Is there any benefit to external links

[bvi]

Other than visitor/customer reasons, is there any reason (for SEO reasons) to have links on a website going out? Short and to the point questions this time.

[nickc]

If the link contains keywords then that can sometimes help your own site as can ALT and TITLE tags although generally it is the site being linked to that will benefit.

Nick

[flood6]

There has been some speculation that sites that do not have any outbound links or outbound links masked with javascript may get penalized.

The reasoning being that google (and possibly other major SE's) see the site as a "dead end". They may assume that every site would have a logical reason to link out; those that do not are hoarding PR, etc.

[Yayagogo]

Penalized in what way? Reduced PR, or Lower relevance in Search Results? The theory kind of flies in the face of weighting given to 'Authority Sites' that are linked to by many other sites. Is there any documented research on the subject?

[flood6]

Originally Posted by Yayagogo

Penalized in what way? Reduced PR, or Lower relevance in Search Results? The theory kind of flies in the face of weighting given to 'Authority Sites' that are linked to by many other sites. Is there any documented research on the subject?

I think the penalty would come in the form of a PR0 and/or a ding in the SERPS.

I haven't seen anything I would call proof; that’s why I said "speculation". I seem to remember GG making a comment at WMW that led people to believe this was the case. That and a few other posts and articles about the topic.

I don't think it flies in the face of the "Authority Site" thing. The most popular and authoritative sites in the world have outbound links to other sites.

[KarenDawn]

Popularity has become increasingly important among the search engines. A web site's popularity component provides the search engines with feedback about a site's usefulness to a target audience. In other words, sites that more users find useful are more relevant to a particular search.

If two web sites have similar text and spider-friendly link architectures, the site with greater popularity consistently ranks higher over time because of the following reasons:

· Credible web sites usually link to pages with valuable information.

· A site's end users tend to use the same web site over and over again because the information is relevant.

Therefore, building a site that appeals to both directory editors and your target audience is very important for getting and maintaining maximum search engine visibility.

[flood6]

Originally Posted by KarenDawn

A site's end users tend to use the same web site over and over again because the information is relevant.

I'd say by itself this is a true statement, (and I'm not trying to be antogonistic) but how does this effect "rank"? Are you talking about PageRank or positioning in the SERPs?

As far as I know neither (google) are influenced by the number of visitors or return visitors.

[KarenDawn]

The major search engines and directories are measuring how often end users are clicking the links to your site and how long they are staying on your site and reading your web pages. They are also measuring how often end users return to your site.

If a single page (web page 1) ranks well in the search engines and end users click the links to that web page and browse your site, web page l's popularity level increases. If a different web page (web page 2) ranks well in the search engines for a different keyword phrase, web page 2's popularity level increases.

[neuron]

The major search engines and directories are measuring how often end users are clicking the links to your site and how long they are staying on your site and reading your web pages. They are also measuring how often end users return to your site.

If a single page (web page 1) ranks well in the search engines and end users click the links to that web page and browse your site, web page l's popularity level increases. If a different web page (web page 2) ranks well in the search engines for a different keyword phrase, web page 2's popularity level increases.

you are just mentioning this as something you'd like to see, something you speculate might be happening, or do you have something to base this on? While the SE's may be able to collect these statistics, certainly through installed toolbars, I can't imagine them using them to rerank SERPs

[KarenDawn]

Originally Posted by KarenDawn

The major search engines and directories are measuring how often end users are clicking the links...(see above entry)

Originally Posted by neuron

you are just mentioning this as something you'd like to see, something you speculate might be happening, or do you have something to base this on? While the SE's may be able to collect these statistics, certainly through installed toolbars, I can't imagine them using them to rerank SERPs

I have it from a very reliable source that this is not simply a speculation of something I might think is happening. In fact my source is a well known, sought after speaker and trainer on the topic of search engine friendly website design, web copywriting and link development.

[cbp]

The major search engines and directories are measuring how often end users are clicking the links to your site and how long they are staying on your site and reading your web pages.

That's fairly common knowledge - its not a big secret. Google have been quite open about it and have been doing it for a while. They all do it as part of a QA of the search results.

What they don't do is incorporate the number of clicks a site gets into the ranking.

They are also measuring how often end users return to your site.

They don't do that - how can they measure that without things like the Google toolbar.

CBP

[fathom]

Originally Posted by KarenDawn

I have it from a very reliable source that this is not simply a speculation of something I might think is happening. In fact my source is a well known, sought after speaker and trainer on the topic of search engine friendly website design, web copywriting and link development.

Often a reliable "anonymous" source is difficult to trust (that isn't suggestive that the source isn't turstworthy... just that the comment doesn't add any true testament that something is factual).

This reliable source "fathom" agrees with your reliable "anonymous" source, and such conclusions are back by two years of data analysis.

Rational: The more connected you are, the more total influence you have across swaths of the web.

If you view from a perspective that "the link" is merely an extention of content and that the expansion (linking) is all encompassing (e.g. does not stop at just the website you link to) then by linking to website that are "well established, well known, well respected and in some way "has something to do with you" - you gain regardless of whether that website actually links to you - or link only to others.

Ignoring "PageRank" and viewing only from the value that is known by linking and the use of link anchors... propagates endlessly. It doesn't stop one page outside of your website.

Linking to sites that link to other websites that link to you - means you "are repurposing your own ranking power".

Expanding: Linking to sites that link to other websites, that link to other websites, that link to other websites that link to you - means you "are repurposing your own ranking power".

Proving to yourself: we all know that the link anchor adds weight to the "link to page"... why only that one link, why not all links... and if "all links" add weight and relevancy then the more "link paths" you produce the more influence you are pushing back to your own website.

[Dave Hawley]

Other than visitor/customer reasons, is there any reason (for SEO reasons) to have links on a website going out? Short and to the point questions this time.

As long as you really mean only for for SEO reasons, then I would say no.

However, you should place your visitor/customer first. That's what Google does and wants from Webmasters.

[Will.Spencer]

Originally Posted by nickc

If the link contains keywords then that can sometimes help your own site as can ALT and TITLE tags although generally it is the site being linked to that will benefit.

One quick note: ALT attributes on outbound links will be indexed, but title attributes on links are not indexed.

[flood6]

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

One quick note: ALT attributes on outbound links will be indexed, but title attributes on links are not indexed.

I find it hard to believe that the title attribute for an outbound link won't be indexed. I imagine you could find a page on google that has an outbound link with a title attribute. Just look at the cached version then look at the source. I bet you'll still see the title attribute.

If you are saying it won't be considered in google's algo, well that's speculation. I won't necessarily disagree, I have no idea.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

[Dave Hawley]

I am also curious to know what that statement is based on?

[fathom]

Originally Posted by flood6

I find it hard to believe that the title attribute for an outbound link won't be indexed. I imagine you could find a page on google that has an outbound link with a title attribute. Just look at the cached version then look at the source. I bet you'll still see the title attribute.

If you are saying it won't be considered in google's algo, well that's speculation. I won't necessarily disagree, I have no idea.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just curious.

Title is your friend"! cache or not it adds merit and is still indexed.

Alt="" is a forced attribute... much like using layers in Cascading Style Sheet where a default layer in seen at z-index: 0; but you can place layers behind default as z-index: -2; z-index: -4; etc.

Yet all layers are still "indexed".

[Will.Spencer]

Originally Posted by flood6

I find it hard to believe that the title attribute for an outbound link won't be indexed. I imagine you could find a page on google that has an outbound link with a title attribute. Just look at the cached version then look at the source. I bet you'll still see the title attribute.

Originally Posted by Dave Hawley

I am also curious to know what that statement is based on?

Why, I thought you would never ask. :)

It's based upon my test of this phenomena, which is part of the Search Engine Reverse Engineering Project.

The relevant test is Do search engines index title attributes on links?

You can examine the test, view the source code, and execute the tests to validate the results yourself in just a few minutes. :)

[Dave Hawley]

There are at least 2 flaws with your "test".

1) The point was "I find it hard to believe that the title attribute for an outbound link won't be indexed." You links are not outbound links.

2)The Title attribute should house text relavant to the page it points to. "AISEFTitleTagOnLinksTest" is not even a word, let alone relavant.