After the release of Google’s Panda algorithm, most webmasters and online business owners faced glitches with their website’s SEO rankings. It is because, the algorithm was created to lower the ranks of low-quality websites and rank the websites with higher quality websites at the top. After this impact, the website owners looked out for innovative ways to create exceptional content on their website that would safeguard their SEO rankings.
As a result, it is no longer easy to rank high for the search terms than it once was. But, here’s a piece of advice – Replacing the dead resources also known as ‘link rot’, is one of the ignored ways to gain rankings.
What is Link rot?
Link rot refers to the permanent disappearance of hyperlinks that indicate servers or web pages. These links lead nowhere. For example, if your website is linked to a third party website, and suddenly this third party website goes down, or changes its URL or removes your post permanently from their website, then the link pointing to your site will no longer work. Ultimately, the visitor will not be able to find the page he is looking for, which means, a lost sale and creates an unprofessional impression of your website in the minds of the customer.
Link rot is a serious problem, which needs to be fixed immediately!
Who does Link rot affect?
No website is an exception to link rot. Not every site is immune, so, every site is affected by link rot. Just as the name suggests, rot means to perish, every website’s backlink profile encounters the process of perishing.
Can Link rot be prevented?
Yes, there are many chances that you can prevent link rot. Here are a few suggestions from the SEO Company experts, they are –
- Check your Analytics
Your analytics can tell a lot about the broken links. You can see the URL through which the visitors are accessing your website that ends up in error. Leverage this information to fix the pages, generate redirects and solve the linking problems by contacting the website admin of third party websites.
- URL Redirects
In case, if you have restructured your website, or moved to a new domain name for some reason, use URL redirects to divert the visitors from obsolete links to your new page. Unfortunately this cannot be done for the third party sites that are linking to you. Only a permanent URL redirect will fix these broken link problems.
- Verify your links often
It is a good practice to keep a track of the links that is connected to your website often. There are a lot of link validators that will help you with an automated process. You can then identify the links that don’t work and contact the relevant webmasters to fix the broken links.
- Beware of URL Shorteners
The URL shorteners are vulnerable to link rot. If you use short URL structures to link to your webpages, pick the ones from reliable website. Also check them from time to time to know that they are active.
It is important to understand that link rot cannot be fixed in many cases, as it is happening in a third party’s website. In this case, the link has completely disappeared from the webpage and out of the search engines. All you can do is contact the webmaster of the third party website, and renew the association between the two websites. If you are looking for help with your ranking your website, discuss with the experts to avail affordable and result-oriented SEO packages Sydney.
'