Hotlinks (also called “hot linking”) occur when an external website accesses files on your website directly, for example images, videos or PDFs, without hosting them itself. The file is loaded from your server even though it is embedded on another site.
This means your resources are being used, but the traffic does not benefit you. Instead, the external website consumes your server capacity and bandwidth. With large files in particular, this can cause an unnecessary load.
Hotlinking often happens unintentionally, for example when someone simply copies the URL of an image and inserts it into their own page. Technically it works like a normal link, the only difference being that the file is not stored locally.
Typical characteristics
- External sites load files directly from your server
- You carry the costs for bandwidth and hosting
- Common with images, videos or downloads
- Can happen without your knowledge
Why is this relevant for SEO and websites?
Hotlinks do not affect your ranking directly. Indirectly, however, they can cause problems. High traffic to your files can worsen the loading time of your website, which has a negative effect on the user experience.
Search engines such as Google treat loading times as an important factor. It can therefore make sense to prevent hotlinking, for example through server settings or security measures.