Creating Good Outbound Links

1. 85

   Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

   I've been working on creating outbound links for some of my hubs in my second week here at HP. I know the basics of SEO and I know why this is important. I thought it might be nice to share some tips for making the outbound links work for us. I don't think I personally have enough information here to build a hub on the subject though!

   replyreport
2. 57

   Dame Scribeposted 15 years ago

   Well, I hear it's good to get links on high PR sites and find those using Alexa?

   replyreport
3. 85

   Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

   I was referring to making outbound links on hubs, but since you brought it up, yes, it is.
   
   The whole idea is that Google and Alexa rank your site or page based on its "importance." If your page contains very high quality information, it is more likely to receive more backlinks. But we all know that. The idea is to get your page linked from pages with a higher page rank, because Google and Alexa already consider those pages to be very important.
   
   Unfortunately I have never quite been able to figure out the ins and outs of Google PR. The algorithms are confusing and there seems to be some confusion about actual page rank.
   
   At any rate, the higher the PR of the site linking to your page, the better
   
   I'm not sure, but somebody probably is: is it better to link TO pages with higher PR as well?

   replyreport
4. 61

   Edwin Clarkposted 15 years ago

   Sure you can link to a site with higher PR. But from what I've read and heard not all links are good links, even with the best of intentions, and could possibly lower another sites PR.

   replyreport
   1. 76

      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      That's nonsense, if it was true then any site could be "taken down" by a competitor or even just someone with too much time on their hands

      replyreport
      1. 61

         Edwin Clarkposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, I agree, does sound like nonsense. However, check out this link, www.webmasterworld.com/forum30/35029.htm
         
         It does make you wonder if there is a possibility that it could.

         replyreport
         1. 76

            Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            No it doesn't - I decide that if I was top of the SERPS for XYZ keyword I would make $1000/day - I am on position #10 making $50 (I wish, its an example) so this is not unreasonable. So I go to blackhat forum and offer someone $500 to take down the bloke in position #1 - now I am in position #9 making $60/day - rinse and repeate
            
            If that happened google wouldn't be the world's leading search engine for 5min - cause there would be crap at the top of all the best paying keywords

            replyreport
            1. 85

               Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Lissie, since you have as much experience with this subject as you do, could you please clarify for those who *don't* have as much experience? Or at least back me up
               
               Google doesn't take paid placements. You can't pay to be at the top in Google. You can pay for Adwords, which will place your ads on the search pages, but that is something entirely different.
               
               If I'm wrong, also please inform so that I can become righteously angry! lol

               replyreport
5. 85

   Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

   That's a "bad neighborhood" Edwin and I used to systematically check my links to make sure I wasn't linking *to* a bad neighborhood, but I think the same is true in reverse (a bad neighborhood linking to you can bring down your pagerank). Spam, phishing and porn sites are generally considered bad neighborhoods.
   
   I guess I will go ahead and share my own thoughts on the outbound links issue.
   
   Outbound links, as HP itself notes, give readers a reason to stick around your hub for longer. If they are seeking extensive information on a given topic, they might want to visit other sites with information about that topic. For example, if I were to write a hub about Sea Otters, I would want to link to other sources of information about Sea Otters and their conservation. The purpose of this is to keep your viewers coming back and visiting more of your hubs and hopefully clicking on more of your ads.
   
   Here I go with enough content to fill a hub. Go figure. That's just the way I am, I guess *sigh*
   
   When I create outbound links, I try to create a unique description of the site to which I am linking. It is a personal description and not derived from text on the page to which I am linking. I try to use pertinent keywords in my description in order to tell my viewers what the site they are about to view is all about, as well as to let Google know what *my* page is all about. I also try to keep these pages as topical as possible and unless I am linking to a forum or blog, I am now trying to link to a single page rather than an entire website. IMO, this keeps the information that I'm providing as concise as possible.

   replyreport
   1. 76

      Lissieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Correct - you shouldn't link OUT to a bad neighbourhood - check commentators urls if you are unsure of them and spam them if necessary. As I said above - links to you regardless of source cannot hurt you because you can't control it

      replyreport
6. 61

   Spacefruitposted 15 years ago

   Link out with your keywords only to relevant sites, and don't do too many outbound links per page.  You basically want to pass link love to your internal pages (for websites) or YOUR other hubs on here.
   
   For more info on inbound links see my hub below:
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/27-Ways-To-Opti … -Backlinks

   replyreport
7. 61

   Spacefruitposted 15 years ago

   Link out with your keywords only to relevant sites, and don't do too many outbound links per page.  You basically want to pass link love to your internal pages (for websites) or YOUR other hubs on here.
   
   For more info on inbound links see my hub below:
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/27-Ways-To-Opti … -Backlinks

   replyreport
8. 62

   Mishaposted 15 years ago

   My experiments did not show any benefits of outbound links in reasonable quantities, so I don't do this...
   
   And yes, I agree to Lissie, your inbound links can't hurt you - exactly because you don't have any control over who links to you and from where.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      What do you mean by "benefits?" To traffic or to revenue?

      replyreport
9. 62

   Mishaposted 15 years ago

   K, tell me what are you trying to achieve by outbound links then My guess was you wanted to climb up search results, which leads to higher traffic, which leads to higher revenue...

   replyreport
10. 85

    Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

    Well, good descriptive keywords in descriptions adds content to the page. Not as important as backlinks, but important nevertheless.
    
    Honestly, what I am hoping to accomplish is to keep people sticking around for more than four or five seconds (which currently seems to be the average according to Analytics).
    
    I've also got a couple where they are imperative. The current series I'm working on (Wordpress) requires them to be complete, for example.
    
    And of course there is also the fact that someone using analytics or another statistics program can see your link and will sometimes reciprocate.

    replyreport
11. 62

    Mishaposted 15 years ago

    So, let me get it straight - you are trying to keep people longer on your page by providing them with extra exit routes? Interesting...

    replyreport
12. 85

    Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years ago

    Open in new tab
    
    Of course, I'm making assumptions about how people browse because of how I browse. If I am on a site, I *always* right click and open in new tab. On hubpages, links open in a new tab automatically, so I don't need to worry about it.
    
    By providing useful information, I feel as though I'm more likely to keep people coming back. Of course, that's how *I* browse and maybe I'm making poor assumptions?

    replyreport
    1. 71

       Christa Dovelposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I browse the same way, and I know that my sister does too.

       replyreport
    2. 71

       Christa Dovelposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I am not finding this to be true.  Is there some way to set the links so that they open in a new page?

       replyreport
13. 62

    Mishaposted 15 years ago

    I can only make assumptions too, yet I can hardly think of outgoing links helping to keep people on your page. I would rather think of the opposite.

    replyreport
    1. 85

       Everyday Miraclesposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting, Misha! Thanks for your perspective! You are probably right, at least in context!

       replyreport
       1. 80

          ngurecoposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          I believe both of you, Everyday Miracles and Misha, are right. Just have a look at this hub by Hubpages - The Value of High Quality Outbound Links

          replyreport
14. 62

    Mishaposted 15 years ago

    http://hubpages.com/search/include:foru … new+window

    replyreport