Google’s first link principle

In all your enthusiasm with building links both internally among pages and externally, it’s worth noting the first link principle at work.

This is basically a rule in Google’s algorithm to only count the first link to another page and ignore every other duplicate link. Effectively, any subsequent link to the same URL will be discounted or have no value at all.

This probably came about due to Google noticing people linking to the same piece of content multiple times and figuring that there is no point in attributing value to multiple duplicate links.

This principle is important to note especially when you’re writing up content, link building or crafting up your site architecture. If you’ve managed to score a link via a guest blog post, make sure that the first link is always the one with the desired anchor text.

For example, if my main keywords are kitchenware and cookware, then I’d want the first link going to my website to be <a href=“https://www.ozkitchenware.com.au”>Kitchenware and Cookware</a> instead of <a href=“https://www.ozkitchenware.com.au”>OZKitchenware</a>. In the above-mentioned case, Google will see the link with anchor text “Kitchenware and Cookware” instead of “OZKitchenware” and give credit to the first link.

Since it is pretty common for people to link to a site using its site name before the targeted keywords, you’d find that just having the first link principle in mind can be useful to get more targeted anchor text counted in the search algorithm.