What is an Outbound Link?
An outbound link, or external link, is a hyperlink that takes users to a URL outside of your website. On the contrary, an outbound link from one site is considered an inbound link or backlink for the site being linked to.
Outbound links serve various purposes, such as offering resources for additional information, citing sources, and referencing products, especially in affiliate marketing.
Furthermore, outbound links contribute to link equity for the linked pages, as they act as “votes” for search engines like Google, indicating the authority of the content. The more websites link to your content through outbound links, the greater its authority becomes. Pages with higher link authority are more likely to achieve better rankings in Google’s search results.
Can Outbound Links Harm SEO?
Generally, including outbound links on your website will not likely harm your SEO.
The only exception arises if you violate Google’s link spam guidelines. Google considers certain outbound links as endorsements of the target page, passing “ranking credit” that can enhance the linked site’s SEO performance.
Consequently, the following practices are viewed as spammy and manipulative:
- Linking to a site in exchange for a reciprocal link
- Linking to a site for payment, goods, or services without using a “nofollow” or “sponsored” link attribute
- Adding links that aren’t clearly visible to users
If your outbound links are added for the benefit of users, you are unlikely to infringe upon Google’s guidelines. Just remember to be mindful when including them, as outbound links direct users away from your site – Hence, it is a good idea to always make sure the outbound link from your website will open in a new tab.
