websites excessively link to each other to boost their rankings.
4 Private Blog Networks (PBNs)
Private blog networks (PBNs) are a group of websites that link to a specific website. However, the specific site they link to does not link back to them.
5 Over-Optimized Anchor Texts
Anchor texts should be relevant to the content that they lead to. While they can contain trefwoorden, they should not be excessively optimized, or else they will be considered keyword stuffing and an attempt to manipulate search rankings.
6 Hidden Anchor Texts and Links
Hidden anchor texts and links refer to anchor texts and links that are visually concealed from users. They are usually done as part of a keyword stuffing campaign and are executed by using tiny fonts or making the font the same color as the background.
7 Requiring Backlinks in Exchange for a Service
Some websites and services require other sites to link to them for using their product or service. This is considered manipulative practice as it forces sites to link to other sites based on necessity rather than genuine merit.
8 Low-Quality Directory Submissions
Submitting a website to low-quality directories for backlinks is considered a black hat SEO tactic. These directories often have little to no traffic and are primarily used for link building purposes rather than valuable content.
9 Automated Linking
Automated linking involves using tools to create backlinks without human intervention. These links are often low-quality and irrelevant to the content they point to.
10 Comment Spam
Comment spam involves posting irrelevant or generic comments on blog posts or forums with links back to a website. This is often done in bulk, sometimes using automated software.
11 Footer and Widget Links
Many developers and software providers place their links in the widget and footer areas of the sites that use their products or services. These links are considered unnatural when added solely for SEO purposes without providing value to the user.