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PR sculpting question

by irawr Banned
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
I've never been able to get an answer to this question and some tests came up inconclusive, but the tests weren't exactly scientific.

Does a link to itself have any effect on SEO? I've always assumed it does nothing. So for example, a simple silo:

page1
page2
page3
page4

Each page links to every page (each page has a link to itself.) Would it be better or worse to not have those links?

I realize this question seems simple but I doubt I'm going to get a definitive answer here
#question #sculpting
  • Profile picture of the author Asadullah72
    I also want to know this. Waiting ...
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by irawr View Post

    I've never been able to get an answer to this question and some tests came up inconclusive, but the tests weren't exactly scientific.

    Does a link to itself have any effect on SEO? I've always assumed it does nothing. So for example, a simple silo:

    page1
    page2
    page3
    page4

    Each page links to every page (each page has a link to itself.) Would it be better or worse to not have those links?

    I realize this question seems simple but I doubt I'm going to get a definitive answer here




    It's not a simple question because on-page links can be used for different things related to SEO.

    Linking directly to the same page with the exact same URL is useless for SEO.

    Linking directly to the same webpage with the same URL plus a jump-link can help with SEO. Technically it's still the same URL with or without a jump-link because you can create a fake jump-link on any URL (example below: #rainbow-unicorn-apple) & both the browser & Google will load the webpage just fine.


    Example look at some of the Google Sitelinks for Wikipedia, those are same page/URL jump-links which can help boost SERP CTR (more links in the SERPs without much extra work).

    • hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#Theory
    • hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#History
    • hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#Modern-day_Tesla_coils
    • hxxps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil#Practical_aspects_of_design







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    • Profile picture of the author irawr
      Banned
      Originally Posted by yukon View Post

      Linking directly to the same page with the exact same URL is useless for SEO.
      Thanks for the post.

      So same example with links:

      which is superior or does it not matter?

      Example 1:

      page1 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
      page2 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
      page3 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
      page4 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4

      Example 2:

      page1 links -> page2 page3 page4
      page2 links -> page1 page3 page4
      page3 links -> page1 page2 page4
      page4 links -> page1 page2 page3

      I saw you wrote a silo generator does it remove the redundant links?

      The tool I wrote does remove them but then it makes the navigation confusing because the menu changes on every page.

      Note: Don't hate the theme, it works with most WP themes. I also don't really use this, it was just an experiment.

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      • Profile picture of the author yukon
        Banned
        Originally Posted by irawr View Post

        Thanks for the post.

        So same example with links:

        which is superior or does it not matter?

        Example 1:

        page1 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
        page2 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
        page3 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4
        page4 links -> page1 page2 page3 page4

        Example 2:

        page1 links -> page2 page3 page4
        page2 links -> page1 page3 page4
        page3 links -> page1 page2 page4
        page4 links -> page1 page2 page3


        It doesn't matter for SEO, a webpage linking to itself is like pouring a gallon of water from a gallon container back into the same gallon container, infinite loop. You don't gain or lose anything.

        Again, the jump-link thing is a whole other game (ex: Sitelinks) with the same URL. So it can still be useful for CTRs.
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        • Profile picture of the author irawr
          Banned
          Originally Posted by yukon View Post

          Again, the jump-link thing is a whole other game (ex: Sitelinks) with the same URL. So it can still be useful for CTRs.
          I get that's completely different and that example of how beneficial it can be was excellent.
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