Google explains how outbound links impact SEO
Linking is an important part of SEO, but perhaps not in the way that you expect. For a long time, people believed that outbound links to popular sites were better than links to smaller, lesser-known sites. For example, you may consider linking to CNN or Fox News instead of to a local news station. Those other large sites already get a lot of traffic and are very popular and authoritative, so they seem like better options. The thought is that this would increase the search ranking for the page that contained the link.
However, Google’s John Mueller was recently asked about this during an interview on Reddit, and he said that nothing changes. He indicated that it was just a mistaken belief. It doesn’t matter if the link is to CNN, with millions of visitors per hour, or to someone’s blog that gets two or three visitors a day. The popularity of the site being linked to does not, according to Mueller, impact that page’s ranking at all.
So what outbound links should you choose?
The reason that linking is important is because it can be valuable to the people who are reading your content. As Mueller said, people should ask themselves the following questions:
“Does this link provide additional, unique value to users? Then, link naturally. Is this link irrelevant to my users? Then don’t link to it.”
There are many links that you can insert that will provide greater authority to your site and that will benefit your users. These links will give users additional information or perhaps support the points being made in your own content. The links will also help to show that your content is well-researched and accurate.
All of these things are beneficial, but your focus should be on benefiting that reader at every turn. If a more authoritative site is going to help them with the topic that they are searching for, then that’s a fine place to link. But the link should always be made with the user in mind, rather than choosing a link based on the site’s ranking or popularity. If a smaller site provides more value to your readers, that is the one you should use.
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can get the best results from your SEO efforts, just get in touch with us here at Content Customs.