Understanding Naked Links: Their Importance in SEO
Naked links, also known as naked URLs, are hyperlinks to the website that show the full URL of the website in its basic form without any additional anchor text. Naked links don’t have any descriptive text that can provide any context about the linked page. They are entirely visible to the user with no hidden message, detail or code, hence their name Naked Links.
To link to a naked URL, simply use the URL itself as the anchor text. An example of a naked link for YouTube is https://www.youtube.com/, whereas a usual hyperlink for YouTube will be YouTube. It is called a naked link as it doesn’t have any other descriptive text that provides context about what YouTube is about. Other examples of naked links are
- The Naked link for Code Academy is https://www.codecademy.com/.
- The naked link for Reddit is https://www.reddit.com/.
- The Naked link for Yoast is https://yoast.com/.
Naked Links vs Hyperlinks
Naked links and hyperlinks both are related to each other directly, but many people get confused between the two terms. A naked link is just a link which is completely visible and is also known as the URL of a website. Whereas a hyperlink is called when a naked link is added to an anchor text.
Both hyperlinks and naked links are important in the world of SEO and are usually used to get around the internet. They are an essential part of SEO strategy building as hyperlinking creates a deep SEO strategy urging a user to visit the website more and more.
Advantages of Naked Links
There are various benefits of naked links that businesses can use as per their needs. Here are 7 advantages of naked links.
Clear
A naked link provides the full web address of the landing page as shown in the web browser, making it clear for a user where the link will take them.
Transparent
Naked links are transparent because they display the full path to the user, thereby increasing the visibility and credibility of the link. Users have full visibility of the link.
Simple and Concise
Naked links are concise and simple; they don’t require any extra formatting or knowledge.
Trace and Refer
Naked links are easy to trace, especially when used in documentation. It is easy for readers to trace and find references to the citation.
Compatible and Accessible
These links are compatible in any format, such as documentation, printing material, or presentations, without any additional formatting instructions or special technology. They are more accessible for people with visual disabilities, as naked links are easily read by screen readers.
Reduce Spamming
Naked links also help in reducing the spamming of emails as they are direct links and are less misleading.
SEO
Naked links also provide benefits for search engine optimization. We will discuss them later in this article.
Disadvantages of Naked Links
Just as there are some advantages to naked links, there are some disadvantages associated with them as well.
User Experience
Unlike hyperlinks, naked links are not very user-friendly. Hypertext is more user-friendly as it provides context to the user about what the link is about. Long links can also be challenging for mobile devices, as the screen size is limited and may affect the mobile user’s experience.
Less Appealing
Naked links are less appealing visually when used in digital content, specifically if they are not comprehensive and detailed. They can break the reader’s flow and may not align with the page design.
Less Readable
Lengthy links can be less readable for the user when used with special characters and parameters. Naked text or raw text in these links may create confusion for users. Let’s see an example of a less readable link: https://www.thisisaexampleofalengthynakedlinkthatshowsthefullwebaddress.com/.
Missing Context
Naked links don’t provide any context or description about the page that the user is about to visit. For a layman, it may be difficult to understand what the page is about. For example, if you are visiting a link for the first time, you might not understand just by viewing the link https://www.reddit.com/ what Reddit is about.
Risk of Error and Typos
The chances of errors and typos increase when users must manually write or type a naked URL they have seen in a non-clickable format.
Space Issues
Naked links consume more space as they cannot be shortened. They can be difficult to manage for limited-space documents, text messages, or social media posts.
Role of Naked Links in SEO
Naked links have a positive impact on SEO (search engine optimization) and can improve the website’s ranking and performance. Some content management systems provide the facility to add these naked links without being a coding expert or having the knowledge of coding. Instead of adding them in HTML code, they can be directly added using CMS.
Moreover, from an SEO perspective, Naked Links hold a great degree of importance. They play an integral role in the website’s anchor text profile by diversifying the web presence online. They also make a website more traceable and boost the online credibility which is a win-win situation in search engine ranking.
Diverse Links
Using diverse links on your website plays an important role in SEO. It makes your website look more natural for search engine algorithms and reduces the chances of an over optimized site that can lead to penalties.
Build Trust
Using naked links develops the trust of the user and provides visibility before the link is even clicked. Users can read and understand the text of the link where the website will take them. They reduce the chances of clicking on malicious links or promoting scams and fraudulent activities.
Penalties
Naked links can help reduce penalties, as using a lot of URLs with keywords may seem like suspicious activity to search engine algorithms.
Backlinks
These links also help in creating backlinks that eventually contribute to SEO. Naked links are great for creating backlights and make it easy for search engines to understand the link you have used. Especially on social media platforms, online communities and forums, and comments, Naked links can provide brand exposure and enhance local reach.
Social Media Marketing
Naked Links play a pivotal role in social media engagement and devising social media marketing strategies. They are ideally used in social media content planning where a post has a naked link which directly leads to the website. Also, another benefit of using naked links for social media campaigns is their automatic conversion to clickable hyperlinks which enhances user engagement.
Awareness
These links help in creating brand awareness. If your website name is used in your website URL as it is, it will be easy for your potential customers to recognize and memorize your brand name, resulting in more relevant searches. It can also improve traffic to your brands, which is a very important factor in SEO ranking.
Optimized Email Marketing Campaigns
Email marketing is another integral part of SEO strategies for business growth. Naked links prove to be a helpful part of optimized email marketing campaigns. This is because using naked links in email content improves email marketing campaigns’ deliverability and efficacy by lowering the possibility that emails will be marked as spam.
How Naked Links Are Inserted in a Text?
As you will read about the advantages of Naked links and their pivotal role in SEO, it is also important to realize the utilization of naked links in content. How they are used and how they work to enhance brand visibility, improve awareness and simply generate navigation towards the brand naturally.
Typically, naked links can be inserted directly into HTML Documents. They appear as plain text in content. An example goes like “Visit: https://www.ose.com” for more information. This link is directly added in a text without any anchor text. Here there is no other anchor word used to link the URL rather the weblink is directly mentioned. This is what we call a Naked link.
Why are Naked Links Used?
Naked links or raw links are direct calls to action or a route to a website, and they are used when there is no need to add descriptive text. These links are easy to add, they create awareness about a brand’s name, but they are not exactly visually appealing in a text. This is why many content creators avoid adding naked links but rather use hyperlinks to utilize them in content.
Anchored text links are often preferred in SEO and digital marketing because they are easier to employ and can enhance the readability and accessibility of information. Naked links are acceptable in some circumstances, though, such as when sharing URLs in email newsletters, online forums, or social media posts with limited space.
How Naked Links Are Handled by Google?
After understanding all about naked links, it is a must to know how Google reacts to the usage of Naked Links in SEO Content. This way SEO strategies can be planned around the use of Naked links vs Hyperlinks or anchor text in a content strategy. Naked URLs are treated as anchor text by Google. Nevertheless, the lack of further context these connections offer for ranking purposes restricts their potential to improve SEO components.
Conclusion
A naked link is a full web address that uses the URL itself as an anchor text without any formatting. Different types of links serve different purposes and have their own pros and cons; therefore, they can be used as per need and purpose. They also play a significant role in SEO by improving brand awareness, creating diversity, reducing the chances of over optimization penalties, and building the trust of the audiences. In conclusion, content experts should carefully analyze the pros and cons and their audience preferences while using these naked URLs. They should also avoid these 4 common mistakes made while using naked links.
- Adding too many naked links to your website or webpage
- Using long and lengthy naked URLs
- Using incomplete or incorrect links
- Neglecting mobile optimization while using naked links
Want to learn more about naked links? Read more about how Google handles naked links.
