An unnatural link is defined as any link whose primary purpose is to artificially inflate a page’s ranking in search results. These links are created with the intent to manipulate the search engine’s PageRank algorithm, usually through organized link schemes.
When content is legitimately published online, natural links are built or earned organically over time. This occurs when one website links to another to provide the reader with supplementary or authoritative information. When a web page successfully gains a large volume of high-quality backlinks, its SEO performance improves.
Conversely, unnatural links can severely damage a site’s rankings. If someone purchases backlinks solely for the purpose of manipulating the search rankings, these are classified as unnatural links. Google can also penalize website owners for spamming other websites with irrelevant links to their content. To check a website for unnatural links, tools like Semrush can perform a comprehensive backlink audit.
Types of Unnatural Links
Link Farms and Spammy Websites: These are sites that feature a massive number of links pointing to other sites, often lacking context or relevance. Since these links often appear in bulk, search engines typically penalize the linked-to websites, as this linking is viewed as an attempt to manipulate algorithms for ranking improvement.
Low-Quality Guest Blogging: This practice involves websites accepting articles from writers who lack expertise, solely in exchange for a link back to the writer’s site. These links are often generated on low-quality, irrelevant sites and are perceived negatively by search engines as artificial link building.
Paid Links and Advertorials: This occurs when website owners pay other sites to link to theirs to intentionally boost rankings. Advertorials (ads disguised as articles) often feature unnaturally high keyword density. Search engines typically view paid links as unnatural and spammy, regardless of relevance.
Cloaking and Sneaky Redirects: Cloaking is a deceptive technique that shows search engines different, optimized content than what is presented to human users. Sneaky redirects deceitfully send visitors to a page other than the one they expected, sometimes associated with malicious activities like phishing.