It’s a given that increasing the number of external links to your site from other sources (also known as inbound or backlinks) is one of the most sought-after SEO signals. From the search engine’s perspective, these are essentially cosigns from other businesses that validate the content on your particular webpage – drawing in the endorsement of other businesses as a way of assuring its trustworthiness. It’s true that this strategy is crucial in ranking well in any search engine – however, there’s also another branch of this practice often overlooked. Outbound links, in this case, are links within your site which take your users to external sources. You might still be asking yourself; why should you be linking to external sources from your own site? There are a few reasons, and we will now take you through the benefits of this often ignored, but useful, SEO practice.
How Outbound Links Influence Your SEO Profile
First of all, using outbound links can enhance the user experience within your site – think about the information and resources that might be relevant to your audience.
For example, if you’re a food manufacturer, you might want to link to recipe ideas which use your products. This way, not only do you provide your users with a valuable resource, but you also establish your business as an authority in your industry by providing information that nurtures beyond the users’ base needs. This can also mean that users might be more likely to come back to your site to look for other ideas and resources, if they believe that they’ll be able to leverage value on top of what they’re already searching for. The idea is that you’re promoting information that can benefit the user first and foremost, beyond the content of your own site. Ironically, by directing user attention to other sites, this communicates high value to the search engine by prioritising a user-centric .
Secondly, linking out to external sites from your own pages means you are more likely to earn backlinks in return. And this is no small deal, as the number of backlinks is a significant SEO rank factor. This could work well if you for example create a section of your site dedicated to linking to your business partners or resources you think your audience will find valuable. This way you can earn additional inbound links, which will further boost your SEO.
Finally, incorporating external outbound links within your site can boost your own SEO, as it is speculated the number of external links to credible sites might actually be a Google ranking factor.
The Search Engine Journal reported in early 2016 that Reboot marketing agency found a direct positive correlation between the number of external links on a page and its ranking. They created 10 new websites with similar content, with the only difference between the sites being external outbound links. The results showed that the sites with external links were ranked higher by Google.
Final Takeaways
As you can see, external outbound linking can be a beneficial SEO practice if done well. It is important that you link to authoritative sources which are credible and valued by search engines and users alike. This will send a positive signal to search engines, establishing your site as a source related to credible sources. Moreover, by linking externally, you might just create some good karma and earn back inbound external links, which is one of the most sought-after SEO factors. Just remember that whatever external linking tactic you choose, it should implement your overall SEO strategy to get you the best results.
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