Outbound Links, Good or Bad?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by TP123, May 24, 2010.

  1. #1
    I have 14 outbound links on my homepage, all these links are pointing to sites that are relevant to mine and have content that my visitors would value. None of these links are reciprocal and I'm wondering whether this is adversely affecting my page rank which is currently PR4.

    One other thing I wanted to ask is that my forum is hosted on another domain and I have a link to that domain on every page of my site, does this also have an effect on my PR.

    Thanks
     
    TP123, May 24, 2010 IP
  2. C-Note

    C-Note Peon

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    #2
    Technically, yes - outgoing links will have a negative effect on your PR. But, out going links especially relevant ones, can give you an seo boost.
    However - You are placing too much emphasis on PageRank, and in fact giving it too much credit.
    PR does not directly effect how well your site does in actual search engine rankings.

    i can have a competing web site to yours have only a pr 2 and blow you out of the water.
     
    C-Note, May 24, 2010 IP
  3. larysmith711

    larysmith711 Notable Member

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    #3
    They can hurt you but most won't.
     
    larysmith711, May 24, 2010 IP
  4. softwareengg07

    softwareengg07 Member

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    #4
    Out bound links at home page effect look your site.but by good out bound links your site ranking increase &also traffic.
     
    softwareengg07, May 24, 2010 IP
  5. Jim4767

    Jim4767 Prominent Member

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    #5
    Only the search engine algorithm engineeers know for sure. But the "conventional wisdom" is that a moderate amount of outbound links to relevant websites is looked upon favorably by the search engines. An added benefit is that links out to relevant sites help the search engines to determine more precisely what your website's niche is.
     
    Jim4767, May 24, 2010 IP
  6. earnincome

    earnincome Peon

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    #6
    It will definetly effect your pr since google may think you are selling links, and they give negative pointing to your site. Are all the links in home page only?
     
    earnincome, May 24, 2010 IP
  7. RashmiP

    RashmiP Peon

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    #7
    Outbound links to other relevant sites is good, but if your link is going to some other sites which is irrelevant, than think about it twice. It may negatively effect your site's PR.
     
    RashmiP, May 24, 2010 IP
  8. websitemarketing

    websitemarketing Peon

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    #8
    I believe outbound links that are relevant will not have a bad effect. I swear I saw somewhere that Matt Cutts said relevant outbound links that make for a better or more informative user experience is a good thing. You would not want to over do it but some should be good. OK did a search Here is an excerpt from Matt Cutt's blog. Most of the post was about nofollow but this protion was relevant.
    "
    Q: Okay, but doesn’t this encourage me to link out less? Should I turn off comments on my blog?
    A: I wouldn’t recommend closing comments in an attempt to “hoard” your PageRank. In the same way that Google trusts sites less when they link to spammy sites or bad neighborhoods, parts of our system encourage links to good sites." If you want to see the whole thing just google "matt cutts pagerank sculpting"
     
    websitemarketing, May 25, 2010 IP
  9. xenus

    xenus Peon

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    #9
    Firstly, outbound links will affect your PR, as search engines see your site as a bridge to other/important sites (where you link to)
    Secondly, your PR won't significantly affect your rankings, so don't panic
     
    xenus, May 25, 2010 IP
  10. thunderbolt007

    thunderbolt007 Active Member

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    #10
    It depends on the niche of your outbound links. Think about linking out which is not related to your niche. What do you think will happen?
    For me I will link out to sites that are related to mine. :D

    By rand fishkin at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/more-on-nofollow-at-seomoz-and-how-bad-outbounds-can-impact-websites

    More at Linking out: Often it's just applying common sense
     
    thunderbolt007, May 25, 2010 IP
  11. joshvelco

    joshvelco Peon

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    #11
    If the links are relevant, they could infact help you. Try to reduce the number of outbound links to just the necessary ones, or use the nofollow attribute on a few (but not all).
     
    joshvelco, May 25, 2010 IP
  12. Jeff Collision

    Jeff Collision Peon

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    #12
    Outbound links help to improve the ranking and traffic of your website. But there is the limitation. A website should not exceed more than 50 outbound links.
     
    Jeff Collision, May 25, 2010 IP
  13. magic99

    magic99 Peon

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    #13
    You have added link at homepage so will effected you website rank normally I have analyze that Outbound link will effect the ranking, if it possible you can use nofollow tag for that linking.
    In you other queries, you can place your website link to all pages of forum then it will be compensate also its hope it will be beneficial for your website
     
    magic99, May 25, 2010 IP
  14. MarkAse

    MarkAse Peon

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    #14
    Yes, you're going to be bleeding page rank to those site.

    Personally, I'm ok with that as long as I think having those links will help my conversion rate.

    You make your site for your human visitors and then build enough links to control SERPS, at least that's my strategy.
     
    MarkAse, May 25, 2010 IP
  15. jacuzzi

    jacuzzi Guest

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    #15
    Looking towards the SEO perspective i would surely stick to YES.To gain a good SERP and high Pr you need to maintain an equilibrium between inbound links and outbound links
     
    jacuzzi, May 25, 2010 IP
  16. biztrendz

    biztrendz Member

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    #16
    Outbound links do effect page rank and in your case when you have 14 outbound links, it will effect for sure (regardless that they are relevant or not). Try to focus more on website ranking in search engines rather than on PR. Page rank only has a little to do with SE ranking.
     
    biztrendz, May 25, 2010 IP
  17. StanleyGrows

    StanleyGrows Peon

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    #17
    To be honest, this is the first time that I've seen any indicators that outbound links affect your ranking. You do learn something new every day at digitalpoint :)
     
    StanleyGrows, May 25, 2010 IP
  18. micheal14

    micheal14 Peon

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    #18
    micheal14, May 25, 2010 IP
  19. AirForce1

    AirForce1 Peon

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    #19
    In my own experiences, having outbound links might not affect the page PR itself. You could find the evidences from some high PR blog pages since they would usually have so many spam comments with links to the linked and totally irrelative sites.

    Thanks,
     
    AirForce1, May 25, 2010 IP
  20. Brian1970

    Brian1970 Notable Member

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    #20
    If you want high pr limit or no-follow outbound links and no-follow links to unimportant pages on your site such as about me and contact pages. You can also purchase some high pr links. Most of my clients did not know about Pagerank. My advice would be to forget pr and focuss on rankings.

    Thanks Brian
     
    Brian1970, May 25, 2010 IP