Linking Your Own Websites Together: Safe Rules and Google's Policy

The short answer

Yes, you can link your own websites together, as long as each link is there because it helps that site's readers. Google's spam policies do not mention ownership at all; they define link spam by purpose, as links created mainly to manipulate rankings. Excessive cross-linking, the same link in the footers of many sites and networks of sites built only to link are where owners get into trouble. Link sparingly, inside the main content, with natural anchor text, and mention the shared ownership where it reads naturally.

Set your expectations too. A link between two sites you own is not an independent recommendation, so do not plan on it for rankings. Its dependable value is elsewhere:

• Referral visitors from an audience you already have.
• Faster discovery of a new site, because search engines follow links from pages they already crawl.
• Consistent description: one more page that describes your new product accurately.

Any ranking benefit is a bonus. The rules in this guide keep it from becoming a liability.

What Google's link spam policy actually says

Google's spam policies (last updated in August 2026) describe link spam as creating links to or from a site mainly to manipulate search rankings. Several of the listed examples apply directly to people who own more than one site:

• Excessive link exchanges, and partner pages that exist only for cross-linking.
• Links widely distributed in the footers or templates of many sites.
• Automated programs or services that create links.
• Low-value content created mainly to manipulate linking and ranking signals, which describes sites that exist only to hold links.

Two other policies on the same page matter for site owners:

• Expired domain abuse: buying an expired domain and repurposing it mainly to manipulate rankings.
• Doorway abuse, which includes running multiple sites with slight variations of the same URL and home page to capture the same searches.

Google finds violations through automated systems and, when needed, human review that can lead to a manual action. Sites that break the policies may rank lower or disappear from results.

Notice what is not on the list: owning several sites, and linking between them where it helps. The policy targets the purpose of a link, not who owns both ends of it.

What is fine and what crosses the line

Fine

• A SaaS product, its separate docs site and its community forum linking to each other in their navigation, because they are parts of one product and users move between them.
• A newsletter you run linking to a tool you also built, in an issue where the tool is relevant, with a line saying you made it.
• An article on one of your sites that links to a genuinely useful guide on another, because it is the best resource for that reader.
• One "our other projects" page on each site.

Crosses the line

• Sites created mainly to link to a main site: thin articles, no real audience and no reason to exist without the link.
• A footer or sidebar link to your other, unrelated sites on every page of every site.
• Every site linking to every other site in a ring, or links added in bulk on the same day.
• Exact-match commercial anchors on every link, such as "best crm software" pointing at your CRM.
• Expired domains bought for their old links and rebuilt or redirected to point at your site.
• Mass-produced articles whose only job is to hold a link.

The test is simple: would the link exist if search engines did not count links? If yes, it is probably fine. If no, leave it out.

Owned sites vs a private blog network (PBN)

A private blog network is a group of sites, often built on expired domains with old backlinks, whose main purpose is to link to a "money site" while hiding that one person controls them all. Google's policies do not use the term PBN, but they cover it twice: low-value content created mainly to manipulate linking signals, and expired domains repurposed mainly to manipulate rankings.

Owning several real websites is different. The difference is not the number of sites or the shared owner; it is what the sites are for. Ask four questions about each site that links to another of yours:

1. Would it exist without the link? A real site has its own topic, its own audience and its own reason to publish.
2. Does it get visitors? Check its Search Console Performance report or your analytics. Real sites have readers.
3. Is the link useful on that page? A reader of that article should be glad to find it.
4. Would you be comfortable explaining it to a Google reviewer? If the honest explanation is "for SEO", rethink it.

If a site fails the first two questions, linking from it adds risk and little value. Improve the site first, or leave it out of your linking plan. If you are tempted to buy an expired domain for its backlinks, read buying backlinks: risks and safe alternatives first.

The slow, safe method for your own sites

This method comes from owners who run several sites and want them to help each other without looking like a network. These are rules of thumb, not Google rules, and they are deliberately cautious:

1. Wait about a month after a new site launches before linking to it from your other sites. Let it get discovered on its own first, through Search Console, its sitemap and its first profiles and listings.
2. Add at most one new link per site per month. Slow growth looks like what it is: a few genuine mentions.
3. Link from a page that already gets visitors. A link on a page with traffic sends people. A link on a page nobody reads does very little.
4. Put the link in the main content, inside a paragraph where it fits, not in a footer, sidebar or author box repeated on every page. A contextual backlink is also the one readers actually click.
5. Use anchor text that describes the target page in natural words. Google recommends anchor text that is descriptive, reasonably concise and relevant, and treats keyword stuffing as spam. Mix your brand name, the URL and plain descriptions.
6. Link only where it helps that site's readers. If you have to bend the article to fit the link, skip it.
7. Mention the shared ownership where it reads naturally, for example "We also built Acme, a free tool for finding meeting times." It costs nothing and keeps you honest with your readers.
8. Link to the most relevant page, not always the home page.

SEO from links is slow. Expect months, not weeks, before you can judge whether a link helped rankings. Referral visitors show up much sooner.

A six-month plan for three sites

Here is the method applied to a founder with two established sites and one new product. Site A is a two-year-old blog about remote work with steady search traffic. Site B is a newsletter with a public web archive. Site C is a new scheduling tool for remote teams.

• Month 0: launch Site C. Verify it in Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit its sitemap, and create its profiles and listings. No links from A or B yet.
• Month 1: Site A links to Site C once, from its most-read article on async meetings, where a scheduling tool is genuinely useful. Anchor: "a free tool for finding meeting times across time zones", with a one-line disclosure.
• Month 2: Site B features Site C in one issue about time-zone tips, linking with the brand name. The archived issue keeps the link on the web.
• Month 3: Site A links to a different page on Site C, a guide, from another relevant article, using the guide's title as the anchor.
• Month 4: no new links. Review referral visits and indexing. By now Site C should have links of its own from listings and outreach.
• Month 5: Site C links to Site A only if Site A has a resource C's users need, such as a guide to running remote meetings. Not a swap: a useful reference.
• Month 6: Site B mentions Site C again only if there is real news, such as a major feature. Review everything with the checklist below.

That is at most five links in six months, each on a page with readers, each with a different, natural anchor. It is the opposite of a network. Meanwhile Site C should be earning links from sites you do not own; our guide to free backlinks covers where.

Anchor text: good and bad examples

Anchor text is where most owners give themselves away. Compare:

• Good: "Acme Scheduler", "acmescheduler.com", "a free tool for finding meeting times across time zones", "this guide to async standups".
• Risky: "best meeting scheduler", "free meeting scheduler app", or "meeting scheduler" on every link, the same exact phrase from every site.

A good rule: most links between your own sites should use the brand name, the URL or a descriptive phrase that would make sense to a reader who has never heard of SEO. Google suggests a similar test: read the link text out of context and see whether it still makes sense. If it sounds like a search query, rewrite it.

Vary the target pages too. If every link from every site points at the home page with a keyword, the pattern is obvious. Links to a specific guide, feature or tool page, each where it fits, look like what they are: references.

Safety checklist before you add a link

Run through this list every time:

1. Has the target site been live for about a month?
2. Is this the only new link from this site to your other sites this month?
3. Does the linking page get real visitors?
4. Is the link inside the main content, not in a footer, sidebar or template?
5. Does the anchor text read naturally, without a stuffed commercial keyword?
6. Would a reader of this page find the link useful?
7. Is the shared ownership mentioned where it fits?
8. Are you linking to the most relevant page, not just the home page?
9. Do your sites avoid a ring where every site links to every other one?
10. Would the link exist if search engines ignored links?

If any answer is no, fix it or wait a month. After the link goes live, open the page and confirm the link and its rel value with our nofollow link checker, and run the linking page through the SEO checker to make sure it can be indexed.

How to tell whether it is working

Measure the things the method is for:

• Referral visits: in Google Analytics 4, open the Traffic acquisition report and look for your other site as a session source. For campaign-level detail, tag the link with our UTM builder.
• Discovery and indexing: check how quickly the new site's pages move into the indexed list in Search Console's Pages report.
• Links seen by Google: your other site should appear under Top linking sites in the new site's Links report. See how to check backlinks.
• Search performance: impressions and average position for the target page, over months rather than days.

If a link sends no visitors after three months, that is a sign readers do not find it useful. Move it to a better page or remove it.

We run three content sites of our own, and these are the rules we set for them when they mention LightSpeedBolt. If you want links from sites you do not own, our backlinks service places them in editorial content and lists every live URL, anchor and status in your dashboard.