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Links and SEO
We all know that website links play a critical role in search engine optimization, but often the precise role specific types of links play is unclear to us. Today's post will focus on outbound links and their part in the SEO equation.
A Few Link Basics
Before we begin, I think we might benefit from a few definitions, so here are a few basics from W3C.org (World Wide Web Consortium), which it provides in its Introduction to links and anchors:
A link is a connection from one Web resource to another. Although a simple concept, the link has been one of the primary forces driving the success of the Web.
A link has two ends -- called anchors -- and a direction. The link starts at the "source" anchor and points to the "destination" anchor, which may be any Web resource (e.g., an image, a video clip, a sound bite, a program, an HTML document, an element within an HTML document, etc.).
Links that point toward a website are called inbound, or incoming, links. They're also called backlinks. Links that point away from one site and toward another are known as outbound, or outgoing, links. Another link type is the internal link, which refers to a link that points to other pages on the same website.
Perceived Link Value
Many believe that inbound links are the only ones that have real value for improving a site's SEO (though some website owners are willing to concede that internal links might have some value as well). Few, however, are willing to accept the notion that outbound links have much of a role to play in website optimization strategies. Yet, according to the experts, this is indeed the case.
Indirect Benefit of Outbound Links
Mike Murray, of Fathom SEO, puts outbound links into their proper context for us, in Outbound Links and Misunderstandings:
Outbound links don't help you in the sense that they could affect the ranking algorithms - at least not directly.
He then clarifies a misunderstanding that many have about the animal:
Outbound links don't hurt you in that you're not penalized for linking to other websites. The only exception is when websites link to non-related website directories or link collections just for the sake of linking.
Direct Benefits of Outbound Links
Keyword Ranking
Joel Walsh, of AgoraBusinessCenter.com, takes this explanation one step further, stating, in his article on SEO and Outbound Link Relevance, that
Outbound links' anchor text affects a page's search engine ranking in much the same way that inbound links' anchor text affects search engine ranking.... though it is slightly less powerful. If you have a particular keyword in the anchor text of a link on a webpage, that webpage will likely show up in search engine results -- even if it appears nowhere else on the page, and even if there are no inbound links with that anchor text.
Tim Grice, of SEOWIZZ.net, has in fact discovered that one can indeed
...rank a page for a keyword with no anchored backlinks and little in terms of content.
How did he do it? He explains, in his post on Outbound Link Theory, that he
created the page for "seo consultant leeds" and anchored the phrase to a couple of well known 'local' training and government sites.
About his results, he says,
...after this little trial my page now sits at the bottom of the first page on google.co.uk for the keyword.
His conclusion follows:
This suggests that outbound links hold a good bit of weight when it comes to ranking higher in Google. Use them in conjunction with a targeted title tag and generate some optimised inbound links and it could help cement your site at the top of Google for some pretty competitive keywords.
Trust Value
Leo di Milo, of Internet Marketing Techniques and Theories, shares a few insights he's gleaned from other SEO experts about outbound links, in 3 SEO Musings on Outbound Link Structure, Keywords and TrustRank:
I have seen several prominent SEO sites who link up very liberally....
While I can only theorize as to why this is done, I do know that linking to other sites in your niche will help springboard your site in the SERPS. I believe that it will help get that trustrank that most of us in competitive niches need in order to get to the next level.
It is really all about connections. It is the way the internet operates.
Relevance
Fathom SEO confirms this, saying,
Links -- like much of the Internet and search engines -- are about relevance. If you're linking out for a good reason, don't worry about it. You may have some real fires to put out elsewhere, not the artificial ones fueled by hype.
Traffic
SearchEnginePromotionHelp.com offers us these further words of wisdom about The Effect of Outbound Links On SEO:
You do not lose visitors by offering links to other pages. Links to other pages will bring you more and repeat customers. All visitors will leave your web site sooner or later. No matter how great your web site is, no one will stay on your web site forever. The question is what web surfers do when they leave your site.
If you don't have outgoing links or if you hide your links, then you send your visitors back to search engines (which give you nothing in return). If you offer your web site visitors links, you can send leaving visitors to other web sites that can send you their visitors in return.
Carefully chosen links to outside resources can improve the experience of visitors who visit your web site. Give, and you shall receive. This is true for many aspects of life and it also works for web site promotion.
Good SEO Is More Than Inbound Links
Jennifer Sullivan Cassidy reminds us of the following, in Balancing Inbound and Outbound Links:
There is more to having a good position in the search engines tha(n) hoarding all of your links. There are many sites that I see have wonderful keyword-rich content, many thousands of backlinks, yet are so afraid of losing their PageRank that they only link to their own sites or internal pages....You're not going to plummet in the SERPs by providing links to someone else.
A Few More Points About Links
Webconfs.com offers the following two important reminders, in Links - Another Important SEO Item:
Besides the anchor text itself, the text around it is also important.
So, always remember that your content must reinforce your link text to make it more relevant to search engines.
Their second crucial point is,
When links are concerned, one aspect to have in mind is the ratio between inbound and outbound links. Generally speaking, if your outbound links are ten times your inbound links, this is bad but it also varies on a case by case basis. If you have a site that links to news sources or has RSS feeds, then having many outbound links is the inevitable price of fresh content.
A Final Thought
Jennifer Sullivan Cassidy leaves us with a little food for thought about the inbound links we all covet:
Unfortunately, in order to get one-way links, which are the jewels of link-building, someone has to be giving away those links. If we all hoped to get links, but never gave them, then there would be no such thing as one-way links at all.
And where would that leave our SEO strategy?
