Whether they are internal, external or backlinks, links have been a vital part of SEO efforts for over 20 years. In the late 1990’s, links were discovered to be a good signal for search engine’s to validate how authoritative a website was. This was especially useful when search engines like Google were struggling to accurately rank web pages due to the sheer quantity of websites available to a user. However, in 2024, Google’s algorithm is far more advanced than it was in the 1990s. So, how many links should be included on a website to help with SEO? How important are links for SEO now?
For a website to remain competitive in a search engine’s results, it is important to include a variety of internal and external links. Building a high-quality backlink profile can also deliver great results for SEO. There is no perfect number of links to include for a website to display good SEO practice. It entirely depends on the content and the website itself.
Keep reading to find out more about how links impact SEO, and how Google’s algorithm has developed over the past 20 years.
How Many Links Do I Need to Include for SEO
Google has previously stated that web pages should have less than 100 links, and too many links can actually have a negative effect on SEO. The number and type of link that you add to online content will inevitably depend on the type of content you are publishing and the intention of the content. For a blog to rank highly, standard practice is to include a variety of both internal and external links, so that users are encouraged to access other articles on your website and learn more about the topic from trustworthy external sources linked to throughout.
As a general rule of thumb, we would not normally recommend including more than five or six internal links per page to allow ease of navigation for users without overwhelming them, but there is really no limit to the number of links you can provide.
Find out more about link building for SEO in our detailed blog.
Does Adding Links Improve SEO?
As stated above, link building can have a positive effect on SEO. By making your site easy to navigate with a variety of sources and a strong backlink profile, search engines are likely to treat your website more favourably. Below are explanations of how certain types of links can impact SEO:
Internal Linking
The value of internal linking for SEO is often referenced when talking about the crawlability of a website. A website must have various internal links throughout to ensure a web crawler is able to easily navigate and index the structure and content of the site. Internal links also make it easier for customers and other users to navigate and access relevant areas of a website, as you can provide links to where they should go next.
Find out more about how to make your website easily crawlable in our detailed blog.
External Linking
External, or outbound links, allow users to find more information on a topic and show that your content has been thoroughly researched. Providing links to trustworthy sources on your blogs can help to increase the authority of your website, as this signals to Google that your content is providing useful information to your users.
Backlinks
When another web page or domain provides a link to your website, this is added to your website’s backlink profile. These links are valuable for SEO, as a website with more and better quality of backlinks will be treated more favourably by Google. This is because other websites are essentially vouching for you, saying that you are an authority on a topic and that you are trustworthy.
Find out more about building an authoritative backlink profile by reading our detailed blog.
Are Too Many Links Bad for SEO?
Excessive use of links can result in a negative effect for SEO. Previous guidance from Google suggested that anything over 100 links was too many links to have on a page, and may have the following negative effects:
- Too many links can make your website look spammy, and will make it difficult for users to navigate.
- Including excessive external links on a webpage may also negatively impact SEO as these links send users away from your website to another one. This can harm user retention, as users may not return to your website.
- Website maintenance is also more difficult with a large number of links. Links can stop working, and if a link’s destination page is deleted, the user may be presented with a 404 error page.
Do Links Still Matter for SEO?
Since the late 1990’s, Google has used links as a ranking factor, and has often used links as a way of determining how authoritative a website is on a certain subject. For example, a website with a strong backlink profile that is easily crawled due to the amount of internal linking will often rank higher than a website with poor backlinks and fewer internal links.
However, Google’s Gary Illyes has recently said that Google is now less interested in using links as a ranking factor and that links were no longer in the top 3 ranking factors. This is likely due to the fact that Google is now far more confident in the accuracy of their algorithm, that they need not depend on links to indicate the authority or usefulness of a website.
Professional SEO Services with Wildcat Digital
Are you looking to rank higher on Google with long-term SEO strategies? While links may not be as important as they once were for achieving a higher ranking in a search engine, our expert team of SEO professionals can help to make your website stand out and punch above its weight online. Contact us to find out more about our available services.
Andy Blanchard
Senior SEO Executive
