Cyclical links are links that lead to the same web page on which they are placed. For example, you are reading an article about a cheap domain, and there is a link in the text that sends you to the same article, that is, the page links to itself. Although they may seem harmless, the impact of cyclical links on search engine crawlers and the target audience is quite significant. They greatly complicate navigation, leading to a negative user experience, indexing issues, and a drop in rankings.
Why It’s Important to Remove Cyclical Links
The impact of cyclical links on SEO is extremely negative. This issue slows down the progress of online stores and blogs toward top positions in search engine results. Such links cause the following problems:
- They mislead visitors. If a link is placed in the text of a page that leads to the page itself, it creates confusion — the user expects new information, clicks, and ends up where they were before. This behavior reduces trust and worsens the user experience.
- Worsened indexing. Crawlers that encounter a cyclical link are forced to follow it again and again. Over time, they start visiting the site less frequently, leading to slower crawling and lower rankings. Removing cyclical links helps web crawlers correctly understand the structure of your web resource and avoid wasting crawl budget.
- They provide no benefit to visitors. Modern web projects are designed in such a way that every element is useful to users. When a visitor to a blog, portal, or online store clicks on a cyclical link, they expect to see new content. But they end up in the same place they were just in. As a result, they waste time, which leaves them with a poor impression of the site.
Cyclical URLs on the pages of blogs, portals, and online stores hinder their promotion. But not as much as low website speed. To ensure your online resource runs smoothly even during peak traffic hours, we recommend renting a virtual server from Cityhost. 50 GB for backups, SSD drives, full root access, and 100% automated management — just a few of the advantages of Cityhost VDS.
How to Find Cyclical Links
If you want to find cyclical links without spending a lot of time and money, we recommend using the following methods:
- Check the breadcrumbs. Often, the last item in the navigation chain points to the page the visitor is currently on. And just as often, it remains clickable. This issue can be resolved either by the company’s programmer, who should know how to remove cyclical links on the site, or by the engine developer.
- Check the category list. If the blog or portal categories are displayed in the sidebar or footer of every web page, navigating to a specific category often results in a cyclical link.
- Check the image in the article or news post. Some of them may lead to the very page they are published on, thereby creating a loop.
- Check the links in the text. If an article has a link that leads to the same article, this is a typical example of a circular link.
- Check the logo. It’s convenient when clicking the logo takes you back to the homepage of the online resource. But it’s harmful for promotion if the logo remains clickable on the homepage itself.
You’ve learned what cyclical links are and how to find them on your website. By removing cyclical links from web pages and solving other technical optimization issues (such as site backlinks or duplicate content), you will gradually notice that promoting your site becomes easier and faster.
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