That means the sites you link to need to be authoritative, and not spammy, promotional, or random sites no one has ever heard of. Link spam is another factor that search engines (Google especially) are being incredibly strict about. To help you improve the link health of your story, we have the following rules: - Diversity of Backlink Sources 4.b.i You must show a diversity of sources and 100% of your backlinks can't be to one domain. . For every 1 link to your website or your brand’s blog, you should have at least 2-3 links to other reputable sites. Reputable sites, in general, means sites that have been around for a long time that most people have heard of before. In a technical sense, it means sites with a Domain Authority above 60 (based on tools like SEMrush, AHREFs, MOZ, etc.) - Internal Links 4.b.ii Internal linking improves the link health of your article and helps your fellow HackerNoon writers. In order to demonstrate content relevance and community involvement, we recommend including at least 2 links to other HackerNoon articles or pages in your piece. 4.b.iii - Changing Links After Publication Changing or adding promotional backlinks after publication is grounds for a permanent ban and the removal of all your articles. If you're unsure if a link change is ok, send your editor a note in the story settings. Editing Protocol Index: Editing Protocol Overview Second Human Rule Verified Writers Time to Review Standards of Quality Originality Score 6 Ws Score Objectivity in ranked listicles Unranked listicles Actionable advice Red Flags Subject Matter Subject matter saturation Plagiarism Sources and Citations Formatting is bad or broken Grammar level: gibberish Story is Too Short Backlink Rules & Guidelines Backlink Limits Backlink quality and diversity Diversity of sources Internal linking Changing links Reposting and Canonical Linking Canonical links to company domain Canonical links to blog networks or social networks
