Referring IP

Definition

A referring IP is the IP address of a website that links to another website. When website links to another, it generates a backlink. The IP address associated with that backlink is considered a referring IP.

Referring IP Relevance For SEO

Referring IPs matter for SEO because they provide insights into a website backlink profile:

• The number of unique referring IPs shows the diversity of sites linking. More diversity signals means more trust to search engines.
• Analyzing referring IPs by location shows the geographic diversity of your backlinks. Global popularity also signals authority.
• Identifying and investigating spammy referring IPs can reveal toxic links that should be disavowed.

Referring IP Best Practices for SEO

• Diversification: Aim for backlinks from many different IP addresses, not just a few. This shows wide-ranging popularity.
• Quality Analysis: Investigate high-volume referring IPs for low-quality links. Disavow toxic backlinks from spammy sites.

How to Find the Referring IP of a Website

Simply go to the Terminal app on MacOs, or Command Prompt on Windows, or Console on Linux and use the nslookup command as follows:

nslookup domain.com

Example:

In the first two lines you have the DNS that provided the information, and in the last line you will see the website IP.