Number of UGC Links counts how many anchor links on a page carry a user-generated-content relationship in their rel attribute. It is a plain count of markup, not proof that the linked content was actually submitted by a user.
| Factor ID | RG-LNK-018 |
|---|---|
| Family | Links on the page |
| Measurement | Count |
| Measured zone | Anchor links in the rendered page body |
What it measures
This factor counts anchor links marked with a user-generated-content relationship. Those links commonly appear in comments, forums, profiles, reviews, and other areas where visitors, rather than the site owner, contribute the content. The number tells you how much of a page’s linking is flagged as user-contributed, without judging the quality of any individual link.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses the anchors in the rendered page body, trims and lowercases each anchor’s recognized rel values, and counts every value that contains the substring ugc. It is a literal markup test: RankGear does not verify that the surrounding content was actually submitted by a user, only that the relationship token is present.
What RankGear looks for
<a href="/thread/42#reply" rel="ugc">visitor comment</a>
<a href="https://example.com" rel="nofollow ugc">profile link</a>| rel value | Counted? |
|---|---|
ugc | Yes — contains ugc |
nofollow ugc | Yes — combined value still contains ugc |
nofollow | No — no ugc token |
How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation about how a page is marked up, not a target to inflate. Use rel="ugc" on links that are genuinely created through user contributions when that labeling is appropriate, and pair the markup with moderation, spam controls, safe rendering, and clear community policies. Do not add UGC links merely to imitate the pages already ranking — the correct count depends on what the page actually does, not on a universal SEO number.
Important considerations
- Presence of the
ugcrelationship does not prove the linked content is safe or trustworthy — it only reflects how the link was labeled. - A combined
relvalue can also containnofollow; RankGear still counts it here as long asugcis present. - RankGear’s current Sponsored Links factor duplicates this UGC test, so the two can move together on the same pages.
- The right count depends on the page’s functionality, not a universal SEO target.
- This is a prioritization signal that relates to position within a measured result set; a higher count does not by itself cause or guarantee a ranking.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.