Which pages in your online store should earn links? A practical guide

When an online store gets a link, the first question is usually "from where?". The second question matters just as much: "to which page?". A link to a page that will be gone in six months is wasted. A link to the right page can help people find you for years.

This guide shows how to choose the pages in your store that should earn links, how to find out what you already have, and how to keep your links working when products and URLs change. It's written in plain language, and every claim about Google comes from Google's own documentation.

Start with what you already have

Before you ask anyone for anything, look at where your links already point. Google Search Console has a free Links report that shows:

• Top linked pages: the pages on your site that other sites link to most.
• Top linking sites: the sites that link to you the most.
• Top linking text: the most common words used in links to you.

Open it and write down the ten most linked pages. You will often find surprises, such as an old blog post, a product you no longer sell or a page with a misspelled address.

Know the limits. Google says the report isn't a complete list of every link. It shows a sample, tables are limited to 1,000 rows, it doesn't tell you whether a link is marked nofollow, and it can include links that have since been removed. Use it as a starting point, not as a verdict.

The five kinds of pages in a store

Most stores have five kinds of pages that could earn links. Here is what to do with each.

• Homepage: news stories and brand mentions.
• Category pages: “best of” and roundup articles.
• Guides: articles about a decision or a how-to.
• Sale and gift pages: seasonal roundups.
• Product pages (dashed): rarely earn links alone, except products with a story.

1. The homepage

Links to your homepage build your brand and are natural. Journalists and bloggers who mention your store often link to the homepage because it's the easiest address to find. You don't have to ask for them, but you shouldn't aim every link there either.

2. Category pages

Google's guidance for online stores says to add links from menus to category pages, from category pages to sub-category pages, and from sub-category pages to all your product pages. That makes category pages the hubs of your site. A link to a strong category page also supports the products inside it, because the category links to them.

Category pages are good targets for roundups and "best of" articles, such as "best running shoes for flat feet" linking to your running shoes category.

3. Guides and buying advice

Editors and bloggers link to pages that teach something. A buying guide, a size chart or a comparison explains a decision, and it gives a writer a reason to link. If you want help planning content that earns links, read our guide to linkable assets.

4. Sale and gift pages

Pages for sales, seasons and gift ideas are linked to when editors write seasonal roundups. Keep the same address every year so the links you earn keep working. We explain the timing in our 20-week plan for earning links before a sale.

5. Product pages

Product pages rarely earn links on their own. The exceptions are products with a story: something new, something unusual, or something an editor wants to feature. For most products, it's better to earn links to the category and let the category carry the products.

A simple way to decide

There is no safe ratio to follow. Nobody publishes a reliable split of links between homepage, categories and products, and we won't invent one. Choose the page that answers the reader's question.

Choose pages that will still exist next year

Stores change. Products are discontinued and categories are renamed. A link to a page that disappears does nothing, so build links to pages with a long life.

Two Google rules help here.

Use one canonical address for each product. Google recommends using the same URL in internal links, sitemap files and canonical tags. For a product with variants, such as sizes or colors, it advises putting the canonical product URL on all the variant pages. When you ask someone to link to a product, give them the canonical address, without extra parameters.

Redirect, don't just delete. Google says that a 301 or 308 redirect means a page has permanently moved, and that its indexing system uses the redirect as a signal that the target should be the canonical page. When you retire a product, redirect its address to the closest relevant page, such as a similar product or its category, so the links it earned still lead somewhere useful. If nothing on your site replaces the page, a 404 or 410 is the honest answer: Google treats these errors the same way and removes the URL from its index. Our advice, not Google's rule: don't redirect everything to the homepage just to "save" links. A visitor who expected a hiking boot and lands on the homepage is a lost visitor.

What to ask the publisher for

When you request a placement, be specific.

• Give the exact address you want linked, including https and the final slash if your site uses one.
• Suggest descriptive link text. Google says good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise and relevant to the page it's on and the page it links to. "Waterproof hiking boots" is better than "click here".
• Check the link after it goes live. Open the page and click it. Make sure it works and goes where you expect.

Common mistakes

• Sending every link to the homepage. It's easy and it feels safe, but it wastes the chance to help category and guide pages.
• Linking to product pages that sell out for good. Pick evergreen pages first.
• Changing your URLs during a redesign without redirects. Every earned link then points at an error page.
• Using tracking parameters in the address you give out. They create copies of the same page.
• Never looking at the Links report. It's free, and it takes ten minutes.

Paid placements and labels

Some placements involve payment. Google's spam policies say that links bought to influence ranking should be marked with rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Whether a publisher shows a visible label depends on the publisher and the country. When we place links for clients, we tell you before you approve a site if a placement will carry a label, and you decide whether to go ahead. Our guide to link rel attributes explains the details.

How we can help

Our ecommerce link building service places links on relevant sites for online stores. You choose the sites from a shortlist and approve the content before it's published, and you tell us which page the link should point to.

Sources

Checked on 1 October 2026.

• Google Search Console Help: Links report
• Google Search Central: Site structure for ecommerce sites (updated December 2025)
• Google Search Central: URL structure for ecommerce sites (updated December 2025)
• Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search (updated April 2026)
• Google Search Central: HTTP status codes, network and DNS errors (updated February 2026)
• Google Search Central: Link best practices for Google (updated December 2025)
• Google Search Central: Spam policies for Google web search (updated August 2026)