Number of External Links counts the anchor elements on a page that point to an absolute HTTP or HTTPS URL whose host differs from the page’s own host. It is a raw outbound-link count — it says nothing about whether those links are authoritative, relevant, live, or followed.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-008 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Anchor-element count |
| Measured zone | Rendered page body |
What it measures
This factor counts recognized anchor elements that use an absolute HTTP or HTTPS URL whose host differs from the analyzed page’s host. It lets you compare how often pages link out to other websites. It is a count of links only — it does not weigh the authority, relevance, HTTP status, destination quality, anchor text, or follow relationship of those links. Those attributes are tracked by separate factors.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses anchors from the rendered, script-free page body. A link’s URL must begin with HTTP or HTTPS to qualify as absolute. RankGear then parses both the page URL and the link URL and classifies the link as external when their hosts do not match. Host matching is case-insensitive but otherwise direct: a different subdomain counts as a different host, so it is classified as external. Relative links and non-HTTP schemes do not qualify for this external-link count.
What RankGear looks for
<!-- On a page served from www.example.com -->
<a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/…">…</a> <!-- counted: different host -->
<a href="http://blog.example.com/…">…</a> <!-- counted: different subdomain -->
<a href="https://www.example.com/pricing">…</a> <!-- not counted: same host -->
<a href="/about">…</a> <!-- not counted: relative -->
<a href="mailto:hi@example.com">…</a> <!-- not counted: non-HTTP scheme -->| Anchor href | Counted as external? |
|---|---|
| Absolute HTTP/HTTPS URL on a different host | Yes |
| Absolute URL on a different subdomain of the same domain | Yes (different host) |
| Absolute URL on the exact same host | No (internal) |
Relative link (e.g. /about) | No |
mailto:, tel:, or other non-HTTP scheme | No |
How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation, not a target to hit. Link to outside sources when they help readers verify a claim, reach primary evidence, understand a reference, or complete a task — and prefer authoritative, relevant, current destinations with descriptive anchor text. Audit your existing external links for broken destinations, unnecessary redirects, outdated evidence, commercial bias, and poor user experience. Add or remove links because they improve the page, not to copy a competitor’s raw total.
Important considerations
- Different subdomains are external under RankGear’s host-comparison rule.
- Multiple links to the same destination each contribute to the count.
- Relative, mail, telephone, and other non-HTTP links are not counted as external here.
- Follow and nofollow external links are tracked by separate factors.
- The appropriate count depends heavily on page type, editorial purpose, and search intent.
- This is a correlation-based prioritization signal, not a cause of ranking. A given count neither makes a page rank nor guarantees a position — it describes how a page compares to others in a measured result set.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.