Page Link Analysis: Your Own and Others'
What to check in your page's links and what to check on someone else's site before placing links, why the source code lies about rel, and how to maintain link hygiene.
Link analysis shows where a page leads and what references it: how many internal and external links, what anchors, what attributes. You can analyze a specific page using the link analyzer, and gather an overview of the site using a crawl with profile analysis.
What to Check on Your Page
- How many external links and where they lead: each one gives away some weight.
- Attributes: where nofollow is set, and where ugc or sponsored are — detailed in the article about the three instructions.
- Internal link anchors: “here” and “more” tell the search nothing about the target page.
- Broken addresses — see checking for broken links.
- Links to removed sections that remain in the menu or footer.
What to Check on Others'
| Question | How to Answer |
|---|---|
| Does the site pass weight? | Check the rel attribute of the link — but in the rendered DOM, not in the source code |
| How many external links are on the page | The more there are, the less weight each gets |
| Link in text or in footer | A link within substantive text is valued higher |
| Is the page indexed at all? | Check separately: a link from a page not indexed is useless |
Why the Source Code Lies
Some sites change the link attribute with a script already in the browser — in both directions. We encountered this in our own pool and now check only the rendered DOM: details in the article “Do Links Pass Weight”.How Many Links Lead to You
External profiles are shown by link services, but remember the delay: a new link enters their databases after weeks, and in the Search Console report — even later, and not all are visible there. Therefore, the absence of a fresh link in the report the next day means nothing. For publications in the cascade, the verification status is immediately visible in our report — see why only verified links are in the report.
Regular Hygiene
- Once a quarter, check key pages for broken and unnecessary external links.
- Ensure that important pages receive internal links with meaningful anchors.
- Check new sections: pages without incoming internal links are indexed worse.
- Compare the link profile with dynamics in “Pulse”.
FAQ
How to properly check if a link is dofollow?
In the developer tools, by the rendered DOM. The source code may show the opposite: some sites change the attribute with a script.
How many external links are allowed on a page?
There is no strict norm, but the more there are, the less weight each gets — including yours.
Why are internal link anchors important?
The anchor explains to the search what the target page is about. “Here” and “more” tell nothing.
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