If you remember, a couple of days ago we talked about “Best Of” blog posts, in that post I briefly mentioned that it is perfectly fine – and even beneficial – to link to other sites. I thought that topic warranted a post of its own.

Many new bloggers (and even experienced ones) are afraid to link to other sites. They think they will lose readers and bleed out “link juice” and authority to the other site. If you’re linking to crappy, spammy sites, that is definitely the case. But if you’re linking to other quality blogs or various authority sites, these outbound links can actually be very beneficial.

What Is an Outbound Link?

An outbound link is simply a link that goes to a site other than your own.

If I’m linking from one of my blog posts to an older one, that’s an internal link. If another blog links to me, that’s an incoming link. If I link to someone else’s blog, like my lifestyle blog Real Momma, or an article on a university website, that’s an outbound or outgoing link.

It is important that you aren't abusing your outbound links and don't have a ton of dofollow links pointing to external sites that aren't quality. Just remember:

• Nofollow links attributes do not allow search engine bots to follow link (best used for paid or affiliate content)
• Dofollow links allow all search engines to follow them and reach a website, giving link juice from your site

You can change a link to no follow by simply adding a rel=”nofollow” tag in your post HTML like this: <a href=”https://www.QuickandEasyBlogging.com/” rel=”nofollow”>Quick and Easy Blogging</a>

We'll talk more about dofollow vs nofollow in a future post.

Linking To Authority Sites

Linking to other websites is good practice; after all, that’s what makes the web the web. Just make sure the site you're linking to is trustworthy and one you would visit yourself.

Linking Helps With Credibility

Linking to other helpful blog posts and articles is a nice thing to do for your readers. It helps you build credibility and trust. Readers will come to see you as a great source of information and that will keep them coming back for more.

Linking Helps With Search Engines

Last but not least, linking out to authority sites will help you gain more credibility and help you rank higher. Give it a try. Find a high authority blog to link to or even better, where it makes sense, link to articles and blog posts of university or government sites.

Don’t overdo it, but don’t be afraid to link out here and there and see if that doesn’t help you rise in the search engine rankings and authority.

 

What is your favorite site to link to?