Number of MailTo Links counts the recognized mailto: targets in a page’s rendered body — the links that open a visitor’s email application. It is a raw count of an on-page contact pattern, not a quality score: more email links are not inherently better, and RankGear never checks whether an address is valid or deliverable.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-012 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Count |
| Measured zone | Rendered, script-free page body |
What it measures
The factor counts the recognized mailto: targets in the page body. Each one is an email link: clicking it opens the visitor’s configured email application with the destination address ready to send. The value reflects how many of these direct-email entry points a page exposes, and it includes repeated links — the same address linked more than once is counted each time.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear scans the rendered, script-free body case-insensitively for mailto: followed by a nonblank target, up to the parser’s supported length. Every recognized occurrence adds to the count, including repeated links pointing at the same address. Measurement stops at recognition: the factor does not verify that the address is well-formed, deliverable, or monitored.
What RankGear looks for
<a href="mailto:hello@example.com">Email us</a>How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation about your contact design, not a target to push up or down. Provide an email link when direct email is a genuinely useful, intentional contact option, and give it clear link text. Where exposing a raw address is a concern, a well-designed contact form or an alternate contact method often serves accessibility, spam control, and tracking needs better than a bare mailto: link. Adding links solely to move this count is not the point.
Important considerations
- More email links are not inherently better — a higher count does not make a page stronger.
- Exposed
mailto:addresses can attract automated spam harvesters. - Repetition in headers and footers inflates the count, since site-wide chrome repeats on every page.
- The factor counts links; it does not measure whether contact is usable, monitored, or trustworthy.
- This count relates to patterns observed across a measured result set — it is a prioritization signal, not a cause of ranking. No number of email links makes a page rank.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.