Dubbed the Reasonable Surfer Patent by SEO Bill Slawski, this new link analysis methodology anticipates which links on a page are most likely to be clicked on by a user and assigns a relative ranking value accordingly. The more likely a link is to be clicked on by a “reasonable surfer” the larger share of available link juice it will be assigned.

In technical terms, the Google Reasonable Surfer Patent works like this:

A system generates a model based on feature data relating to different features of a link from a linking document to a linked document and user behavior data relating to navigational actions associated with the link. The system also assigns a rank to a document based on the model.

Reading the full text of the Google Reasonable Surfer Patent it quickly becomes clear that some tried and true interlinking strategies are about to go the way of the dinosaur. A once simple mathematical calculation dividing the number of links on a page by a ranking value and assigning each an equal share has become a complex equation involving the unpredictable variable of anticipated human behavior and a sliding scale of link juice flow. In short, the true value of a link on any given page will no longer be as transparent as it has been in the past.

The Reasonable Surfer Patent eliminates the transparency of link juice flow which means changes to the way that link building and interlinking plans will be developed. Link flow SEO just became a much more strategic game. When deciding how to link within a site SEOs now need to be very aware of the impact of navigational elements and footers as well as the value of linking to pages like “About Us” throughout a site.

On pages that combine internal links with external links, SEOs will have to weigh the potential costs of lost link juice flow. If a user is more likely to click on the external link it could impact the rankings of any relevant internal links, making it a strategic play to remove the external link at the expense of providing true user value. The Reasonable Surfer Patent could end up cultivating a culture of protectionism among SEO analysts.

Because of its potential to cultivate a sense of protectionism the Reasonable Surfer Patent means that link building could become a much harder sell. SEO strategists may be weary of adding outbound links to their sites for fear that it will devalue internal links. While this fear is valid, excluding quality outbound links is not necessarily warranted.

The Google patent hints at the signals it will use to determine the behavior of a “reasonable surfer” toward a given link, and understanding these signals will give in-the-know SEOs the tools they need to benefit from the new patent.

The signals Google may use when identifying links to be clicked on by a “reasonable surfer” include:

Link position on the page – above the fold is best, the sooner you get a user’s attention the more likely they are to click through, also positioning key links in areas that users naturally ignore, like the left and right hand columns on a page, could devalue user interest ratings

Link relevance – the more relevant a link is to the content on the page the better, truly related resources are always more likely to be clicked on than unrelated or irrelevant content

Anchor text of the link – the more relevant the anchor text is to the content on a page the more likely it is to be weighted with a higher user interest value

Links in the body of the page text – links placed in the body of the page text are known to be clicked on more frequently than links or link groups that frame the content, the positioning of a link within the actual text of a page will be a strong signal

Presentation of the link – be it as an image, in a list, in a larger font size or in a different coloured text, the way in which you present your links will be a signal as to how likely a user is to click through

User ad aversion – avoid presenting links so that they may be confused for advertisements as this will likely be a negative signal, do not place links in areas that users traditionally associate with ads, like the right hand column of a page or in images that look like banners

Uniqueness of the link – redundant links on a page have long been an SEO no-no and while it may seem that increasing a link’s presence on a page would increase the likelihood of a click through, in reality it will most likely be perceived in the new schema as link stuffing

Navigational interlinking – including navigational or footer links on every page may no longer be an SEO must-do as they lead to link distraction and link juice flow dilution, even the coveted (and very useful) breadcrumb trail may be a negative signal for these reasons.


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