Crowd links (also called crowd backlinks or crowd marketing links) are links placed in user-generated content. The link sits inside a message that answers a question or continues a discussion on a forum, a Q&A site or in a community.
Where crowd links are placed
- Forums. Replies in existing threads on topics related to your site.
- Q&A sites. Answers to questions where your page is a useful source.
- Communities and discussion boards. Posts in groups and boards around a topic.
- Comment sections. Comments under articles and blog posts.
Why SEO teams use crowd links
- More referring domains. Each placement on a new site adds a domain to your link profile.
- A natural-looking mix. Real websites get mentioned in discussions. Crowd links add that layer next to articles, profiles and directories.
- Brand and URL anchors. Most crowd links use the brand name, the bare URL or a descriptive phrase, which keeps the anchor profile balanced.
- Possible referral visits. A link in an active thread can bring readers to your page.
Dofollow, nofollow and ugc
Many forums and communities add rel="nofollow" or rel="ugc" to outbound links. Google introduced the ugc attribute in 2019 and since 2020 treats nofollow, ugc and sponsored as hints rather than strict rules. A link profile with a mix of attributes is normal for any real website.
What a good crowd link looks like
- The thread or question is about the same topic as the page you link to.
- The message makes sense and is useful even without the link.
- The anchor reads naturally in the sentence.
- The page with the link is publicly accessible.
Risks to keep in mind
Google’s spam policies treat links bought to manipulate rankings as link spam, so buying any links carries some risk. Moderators can also remove messages that look like spam. To keep things natural, use mostly brand, URL and generic anchors, spread placements over time and combine crowd links with other link types.