Does Google count internal links as external links?

Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi

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Does Google count internal links as external links?

SG_Slinger

9:56 pm on May 7, 2008 (gmt 0)

I've noticed that when typing

link:pickaurldotcom

on google search, the results that come up are mostly from pickaurldotcom and not from external links. This seems to be the case with most of the larger sites.

How is this done?

I have a larger site a few actual external links but when I go to google and type:

link:mysitedotcom

None of my internal links come up. If google relies heavily on how many sites link to your site in organic search results ranking, how do all the internal links factor into the equation?

tedster

4:26 am on May 8, 2008 (gmt 0)

Internal links do have anchor text influence, and they do pass PR around the site. But I'd say they are not treated "exactly" same as external links. How exactly their treatment differs is a bit of a Google secret, and it also seems to shift around a bit. For example, I'd say many internal links get a lot less individual weight than a single external backlink would, especially if they are in the page template (menus and footer links.)

Be aware that the link: operator only reports a sampling of known links, and that sample shifts. Sometimes it shows you some internals and sometimes not. Google does not give you a full backlink report, and you should not use the link: operator for any kind of conclusive analysis.

SG_Slinger

3:58 am on May 10, 2008 (gmt 0)

I have nearly 4,000 pages indexed on google; each page with over 3 dozen internal links. What could be some possible reasons why absolutely none of my links show up with the link: command.

tedster

4:30 am on May 10, 2008 (gmt 0)

As I said above "the link: operator only reports a sampling of known links, and that sample shifts." There's nothing more to be read into what you see in the link: reports.