External Links

The What and Why of External Links

Think of external links as your website's passport stamps - they're proof that you've been out exploring the vast digital landscape and bringing back valuable souvenirs for your visitors. In technical terms, external links are those that point from your website to other domains, essentially saying, "Hey, check out this cool resource we found!"

But here's where it gets interesting: many website owners treat external links like they're giving away their secret sauce. They hoard their "link juice" like a dragon guards its treasure, thinking that linking out will somehow diminish their own site's authority. Spoiler alert: that's about as logical as thinking you'll run out of intelligence by teaching others!

The Art of Strategic External Linking

Let's look at some real-world examples of how savvy websites use external links to enhance their content and authority:

Take Moz's famous Beginner's Guide to SEO. Throughout this comprehensive resource, they frequently link to other authoritative sources, including Google's own documentation, academic studies, and even competitor content when it adds value. This approach has helped establish their guide as one of the most trusted resources in SEO education.

Or consider how Neil Patel consistently links to scientific studies and data sources in his blog posts. In one of his articles about social media marketing, he referenced over 20 external sources, including studies from Harvard Business Review and Stanford University. The result? His content is viewed as more credible and frequently earns editorial links itself.

External Linking Success Stories

Here's a fun case study that'll make you rethink your external linking strategy: Buffer, the social media management platform, conducted an experiment where they increased their external linking in blog posts by 50%. The result? Their referral traffic increased by 12%, and their bounce rate decreased by 7%. Why? Because they were providing more value to their readers by connecting them with relevant, high-quality resources.

Another fascinating example comes from Wikipedia. Despite being one of the most visited websites globally, they maintain strict external linking guidelines requiring citations to reliable sources. This policy has helped them become the go-to source for initial research on virtually any topic. If it works for them, it can work for you!

Best Practices (With a Side of Humor)

Think of external linking like being a good dinner party host. You want to:

Introduce the Right People

Just as you wouldn't seat your vegan friend next to the enthusiastic hunter, make sure your external links are contextually relevant. If you're writing about digital marketing, linking to a cat video (no matter how adorable) probably isn't the best choice.

Keep Things Fresh

Remember MySpace? Yeah, neither does anyone else. Regularly audit your external links to ensure they're not pointing to defunct websites or outdated information. It's like checking the expiration date on milk - nobody wants that nasty surprise.

Mind Your Manners

Use the rel="noopener noreferrer" attribute when linking to external sites in new tabs. It's like giving your guests a safe ride home after the party - just good hosting etiquette.

Real-World External Linking Magic

Let's look at some more examples of external linking done right:

The Wirecutter (now owned by The New York Times) built their entire business model around comprehensive reviews that liberally link to both product pages and competing reviews. Their transparent approach, including linking to alternatives and competitors, has earned them massive trust with readers.

HubSpot's blog regularly links to academic studies, industry reports, and even competitor content when it serves their readers. In one comprehensive guide about marketing statistics, they linked to over 100 external sources. The result? That page now ranks first for numerous competitive keywords and has earned thousands of backlinks itself.

The Future of External Linking

As search engines get smarter, the quality and relevance of external links become increasingly important. The days of "link hoarding" are over, replaced by an understanding that valuable external links create a better user experience and signal topic expertise to search engines.

Remember: external linking is like karma - what goes around comes around. The more you contribute to the wider web ecosystem by linking to valuable resources, the more likely others are to link back to you.

So go ahead, be generous with those external links! Just make sure they're relevant, valuable, and lead your visitors to genuinely useful resources. After all, the web was built on connections, and you might as well make yours count! next term is Featured Snippets