Outbound links for SEO
-
A colleague of mine is arguing that having the right outbound links on your website is important for SEO. It seems to me that it would help Google and other SEs to categorize your site, but it wouldn't be a significant ranking factor in itself as anyone could do that.
This is being used as an argument to keep links on our site linking to theirs. I've not done any experiments with it, however, and the site in question is ranking fairly well currently. I just don't think that's the main ranking factor as they have fairly good backlinks as well.
Anyone have direct experience with this sort of argument?
Thanks,
Tom
-
EGOL makes good points here. I've seen the opposite happen, too. An SEO firm links to the Wikipedia definition of website, and I can only assume it's meant to show the search engines that they link to authoritative sites. However, it really doesn't fit in the context of the site, and makes things appear very odd.
-
That's an excellent philosophy. Thanks for the great answer.
-
I believe that great websites link to other great websites. If nobody linked out the web would not be the web. Based upon that, I think that links to great websites get a tiny smile from google.
Each day I add a few links from my website to other websites. The requirement that these other websites must meet to get the link is that they must in someway be distinctly superior to my website. I only link up, never down.
I am telling my visitors... HEY! LOOK AT THIS! If I think that my visitors are going to ask... "Why did he link to this? Then, no way will I place a link. Could not pay me. Because I want to send my visitors to great stuff - better than mine.
Generally, I find, if someone is arguing with me about something, I don't do it.
So, do these guys have something awesome, kickass or wonderful that is distinctly better than mine. If they don't then drop the link to their site and find something better. When they ask WTF? Just tell 'em that you link up to better stuff.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
HELP - Should I Disavow SEO, Site Analysis, and Website Worth Links?
I have a gadget site and have MANY links to my site from sites that offer web analysis or SEO tools. For example, the site chkme.com has over 1,000 links to my home page. I don't know who they are, why they are linking to my site, and their site is irrelevant to my industry. Should I disavow links from sites like these? My site seems to be linked to from a lot of "website worth" type sites as well. I think I may have been hit with an unnatural site penalty but I do NO blackhat or any type of link building whatsoever. Thanks in advance 😉
Link Building | | Humanovation0 -
How can I find all the outbound links from a website domain?
I want to find all the outbound links (basically whatever comes in <a>tag) from a domain (say www.abc.com) as well as all the subdomains under it (say abc.com/a etc). Open Site Explorer provides the inbound links from a website but does not provide any functionality to get all the outbound links from a website. Is it possible to do?</a> <a>Thanks in advance. Deepak Jain</a>
Link Building | | Deepak_Jain0 -
No Follow Links
On my campaign report from SEOmoz I have noticed that all my 3 competitors have 99% followed links versus 1% no-followed links. Should I do the same? How can I check were are the no-follow links on my site? I have found some tool online but it shows me that there are only 2 no-follow links on my website which are both www.cloudflare.com while SEOmoz report shows me that I have 1031...where can i view this links?
Link Building | | VillasDiani0 -
Reciprocal links
Are they worth anything, if they are from relevant sites? I'm I better off avoiding linking back wherever possible?
Link Building | | littlesthobo0 -
Link building
I am just starting out on building dome links for my site and a lot of the sites i am requesting to link to are requesting i put a link on my home page is this normal as i can imagine it would look quite messy,or is there a way to put it on but hide it or should i create a links page i am using a wordpress website using elegant themes i am a total newbie so not sure what i should do any feed back would be appreciated . thanks alan
Link Building | | Elfranco0 -
Link footprints
Hi! I have question about link footprints. What should be taken into consideration? Is it real issue when your backlinks have heavy footprint? Thanks for answer..
Link Building | | asystematic1 -
Link building
What is the difference between External Followed Links and Total External Links, why are the numbers different? Should the numbers not be the same? I have a difference of 24 links can anyone explain why?
Link Building | | vendorshop0 -
Panda Update: Isn't a link still a link?
I was doing some link building and some SEO's said that the Panda update affected many websites. I am going to use eZineArticles.com as my example. EzineArticles was affected by the Panda update and does not show up in the SERPs as much as before. But they still have doFollow Links coming from the articles I am submitting. QUESTION: Regardless if EzineArticles was affected by the Panda Update, isn't a "Follow Link" still a "Follow Link" OR am I completely wasting my time on this devalued website? Edit: Yes I know a PR 0 page is not as valuable as a PR 9 page. I am asking from the standpoint of the affected Panda Update domains overall.
Link Building | | Francisco_Meza0