<b>Related-posts widgets are link-equity cancer. Rip them out.</b>

<b>Related-posts widgets are link-equity cancer. Rip them out.</b>

That "You might also like" block at the bottom of every article? It's auto-generated, it links by tag similarity, and it dumps 6 links into your boilerplate on <i>every single page</i>. Sitewide. Indiscriminate.

Now every post in a tag cluster links to every other post with the same generic anchor ("Read more," or worse, the title). No editorial intent. No hierarchy. You've flattened your entire site into mush where nothing signals importance.

Manual contextual links in the body out-rank widget links every time, because they carry topical context and a real anchor.

Tell me your related-posts plugin is pulling its weight. I'll wait.