Link Rot
We discussed Link Quality in our previous article. Today we'll look at link rot and factors causing it.
Part and parcel of your link building efforts has to be regular verifying that your links are not broken, especially if your website is still relatively new and small. Most larger websites have a certain amount of broken links. The measurement of a website's broken links is defined as link rot.
Search Engines see link rot as an indication of outdated content, as well as a poor reflection on ultimate web surfer gratification. These broken links can occur due to a number of reasons, including
- 1. The website linking to you (or who you're linking to) has gone offline
- 2. The link was to temporary content
- 3. The location of the page that was linked to, has changed
- 4. Change in the website's content management system
It is important to regularly check and update links so as to avoid these problems. As most large websites do have some broken links, search engines do take that into consideration, however it is in your own best interest to keep them to a bare minimum. So cut the link rot and thrive!
Next time we'll be discussing On Page Optimization