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Writer's pictureBrent D. Payne

Only receives nofollow links or links from canonicalized URLs

For the URL being analyzed, it appears to only have inbound nofollow links, or links from URLs that are specified as canonical elsewhere. In essence, these are links which do not pass on what's known in the industry as Link Equity.


Why is this important?

Establishing pathways for both users and search engines to find pages on a site is fundamental, achieved primarily through internal linking. For search engines, these internal connections help assert the ranking hierarchy of a site's content.

Link Equity signifies page significance. It's typical for pages boasting robust Link Equity to attract numerous internal links from the site's more authoritative pages, bolstering their position in search engine rankings.


On the flip side, URLs that lack an infusion of Link Equity are powerless contenders in the overarching quest for search result prominence.


What does the Optimization check?

When analyzing the site's internal URLs, this Optimization will activate for any URL which solely garners links from non-equity transferring sources: this includes canonicalized URLs or those tagged with a 'nofollow' attribute.


Examples that trigger this Optimization:

Links classified under the following Indexable Status types will instigate this Optimization:

  • Excluded by 'robots.txt'

  • Marked 'noindex'

  • Flagged 'noindex, nofollow'

  • Set as Canonical

  • Canonical and 'noindex'

  • Canonical with both 'noindex, nofollow'


Why is this Optimization marked 'Potential Issue'?

Labeled as a 'Potential Issue', this Optimization merits due diligence as it could spell trouble. Determining whether the affected URLs are intended for indexing shapes the narrative.


URLs devoid of Link Equity are invisible in the ranking race. Those not meant for indexing fittingly receive no Link Equity. For index-worthy URLs, action is crucial:

  1. URLs that offer minimal unique substance and are unlikely to rank favorably should either be noindexed or taken down entirely.

  2. Conversely, URLs with the potential to shine in search results should be strategically linked with at least a few followable paths originating from equity-passing URLs.

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