Are Website-Wide Links A Factor In Google Rankings?

Should you be worried if your website is the recipient of website-wide links?

Let's examine if these types of links could impact your site's organic search positions.

Inbound links are usually considered beneficial for SEO, but getting too many from the same domain can potentially cause issues.

But do website-wide links pointing to other sites negatively influence rankings?

Some in the SEO community believe so.

Is there reason to be concerned if your website is the target of website-wide links?

We'll explore the theories regarding these potentially problematic links and their influence on SEO.

The Belief: Website-Wide Links Impact Rankings

A website-wide link is a static outbound link that's present on all pages of a site.

They're typically inserted in the header, footer, or navigation menu.

Depending on the number of pages a website has, a single website-wide link could generate hundreds or thousands of outbound links to another domain.

Having a skewed number of inbound links from the same domain is rumored to be interpreted by Google as a sign of manipulative link building tactics.

Additionally, given that website-wide links appear without context, claims exist that they carry little to no value.

Due to these reasons, SEO professionals believe website-wide links transmit negative ranking alerts to the sites they're directing users towards.

The notion of website-wide links as a negative ranking factor started around the time of the release of Penguin 4.0, the seventh iteration of Google's Penguin algorithm.

This update integrated Penguin permanently into Google's search algorithm, operating in real-time.

Prior to Penguin 4.0, link spam downgrades and/or penalties happened on a per-update basis.

That meant websites could get away with shady/risky link building methods until the next manual update rollout.

After hearing these assertions, you may be anxious about uncovering website-wide links pointing to your domain from other websites.

However, an opposing claim suggests that website-wide links may be regarded as a positive element.

The logic behind that is simply that more links transfer more link equity.

You could also contend that a website-wide link from a reputable website produces a stronger signal than one or two links on their own. It's as if that website is conveying its highest recommendation to the other domain.

But is there any legitimacy to this?

The Proof For Website-Wide Links As A Negative Ranking Aspect

Google confirms website-wide links, when they happen naturally, are not a negative ranking consideration.

John Mueller of Google affirms that website-wide links are not automatically deciphered as an abnormal linking pattern or an attempt at spam.

There’s no basis to think they count against a website, he says:

“In general, if these are regular links – organic links – that are occurring that are pointing at your content, then I would just let them exist. That’s the nature of the internet. People connect to your content.

If your students have blogs, and they believe, ‘Oh, this is truly an instructor who comprehends what he’s talking about,’ then that’s a good link. That's not something you need to disavow just because maybe it’s a website-wide link or in the blogroll.”

When site owners implement a website-wide link, Google recommends utilizing the nofollow attribute to completely avoid abnormal linking alerts.

Mueller states:

“…if you want to place your footer link there, make sure it has a nofollow link there, so that this is something that individuals could click on if they’re intrigued, but it’s perceived as something that is not an editorial link by the webmaster.

It’s not something that you’d need to worry about later on and say, ‘Oh, my god. I inserted all these links on this website. Now Google will think I’m constructing an manipulative link pyramid or something insane.'”

In a more recent video, Google reassured website owners concerned about website-wide footer links.

Lizzi Sassman of Google said boilerplate links like “made by Squarespace” that are included with website themes are not an SEO concern.

However, customized footer links should employ nofollow and have generic anchor text. For instance, avoid excessively keyword-rich links like “made by the best Florida SEO.”