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
-
Link building | SEO Agency Cardiff
Hello, we have been link-building to the home page for some time now. We believe that we have better on-page SEO than some of our direct competitors. We want to rank for “SEO Agency Cardiff,” but despite building backlinks, building Nap, and writing content marketing, it will not get onto the first page of Google. Despite hundreds of hours spent on it, and all SEO reports saying we are better than some of the companies on there, are there suggestions as to what our agency could be missing? We would be grateful for any SEO advice, as we cant get it onto the first page of Google, despite hundreds of hours, trying get on Google for this keyword "SEO agency Cardiff".
Link Building | | sarahwalsh0 -
What do you think of these profile links for SEO?
In my Google Search Console today, I saw a link from Creative Market. In Moz last week I saw a link from Instructables. In Moz, they have high numbers. DO you think these type of profiles have a big impact? https://artists.spotify.com/c/artist/3N1BM4dOORzK8BF6DrkEDU/profile#about (Moz-50, ahrefs-14) https://creativemarket.com/julie.gallaher (Moz-36, Ahrefs-12) https://www.instructables.com/member/jazzmansac (Moz-42, Ahrefs-13) https://mza.seotoolninja.com/community/users/907261 (Moz-50, Ahrefs-25) https://www.are.na/julie-gallaher (Moz-25, Ahrefs-11) They all look to be do follow links
Link Building | | julie-getonthemap0 -
Xyz links
I have a lot of backlinks ending with .xyz, around 20%, and they look very suspicious. Should I disavow these? Here are a few: yourrelicsbargains.xyz fantasticsiteinfo.xyz yourvintagelifestyle.xyz usefuldiscount4u.xyz bestdealsaction.xyz bestmemorabilialifestyle.xyz 59177.net lovecollectorsbargains.xyz
Link Building | | moon-boots0 -
Link quality
Hi, Having read dozens of your blogs and found them highly informative, i have to ask a question. I am kicking oout our SEO company and have taken over the SEO myself with some excellent results. Our SEO providers tell me that links from any site (irrelevent of their DA) are good, providing they are comming from a relevant source. We are in the security industry and according to MOZ, we have a DA of 52. If i can get a link to our site from another company in our industry but they have a DA of 10, is this really beneficial for me? Info i have read in Moz blogs suggest it is n ot a good idea. Please help. many thanks Daddy Smurf
Link Building | | DaddySmurf0 -
Is a no-follow link/sponsored link a good editorial link?
Ok maybe this is a dumb question. I really need some better, more quality backlinks pointing to my site. There is a site that has domain authority of 72, page rank 5 that is offering me a sponsored blog post. Do sponsored posts count as a good editorial link? Also what if they are no-follow (and how would I find out ahead of time), does that still give me link juice?
Link Building | | tutugirl0 -
Editorial links
http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1999/01/17484 how do you get a link from an article like this where the author writes for a high domain authority site and just ends up listing a lot of links to different companies?
Link Building | | JohnWalker0 -
SEO Fightback
I just got a spam email company (SEO FIghtback) that claims they can create backlinks through trusted Wordpress networks that cannot ever be rejected by google. I believe it to be just another linking company wanting to suck $97 bucks a month out of me, I thought I would ask the experts on this site. The video was cool....for about 30 second......but that is all I could handle. It ultimately became one of the most irritating commericals ever and truly grated on my last nerve. Thanks
Link Building | | thompsoncpa0 -
How do you check to see if your site (site A) has already been linked to by another site (site B) when you have a large site with lots of links
There are some basics in SEO relating to finding out about who has linked to whom that I could use some help with.
Link Building | | hughman0