A webpage lacks outgoing links when it does not feature any link (be it internal or external) directing to a different page or resource.
Why is this important?
Links that take a user from one page to another within the same website, known as internal links, are vital for guiding both users and search engines through the site. For search engines in particular, internal links convey the hierarchy and the significance of pages on your site.
Websites containing URLs that do not facilitate the distribution of link equity to other site pages essentially hoard the benefits gleaned from incoming links without sharing it, resembling what may be referred to as a PageRank 'cul-de-sac'.
What does the Optimization check?
When webpages lack both internal and external links, this Optimization is activated.
Examples that trigger this Optimization:
The following scenarios would set off this Optimization for pages lacking any valid outbound link patterns such as <a href="URL">:
Only anchor links present:
<p><a href="#section">Go to Section</a></p><p id="section"></p>
Contains only JavaScript void links:
<p><a href="javascript:void(0);">Placeholder Link</a></p>
Comprised solely of mailto links:
<p><a href="mailto:[email protected]">Send an Email</a></p>
Consists of named anchors only:
<p><a id="section-anchor">Section Title</a></p>
Includes hrefs akin to the aforementioned examples:
<p><a href="#section">Navigate to Section</a></p><p><a href="javascript:void(0);">Placeholder Link</a></p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]">Send an Email</a></p><p><a id="section-anchor">Section Title</a></p>
Why is this Optimization marked 'Potential Issue'?
This Optimization notes a 'Potential Issue', an indicator suggesting it may not be currently impacting the site, but it could lead to problems if not addressed promptly.
Understanding the role and purpose of such pages is essential. It is unusual for intentionally SEO-targeted pages to lack outgoing links, possibly stemming from a template or CMS flaw omiting crucial site navigation. Collaborating with a developer may provide insight into the issue.
In some cases, these pages could be serving content that's accessed by other parts of the site to augment user experience, such as loading content via Ajax or displayed through a modal or an iframe. For such situations, you might prefer to block these pages from being crawled or indexed by employing a noindex tag or disallowing them in the robots.txt file.
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