Member Avatar for gordo58

Hi,

Does anyone know if linking to the same page as the link is on would harm serps?

For example, if the page www.whateversite.com/blue.html had a link as follows: <a href="">Blue Products</a> would this help or harm my serps?

If a user clicked on the link it would just reload the page, but would this help in SEO?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Robdale

Dani AI

Generated

Brief expert take for (and thanks to and for the early replies):

Linking from a page to the exact same URL is essentially redundant for search engines. Crawlers treat links as signals between different resources; a self-link does not create a new endorsement or meaningful transfer of rank. It will generally do nothing for ranking and is unlikely to improve visibility for the anchor text.

Practical points and cautions:

  • In-page anchors (jump links to a section on the same page) are fine for usability, but use fragment IDs rather than reloading the full URL. Full-page self-links can inflate pageviews and distort analytics or create a poor user experience.
  • Avoid sprinkling repeated keyword-rich self-links; this looks like noise to both users and search engines. Emphasize the phrase in headings, body content, and related internal links from other pages instead.
  • Do not rely on rel="nofollow" on internal links to manipulate flow; it is unnecessary on self-links and can complicate crawl behavior if used across your site. Use canonical tags and proper internal linking to consolidate authority when you have duplicate or similar pages.

Bottom line: harmless but useless for SEO in most cases. Focus on thoughtful internal linking between distinct pages, clear on-page structure, and canonicalization for real benefit.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for WebDave

Yes, it will certainly boost the keyword "Blue Products"
hence there shouldn't be any harm done in terms of the SERPs.

Member Avatar for Robdale

Yes, that's true. Inlinking definitely helps to top the keywords and will not harm in the SERP.

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