In a recent SEO Office Hours podcast, Google’s John Mueller addressed whether blocking a webpage’s crawl affects the “linking power” of internal and external links. His response provided an unexpected perspective on the issue, shedding light on how Google Search handles such scenarios internally.

About the Power of Links

Links can be understood in various ways, but when it comes to internal links, Google frequently emphasizes signaling which pages are most important. Although Google hasn’t recently released new patents or research on how external links are used for ranking, much of what SEOs know about them is based on outdated information.

John Mueller’s recent comments don’t provide new insights into Google’s use of inbound or internal links. However, they offer a fresh perspective that, while initially seeming subtle, could be useful in understanding link dynamics.

Impact on Links from Blocking Indexing

A recent question sought to determine if blocking Google from crawling a web page affects the value of internal and external links. Specifically, the inquiry was:

“Does blocking crawl or indexing on a URL cancel the linking power from external and internal links?”

John Mueller’s response suggests approaching the issue from a user’s perspective, which offers an intriguing and insightful angle. He explained:

“I’d look at it like a user would. If a page is not available to them, they wouldn’t be able to do anything with it, so any links on that page would be somewhat irrelevant.”

This perspective aligns with our understanding of the relationship between crawling, indexing, and links: if Google cannot crawl a link, it won’t see it, and therefore, the link will have no impact.

Keyword Versus User-Based Perspective on Links

John Mueller’s suggestion to consider how a user would perceive a link is intriguing, especially since it’s different from the conventional way most people approach link-related questions. It makes sense, though: if users can’t see a web page, they can’t interact with its links.

The perspective on external links offers an exciting contrast. Many years ago, link builders believed a link on a page with keywords matching the target page (like “octopus ink” linking to a printer ink site) would be beneficial. Despite its shortcomings, this “keyword-based” approach to link relevance was once famous.

Today, Mueller’s user-based perspective offers a more intuitive understanding of link value. Viewing links from the user’s standpoint likely aligns better with how Google evaluates and ranks them, moving beyond the outdated keyword-based methods.

Optimize Links by Making Them Crawlable

Mueller further highlighted the importance of ensuring pages are discoverable through links. He advised:

“If you want a page to be easily discovered, make sure it’s linked from indexable and relevant pages within your website. It’s perfectly fine to block indexing of pages you don’t want discovered—that’s your choice. However, if an important part of your site is only linked from a blocked page, it will make it very harder for search engines to find and rank that content.”

This underscores the need for strategic linking to enhance discoverability and search engine optimization.

About Crawl Blocking

A common mistake among site owners is using the robots meta directive to instruct Google not to index a page while still allowing the links to be crawled. The erroneous directive often seen is:

html

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<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex, follow”>

There’s considerable misinformation online suggesting that this directive is effective, and this confusion can even be found in some Google AI Overviews. However, as Mueller clarifies, if a page is not visible to a search engine, the links on that page cannot be followed. Furthermore, while the “nofollow” directive can prevent search engines from following links, there is no “follow” directive to compel search engines to crawl all links explicitly. Search engines decide whether to follow links as part of their default behavior.

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