Module 7 · 7.5

Links and mentions from others

Module 7: Content that gets found · Reading time: 12 minutes

Learning objective: After this lesson you can explain what links from other sites mean, recognise link spam, choose the right rel value for links on your own site, and come up with honest ways to earn links and mentions.

Key concepts: backlink (inbound link), mention, link spam, buying and selling links, excessive link exchanges, guest posts with keyword links, rel="sponsored", rel="ugc", rel="nofollow", combining values, earned links, local partners, press

Why links from others count

A link from another site to yours is called a backlink or inbound link. In its explanation of how search results are ranked, Google says that one of the things it looks at is whether other prominent sites link or refer to a page; Google sees that as a sign of quality. Bing also mentions the kind of sites that link to you as part of a site's reputation.

Two nuances that are often forgotten:

It's about quality, not numbers. Bing puts it quite bluntly in its help on link building: just a few links from trustworthy sites help, and thousands of new links appearing at once actually stand out.
No search engine discloses how much weight links carry. Anyone who promises you a fixed formula ("50 links = page 1") is making it up.

A mention is any time your business name appears somewhere, with or without a link: in the newspaper, on the council website, at a local club. For local findability, mentions with your correct name, address and phone number matter (lesson 6.4).

Link spam: what's not allowed

Google's spam policies have a separate section on link spam: links intended mainly to manipulate rankings. Among other things, Google lists:

buying or selling links for ranking purposes, including in exchange for goods or services, or a free product in return for a mention with a link;
excessive link exchanges ("you link to me and I'll link to you"), or partner pages that exist only to link to each other;
automated programs or services that create links to your site;
requiring a link in terms and conditions or a contract without allowing the other party to qualify the link;
advertorials or guest posts with links that pass value, especially with optimised anchor text (such as "goedkope rouwbloemen amersfoort", cheap funeral flowers Amersfoort);
links in low-quality directories or bookmark sites, and links placed en masse in the footers or templates of other sites;
forum comments with optimised links in the post or signature.

Bing says the same in its guidelines: artificially inflating inbound links (buying them, spamming, networks of your own sites) is against the rules. Bing can ignore such links and, in cases of clear abuse, remove a site from its index. Google can issue a manual action for link spam (lessons 2.4 and 8.2).

What is allowed: paying for an advert or a mention with a link, as long as that link is marked with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". According to Google, that is then not a violation.

The rel values on your own site

On your own site, you decide how you link to others. Google distinguishes three values:

Value	When	Example for Lotte
`rel="sponsored"`	Links that are adverts or paid placements	A paid link to a vase designer in a sponsored blog post
`rel="ugc"`	Links in user-generated content, such as comments and forum posts	A link a visitor adds in a comment under an article
`rel="nofollow"`	When the other values don't fit and you don't want to associate your site with the page	A link to a site you don't trust but do mention

<a href="https://vazen.example/" rel="sponsored">Vazen van Studio Glas</a>
<a href="https://forum.example/tip" rel="ugc nofollow">tip van een lezer</a>

More rules worth knowing:

Combining is allowed, separated by a space or comma, for example rel="ugc nofollow".
For paid links Google prefers sponsored, but nofollow is fine too.
Ordinary links without rel are perfectly fine. Feel free to link to sources, suppliers and partners you trust. Google says linking to other sites gives readers and search engines context, and recommends using nofollow only when you don't trust the source, not for every external link.
A link with these values is usually not followed, but the page can still be found through a sitemap or another site. So these values are not a way to keep something secret.
Affiliate links (you get a fee per sale) should be treated as paid links: mark them with sponsored.

If you have comments switched on in WordPress, links in comments have had rel="nofollow ugc" by default since WordPress 5.3. Other systems don't always do this automatically: check the source code of a page that has a comment.

Earning links and mentions honestly

Google and Bing give the same advice: create something others want to refer to of their own accord. For a local business, that means in concrete terms:

Local partners. The funeral home, wedding venue and photographer you work with often have a "partners" or "suppliers" page. Ask if you can be listed, and mention them on your site too if you genuinely work together. One real partnership is something quite different from a hundred exchanged links.
Clubs and sponsorship. If you sponsor the local football club, your name appears on their site. If that is a paid mention with a link, the link should be sponsored or nofollow; your visibility among club members is the real gain.
Industry and profession. A listing with a trade association or in a professional directory with proper editorial standards.
Press and stories. A striking project (a floral artwork at the market, a workshop for the neighbourhood) can make the local paper or a regional website.
Useful content. A good explanation such as "What should you write on a funeral ribbon?" gets shared and linked more readily than a product page.
Directories with your business details. Your business profiles (module 6) and reliable business directories. Above all, make sure your name, address and phone number are the same everywhere.

What you don't do: buy links that aren't marked, exchange links on a large scale, drop your link in comments on other sites, or buy a "link package" from an SEO provider. An email offering "1,000 backlinks for a fixed price" is link spam in disguise (lesson 8.2).

In practice: setting rel values

In the WordPress block editor you can open the advanced options for a link and enter a rel value (or use a plugin that adds a "sponsored" checkbox). In the AI Builder and other website builders, whether you can set a link's rel yourself varies by builder; look in the link options or the manual. If it isn't possible and the link is paid, leave the link out or name the party without a link.

Summary

According to Google and Bing, links from other, trustworthy sites are a sign of quality. Quality counts, not numbers.
Link spam (buying, excessive exchanges, automation, guest posts with keyword links, forum spam) is against Google's and Bing's rules.
On your own site: sponsored for paid and affiliate links, ugc for user links, nofollow when you don't trust the source. Combining is allowed.
Earn links through genuine partnerships, local involvement, useful content and press.

Quiz

Exercise

Exercise A7.5: Which rel attribute? Read eight situations from the sample file and choose for each link: no rel, sponsored, ugc or nofollow. The program compares your answers with the key and explains each situation.

Exercise D7.5: Your list of opportunities. Make a list of at least five honest places where your business could be mentioned or linked (partners, clubs, industry, press, directories). For each place, note why it fits and what you are going to do.

Exercise D7.5: Your list of opportunities

You do this exercise yourself; no one checks it. Tick off what you've done and mark the exercise as done.

At least five places
At least one local partner you genuinely work with
At least one club, school, neighbourhood or event
At least one trade or professional organisation, or a directory with editors
For paid listings, noted: sponsored or nofollow
No bought links or link exchange networks on the list
Name, address and phone number ready, exactly as in your profile

Your list (place, type, why, paid, action, when)

Which page or story of yours would someone mention of their own accord?

Have you ever been offered links? What do you recognise in that offer now?

Your ticks and notes only stay in this browser; we don't send them anywhere. If you're signed in, we only save in My courses that you've done the exercise.

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