Using Links on Localized Site Variations Won’t Hurt Ranking
Not long ago, during a conversation with one of his followers on Twitter, Google employee Mueller noted that cross-linking between local, as well as other language versions of pages is permissible, and more importantly, it has no negative impact. On the contrary, such linkage simplifies the site’s usability for visitors and makes the search engine’s job more optimized.
The question regarding the benefits and harms of cross-linking between local and language versions of web pages was discussed back in 2014. At that time, Matt Cutts—a then-head of Google’s anti-spam department—participated in the discussion. The specialist noted that the search algorithms do not consider such hyperlinks as paid or “unnatural.”
The main thing is to ensure that there is no excessive number of links leading to regional variations of the pages in the site’s footer. It’s also better to refrain from the idea of mass cross-linking on the website’s mirror. Otherwise, the search engine might suspect something is wrong and adjust the site’s ranking in search results.
