But are sitewide links to other domains a negative ranking factor? The Claim: Sitewide Links Are A Ranking FactorA sitewide link refers to a static outbound link that appears on every page of a website. For these reasons, SEO experts claim sitewide links send negative ranking signals to the domains they’re pointing toward. The Evidence For Sitewide Links As A Negative Ranking FactorGoogle confirms sitewide links, when they occur organically, are not a negative ranking signal. When it comes to placing sitewide links, Google requests the use of the nofollow attribute so that they aren’t seen as editorial links.