is it worth it to link to major sites?

1. 69

   lady luckposted 16 years ago

   Hey all....
   
   
   Is it worth it (traffic wise/ income wise) to put links to major sites in hubs? Like if you said, I read this article in Vouge (and made the word vouge a link), would that reap any benefits?
   
   Also....how would I make a word a link in a hub posting?
   
   Thanks much!
   Kayla

   replyreport
   1. 70

      waynetposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      It would be worth it in some way, but adding links, you have to add relevant links that add to your hubs content and develop it in some way, I wouldn't start adding links just for the sake of adding links, make it useful to your readers.
      
      Links with keywords are the obvious choice, so link relevant words or phrases to the matched site content.
      
      You can add a link in your hub by highlighting the word, then you can bold it with the B tab and then go to the chain link icon and add the link details in there, I'd recommend you make the link open in a new window as to make your readers stay on your page.

      replyreport
   2. 0

      terrygposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      No. Linking to other sites leaks your page rank to those sites. You are effectively providing the other site with a one way link and with the power of hubpages it will carry quite a lot of weight.
      
      The best way and I see it all the time on hubpages is people asking about social bookmarking sites such as Digg and the rest to get traffic. No that doesn't work either, just check you stats if you have tried it and don't include your friends bookmarking.
      
      The best way is too write an article referring to your hub to get the page rank link from the directory site or link to it from a well established site. Basic seo is all it takes. If you don't believe me then google search 1on40 and see where my hub is.
      
      Now to link a word you will see a chain in your edit box capsule that allows you to put in a text link. Cheers all, I hope this helps.

      replyreport
2. 56

   CMOEposted 16 years ago

   I too am trying to get my Hubscore up.  Maybe I'll try adding a few more relevant links.

   replyreport
3. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

   Mark Knowles has an interesting take on this.  It may increase your HubScore to have good links going to external sites, but think about it - if you provide a tempting link to your reader, what are they going to do?   Follow it.  If it's a really informative site, are they going to come back to your Hub so they can click on your ads?  Probably not.  So your links may have done your HubScore some good but have just lost you revenue.

   replyreport
   1. 76

      charlemontposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. However think of SEO aspect of outbound links. Some webmasters say that Google ranks higher those websites/blogs that contain outgoing links to reputable, quality, and informative websites. Higher rankings equal more traffic, and more visitors mean more revenue. Of course part of the traffic will follow the links, but with greater volume it still doesn't lower the overall income. Of course, this is pure guessing - with every website it's different.

      replyreport
4. 68

   chantelg4posted 16 years ago

   Actually, linking to other reputable sites won't get much more traffic. It's the other way around, important sites that link to your hub are going to give you the boost in the search engines. Besides, like Marissa stated, you are losing revenue. The idea is to keep them here. If you link to them, you are giving them better organic search engine placement. It could up your score a bit if the content is related, but it's not worth it in my opinion. I limit all my links unless I really feel it will add value for the reader.
   
   Also, we have tons of awesome content right here on hubpages. I always check to see if there is a good hub to help my readers. For example, I just published a hub on Tunisian crochet and offered a link to Stacie's hub on "how to crochet", because you need to know the basic before moving on to more techniques.  This way my readers have somewhere to go to learn without leaving hubpages.

   replyreport
   1. 76

      charlemontposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      That is 100% true. Linking to authority websites can't increase traffic by itself. However, what you link to is important, and SE's take that into consideration. That's what I meant

      replyreport
5. 68

   chantelg4posted 16 years ago

   Yes, that part is correct. You wouldn't want to link to garbage sites, it would make you look bad.

   replyreport
6. 68

   chantelg4posted 16 years ago

   Well I would not say that Digg is completely useless when it comes to traffic or rankings. My latest hub was ranked #1 by Digg on google.

   replyreport
7. 75

   Lissieposted 16 years ago

   One of my most successful hubs,  has 10 links to authority external sites, I published it 4 months ago haven't significantly edited since and last week I promoted it for the 3 weeks up to Xmas but haven't since then.  Of the total views less than 10% of the total come from that initial promotion and internal hub traffic - 50% of the overall comes from google with yahoo accounting for another 25%.  Yes the click thru rate isn't great but it keeps on earning with no effort on my part - that's what I call passive income!

   replyreport
8. 58

   Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

   There is no question that linking to an authority site combined with good content is a good way to help your page.
   
   But, it also affects your click through rate adversely.
   
   There is nothing stopping you from adding the links underneath the comment box though
   
   google doesn't know where they are on the page, merely that they are there

   replyreport
   1. 67

      Stacie Naczelnikposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I used to do that, but stopped for some reason. Hm.

      replyreport
      1. 75

         Lissieposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         
         I've rearranged a number of mine now - it didn't take long!

         replyreport
9. 71

   crazyhorsesghostposted 16 years ago

   Links out to sites are not going to help you in any way. Links in from sites will. Links out can not possibly help you in any way unless the site shows referrers on their site. Then you could get hits back from that. You are not going to get any SE benefit from a link out.

   replyreport
   1. 75

      Lissieposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      
      There are quite a number of SEO experts, including the one's on hP staff who believe that google rewards pages with outgoing links to high ranking sites .  The visitors don't come from the other sites, obviously, they come from being ranked on the first page of google for you keywords!

      replyreport
      1. 71

         crazyhorsesghostposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         I do not believe though that anyone here or any where else can prove this. I am a SE Expert with thousands of sites on the web and I have never seen where out going links to authority sites or any site ever helped anyone. Go to places like Warriors or Digital Point and ask this question and they will tell you the same thing I am. Or show me a authority SE site that says outbound links can help you. I don't think anyone can.

         replyreport
         1. 75

            Lissieposted 16 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            No one can proove anything around SEO because google doesn't publish their algorithms  -there is however an interesting discussion on the topic here - on what I would consider an authorative site!
            http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum12/954.htm
            
            Also, as Mark said, I don't believe the owners of HP put together a random list of requirements for their flagship hubs -which they do pay authors for!

            replyreport
            1. 71

               crazyhorsesghostposted 16 years agoin reply to this

               That site from Webmasterworld has almost nothing to do with the thread here.
               
               Did you scroll down and read that part.
               
               __________________________________________________________________________
               Quoted Part Between The Lines
               
               1. Outgoing links are a drain on their hard fought Google's PageRank (a version of link popularity) development campaigns
               
               this is absolutely true, an outgoing link will transfer away some of the page rank that could have been directed through your own site.... of course good internal link structure will minimise this, but each outgoing link filters off some of the pr that could have gone back into your site
               ________________________________________________________________________
               
               Incidentally I am going to reveal something here so people will know I know what I am talking about. I am thomasbyers. Yes that thomasbyers who has been teaching SEO for many years. I also teach Internet Marketing and SEO at the University of Miami at Coral Gables Florida. Do a Google Search on thomasbyers. I also teach at a lot of webmaster forums all over the net.
               
               And the only way outbound links can help you is this. If you build a site that has links out to authoritative sites and you have your key words in those links and around them it could theoreticly help you with being found in the search engines but thats about it. If you still don't believe me go read the Google Blog. If you dig you can find some great stuff there.
               
               But I am not putting anyone here down. I absolutely love Hub Pages. Its one of the best sites on the net. 
               
               Incidentally everyone should keep in mind that under Googles current way of doing things Page Rank means close to nothing. If nothing else all those Hub Pages with 0 PR setting atop some great search terms proves that.

               replyreport
               1. 0

                  terrygposted 16 years agoin reply to this

                  Very impressive Tom, your Google search that is. I fully agree with you, outbound links just leak your page of any value. Not only that but it gives the visitor a way to leave your site.
                  
                  Hubpages alone has a very powerful page score site wide in itself and this is where hubbers should take the value in their pages. A few inbound links to the hubpage of choice generating those links over a long period of time will keep the page well listed.
                  
                  Its not rocket science and I simply do not understand why webbies cannot grasp this simple element of seo.

                  replyreport
               2. 52

                  Concernedposted 16 years agoin reply to this

                  Is that the one and same that used to teach his skills at Netpond? If so good to see you are doing okay and have recovered from your illness.

                  replyreport
   2. 58

      Mark Knowlesposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I disagree. I think (but don't know for sure) that the search engines will also rank you on your outgoing link quality and relevance and whether or not those links get used.
      
      Just look at the hubpages' guidelines for writing a flagship hub.

      replyreport
10. 69

    lady luckposted 16 years ago

    Hey everyone thanks so much for all of the info!

    replyreport
11. 62

    Mishaposted 16 years ago

    I'm with crazyhorsesghost on this. While there are always talks about that, I personally did not have any supporting experience, and did not see any report about such experience I can trust. Sure, I can be wrong on this, and I will happily change my opinion when faced with hard evidence

    replyreport
12. 86

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    By all accounts, Misha is doing very well with only 6 Hubs, so I'm with him!
    
    For those who want to have a bet each way, Mark's idea of including the links but putting them at the bottom of the Hub sounds like a good one.

    replyreport
13. 73

    Inspirepubposted 16 years ago

    Tom, you might be able to answer a nagging question I have.
    
    I know that reciprocal links are discounted these days.
    
    I am linking from some of my Hubs to my blog - should I therefore avoid blogging about my Hubs, as that would create reciprocal links? So far, I have avoided any links to Hubpages.com from the domain my blog is on, just in case.
    
    Or is this pure paranioa?
    
    Jenny

    replyreport
    1. 71

       crazyhorsesghostposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I would do it the other way around. Post about your Hub Pages on your Blog or Blogs. Send traffic from your Blog or Blogs to your Hub Pages and if you make the Hub Pages Informative the surfer will be back. They will likely bookmark all your pages so they can be sure to get back.
       The more traffic you can send to your Hub Pages the better off you will be.
       
       Read this post I just did on Sticky Content
       
       http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/3945#post31508

       replyreport
14. 68

    pjdscottposted 16 years ago

    This is a fascinating topic. The majority seem to be saying that outbound links are not as useful as inbound links. There are many theories about such SEO; I believe the ideal link to boost a website is an unconnected inbound link - that is, a link to your site from someone else's site where you do not have a reciprocal link. Google translates this as a 'vote' for your site; I'm sure many of you Hubpages experts have such links (apart from being indexed in Google and thus appearing in results).
    
    A recent change in postings on social bookmarking sites (such as StumbleUpon, facebook, even Yahoo! Answers etc) is the automatically-added tag <nofollow>. This is an instruction to the search engines stating the link should not be registered. I don't know how that affects Hubs, where you have posted to your blog for extra inbound links/higher Hub score, only to find they are not being given full credit.
    
    Has anyone got any theories on this?

    replyreport
15. 48

    johnr54posted 16 years ago

    Rather than talk this one to death, try this.
    
    I assume you have Google Analytics installed.  Look at the latest month for your highest traffic keyword (Go to Traffic Sources>>Search Engines>>Google  and your keywords will be listed starting with the highest traffic search term.)
    
    Do a search on Google for that search term, and see what your ranking is for that term.
    
    Then go add a couple of outbound links with that as the anchor text.
    
    Wait until Google indexes that hub again (if you have the Google toolbar, you can do it there, or go the the listing when you search for that term, and click on the Cached link.  That will show you the latest version that Google has in their index.  When the version that has the new links in it shows up, you know it's been reindexed)
    
    After the new version is indexed, check your ranking for that same term, and see if it went up.
    
    I think the real answer is that it depends.  If you are trying to rank for a search term that has a lot of competing pages with a ton on inbound links, then the on page factors like headers, keyword density, and outbound links will have a limited effect.  But if you are trying to rank for terms where the competition has few inbound links, you will find that you can tweak your rankings with on page factors.
    
    When in doubt, build your inbound links.
    
    John

    replyreport
16. 80

    Uninvited Writerposted 16 years ago

    Well, I use links in my text to further explain my article to people. I appreciate that myself as a reader. It may hurt my Google rank but I'm here to provide information to people if I can

    replyreport
    1. 85

       kerrygposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       I'm with Univited Writer. I'm sure it makes me a bad internet marketer, but I'm almost entirely ad-blind when looking at webpages anyway, and as a reader, I get really annoyed when I'm looking at a webpage that promises me information about something and doesn't deliver. There's no way I'd click on an ad that offered to fill in the missing details even if I noticed one, I'd just go to another site. So with my hubs, lenses, etc., I try to write something that I would find useful if I were hunting for the information. I suppose my earning level is probably testament to the failure of that philosophy as a marketing strategy, but I tend to write about pretty obscure stuff, too, so who knows?

       replyreport
17. 58

    Mark Knowlesposted 16 years ago

    kerryg - I have the same problem. Far better earnings are to be had with good SEO and teaser content. LOL
    
    A case in point are my recipe hubs. You want a spaghetti bolognese recipe? That's what you will get. No reason to click on an ad. Some one (jokingly) suggested I delete the second half of the recipes and watch my earnings jump. I think it was darkside.
    
    I have, so far, resisted the temptation.

    replyreport