Why Do Backlinks in SEO Need to Be Indexed?
December 6, 2024
In search engine optimisation (SEO), backlinks are one of the key factors influencing a website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). However, not all backlinks are equal, and one important aspect of backlinks that is often overlooked is whether or not they are indexed by search engines. Indexed backlinks are critical to the SEO process, and understanding why this is the case can help website owners, marketers, and SEO professionals improve their online visibility.
Key Takeaways on Indexing and Backlinks in SEO
- Indexed Backlinks Enhance Authority: Only indexed backlinks contribute to your site's authority by passing ranking signals and credibility from referring pages.
- Support Link Equity Flow: Backlinks on indexed pages ensure the flow of link equity ("link juice"), crucial for improving domain authority and rankings.
- Boost Visibility in Search Results: Indexed backlinks make the referring pages searchable, increasing the chances of exposure and traffic to your website.
- Utilise Google's Crawl Budget Effectively: Non-indexed pages waste valuable crawl budget; indexing ensures backlinks contribute to SEO efforts.
- Encourage Faster Indexing: Using tools like sitemaps, Google Search Console, or services like linkindexer.io can speed up the indexing process for backlinks.
- Depend on High-Quality Content: Valuable and relevant content motivates search engines to crawl and index pages, benefiting your backlinks indirectly.
- Regular Monitoring is Essential: Frequently check the status of backlinks to ensure they are indexed and actively contributing to your SEO performance.
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START NOWWhat Are Backlinks and Indexing?
A backlink is a link from one website to another. It serves as a vote of confidence, indicating that the linked-to site provides valuable or relevant content. Backlinks are an essential component of Google's ranking algorithm, with the search engine considering them as one of the top factors for determining a site’s authority and trustworthiness.
Indexing refers to the process by which search engines, such as Google, store and organise content from the web in their databases. When a webpage is indexed, it means that the content has been discovered, processed, and added to the search engine’s index, allowing it to appear in search results. For backlinks to contribute to SEO, the page they are found on must be indexed, as only indexed backlinks can pass on authority and ranking signals.
The Importance of Indexed Backlinks
Authority and Ranking Signals
Search engines use backlinks as a major signal to assess a website's authority. When a page with high authority links to your site, it passes on some of that authority, which can enhance your own site’s ranking potential. However, if that backlink is not indexed, the search engine cannot count it as a valid endorsement. Therefore, backlinks need to be indexed for the full SEO benefit to be realised.
Crawling and Link Equity
Indexed backlinks are essential for the flow of link equity (also known as "link juice"). Link equity refers to the value passed from one webpage to another through backlinks. If a backlink is on a non-indexed page, it won't contribute to the SEO of the target website. In other words, a non-indexed backlink doesn’t help improve search rankings or pass link equity to the linked site. As a result, ensuring that backlinks are indexed is critical for maintaining the flow of link equity that helps build domain authority. You can speed up the indexing process for backlinks using a service like linkindexer.io.
Improved Visibility
If a backlink is on a page that isn’t indexed, the website linked to may not benefit from the exposure it would normally get from being featured in search results. This reduces the overall visibility of the website, which is one of the main reasons why backlinks are so valuable. Indexed backlinks ensure that the referring pages are included in search results, offering more chances for users to find and visit the site, and thus, more opportunities to benefit from the backlink.
Google’s Crawl Budget
Google assigns a certain crawl budget to each website, which determines how often and how deeply Googlebot crawls and indexes pages. Backlinks that are on non-indexed pages do not contribute to this crawl budget, which could lead to missed opportunities for SEO improvement. Websites need to maximise their crawl budget by ensuring that their important pages (including those with backlinks) are indexed and regularly crawled.
How Can You Ensure Your Backlinks Are Indexed?
While search engines like Google automatically index backlinks, there are ways to encourage indexing. These include submitting sitemaps, ensuring the linking pages are crawlable, and using tools like Google Search Console to monitor the status of backlinks. Additionally, regularly producing high-quality content can increase the likelihood that your backlinks will be indexed, as search engines will want to crawl and index valuable pages.
