by Scott Hendison
Did you know that it’s important to have outbound links on your website? By sharing and linking to other authoritative and helpful sources, you’re providing your visitors with a valuable service, and that’s also going to increase the value of your own website as a resource.
Believe it or not, your own rankings could improve if your outbound links offer your visitors information or services that are similar or related to your own, and if those outbound links go to quality sites.
If you hear or read otherwise from another SEO firm, then I’d challenge their assessment and I’ll bet, so would Matt Cutts from Google.
The web is all about sharing and authority, and you can’t become a valuable resource in a link-locked vacuum.
However, you DO need to be selective about who you decide to link to, and do your homework on them. After all, by linking to them you are recommending them to your visitors, so don’t decide casually.
Make sure that any website you link to really has something of value to offer your visitors, and that they also do not link to other poor quality websites
If you are linking your website to a site that uses spammy SEO tactics, or has a lot of broken links themselves, or has perhaps been penalized by the search engines, then your site could suffer association, and the mere fact that you linked to them.
The search engines view a link as a vote for that website. By linking your site to any other website, you are putting your seal of approval on the content listed there. For the sake of your reputation and your integrity, make sure you check where your links are leading.
Sprinkle your links throughout your website, and don’t feel obligated to confine all of your links to a single resource page, or directory section. Just because most websites have done it that way for a long time, doesn’t mean that’s a rule.
Consider getting creative by listing a few relevant links on every page under the title: “Useful Resources” or even “Competitors”. You can add some humor, mobilize some punchy sales copy, or even get sarcastic.
Go to your own website right now, and do a review of each website that you are linking to. If you’re not happy with the content they are presenting, or, with whom they have chosen to link to and by all means remove them from your website.
Make sure you are utilizing good quality outbound links to relevant resources on your website, and you may actually improve your own search results.
