Outbound Links

1. 89

   Jean Bakulaposted 8 years ago

   I know everyone is sick of this topic. But aren't we allowed ONE outbound link on a hub? I write about astrology, but put one link to a planetary table so the reader can go to that table and see what  astrology sign THEIR planet is in.
   
   I do this with the Sun, Moon, Venus and Mercury. It was always fine. Then last night a moderator snipped out my link on a hub already on a niche, Exemplore. A large percentage of the hubs on  Exemplore are my work, so I put the link back and am seriously annoyed. They didn't mind grabbing up all my hubs when they needed to fill the niche. Now they want to make the hub useless to my readers? Way to go. Which is what I plan to do if this is the way it's going to be, it renders my hubs senseless.

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2. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   I had a useful link snipped on one of my niche Hubs too.  I also put it back in because it's absolutely essential to the Hub.  And I will keep on putting it back in if they snip it again, even if that means the Hub being unpublished or moved back to the main site, because I think it's that important.
   
   And frankly, if you feel the snipping has been excessive on your Exemplore Hubs, I wouldn't hesitate to add other links and Amazon capsules back in, too.  The worst that can happen is that they snip them again or unpublish, and if you're on the verge of moving them anyway, that's hardly a problem.
   
   Can you put the link here so we can look at the site you linked to?

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   1. 89

      Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, the link is after the first paragraph. The hub works if your Moon is in Cancer, but if it's in another sign, you need the link to find where yours is.
      
      https://exemplore.com/astrology/Cancer- … ous-Crabby

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      1. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         OK, I think there are two reasons it's snipped.
         
         In the paragraph before it, you tell people they should pick up a calendar, but the way it's worded sounds a bit like a sales pitch.  If you're providing the link so that people can look up their sign, then that's what you should say. 
         
         Right now, the link goes to the front page of that site, not the page that has the table on it.  So it looks like you're just promoting the site rather than directing the reader to a specific useful page.

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         1. 89

            Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I get what you mean, but why would I promote an informational site? I didn't even want that site, a lot of the older ones had broken links and I had to replace them. I had a lot of trouble finding new ones.
            
            But I'll take a look at the wording. Thanks.

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            1. 86

               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Lots of people promote informational sites, for instance if it's their own site or a friend's. 
               
               The other important thing is to link to the correct page, not the front page.

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               1. 89

                  Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks,
                  Your advice worked. I took out one sentence that you thought seemed promotional (though I had no Amazon hub and was only trying to tell people where to find the planetary tables).
                  
                  I wrote to the team and they said it was OK now, they understand the link is an integral part of the hub.
                  It really helps to have someone else look at these things, I just read it over the day before, and didn't think anything of it. Now the page shows where the person has to put their info to find their Moon sign.

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                  1. 86

                     Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     Jean, that looks as though it's linking to a completely different site now, too?  On this new link, I get taken straight to the calculator which is much better for the reader.
                     
                     On the previous link, when I clicked on it I landed on the front page of a site and I didn't know where to look for the calculator.  I wonder if that's what happened to the moderator too - they landed on the site and thought "this isn't what it's supposed to be".

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                     1. 89

                        Jean Bakulaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        Yes, Marisa, I found a site that brought the reader to the correct page to find out where their Moon Sign was. There used to be a lot more sites like that, so I've had to change many links. But they are still integral to my Astrology hubs. I write meanings for each sign, but if you don't know what signs all your birth planets are in, you MUST have a source to look it up. Otherwise you are reading a hub that's not about your sign (though you may enjoy reading it anyway).
                        
                        Now I have to re-check them all

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3. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 8 years ago

   I think it's a good question.  We are primarily trying to achieve a result that ensure sites are healthy for writers for years to come.  Our stance on outbound links has changed over the years.  The preference is to include the information in the article, if a link is needed, it should be the highest quality source available.  I'm not saying we will snip every link, but we are going to work to keep the network sites as clean as possible and possibly error on removing links, products and keyword stuffing, because we know all too well what can happen if quality gets out of shape.
   
   When we make policies, we try and make them the best we can for the entire network of sites.  The issue with links has been abuse over the years.  Folks still go to great lengths to try and get backlinks to promote a site.  We've had issues with this from manual google actions, to being told it's a problem, as well as comparing notes with other publishers.
   
   To be clear, undoing snips can have a long term detrimental impact on your content getting moved and or staying on niche sites.  If the link is super high quality, adds a lot of value, then it shouldn't be a problem.

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