Hello everyone! SEO profile backlinks have been used since the early days of link-building. Website owners placed backlinks in their profiles on high-DR platforms to enhance their site’s authority in Google’s eyes. However, today we live in the 21st century, and this method has become less relevant. Nevertheless, it is still in use and holds its place in the market. In this article, I will share my thoughts on this method and explain how to index profile backlinks. The problem of indexing profile backlinks Profile backlinks have two main issues: Google is reluctant to index them. Profiles on many websites are often blocked by the <noindex> tag in the robots.txt file. However, even in these cases, solutions exist. Next, I’ll explain how to deal with them. How to index profile backlinks? Use Indexing Accelerators. This is the most crucial step since you need to attract search engine bots to profile pages. Personally, I recommend services like Riseindexing.online or Addtoindex.com — they speed up the indexing of any external links, including profile links. Place Backlinks on Social Media. I recommend adding about 10 social signals for each profile link. This costs very little, and you can buy such services on the Socpublic.com task exchange. Write Unique Text for Each Profile. It should be relevant to your website’s niche, increasing the chances of successful indexing. Place Links Only in Profiles That Are Not Blocked by the <noindex> Tag. You can check this using developer tools in your browser. These four principles are the foundation of successful indexing of profile backlinks. What is the indexing percentage of profile backlinks? In my experience, if done correctly, up to 50% of these backlinks get indexed. If the work is done poorly, the percentage will be significantly lower. Additionally, profile pages blocked from indexing are not considered in this calculation. How can profiles blocked from indexing be useful? Googlebot can access such profiles if you direct it there, for example, using indexing acceleration services. However, such a backlink will not appear in search results. Despite this, Googlebot may still take these backlinks into account. I conducted a small experiment: I placed a backlink in a profile on substack.com and invited Googlebot there through an indexing acceleration service. A week later, I saw the backlink from this site in Google Search Console, even though the profile page was blocked by the <noindex> tag. This suggests that such backlinks can still be considered by Google. Whether they provide value is debatable. Most likely, it depends on the donor site and the overall backlink profile. Personally, I believe such backlinks can be used to diversify a backlink profile. Do profile backlinks help in promoting a website on Google? Yes and no. First, these backlinks should be placed on high-quality websites with low spam levels and a high DR (30+). Low spam means that the donor site has fewer outgoing backlinks than incoming ones. Second, in addition to profile backlinks, it is important to place higher-quality backlinks in articles and not to forget about social media. So, do they help or not? I believe they do, if used wisely and in moderation. How much does Google take them into account? I don’t have precise data, as I am not a Google algorithm developer. Results may vary. Whether to use profile backlinks or not is up to you. Personally, I use them in moderation. Conclusion With the right approach, profile backlinks can be useful. They get indexed, though not always. For indexing, it is essential to use additional tools such as social signals and indexing accelerators. That’s all for now! I hope this material was helpful for you. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments!
Risks of Google Penalties Profile links are considered low-quality links. There are numerous reports suggesting that Google may impose hidden penalties on websites promoted through profile links. Keep this in mind! If you place backlinks in profiles, you are knowingly taking a risk.
Yeah, profile links aren’t the best for SEO. A lot of people say Google doesn’t value them much, and there are even rumors about hidden penalties for sites relying on them too much. It’s not a guaranteed issue, but if you're building backlinks this way, just know it's a bit of a gamble. If you're serious about SEO, it’s better to focus on higher-quality links.
You make a good point. Links in profiles are risky. But still many webmasters use them. Hidden sanctions from Google can come, that's a fact.
Actually, it's a very good thing that Google is reluctant to index them. Otherwise, some websites would end up with tons of low-quality spam links that Google would still index. The result? - a potential Google penalty for spam backlinks. It's better to avoid such link building methods altogether, or at the very least, use them as Tier 3 or Tier 4.
To index profile backlinks in Google in 2025, share the profile URL on high-crawl platforms like social media or indexing tools, and ensure the profile has public visibility and relevant content. Use Google Search Console or third-party pinging services to speed up indexing.