Date First Published: 23rd November 2022
Topic: Web Design & Development
Subtopic: SEO
Difficulty: EasyDifficulty Level: 3/10
Learn more about what an outbound link is in this article.
An outbound link is a type of external link that points outward from one website to another and takes visitors away from the website they are currently visiting to the other website. For example, if Website A linked to Website B, Website A would have an outbound link and it would not be an outbound link for Website B. Website B would have a link coming in, which is an inbound link, or a backlink. Outbound links are the opposite of backlinks.
If you had a website, the links that point from your website to another would be outbound links and the links that point from another website to yours would be inbound links, or backlinks. Outbound links are often used within the content to link to another source that contains additional and important information, reference sources, and build the reader's trust.
Outbound links are not a ranking factor for the linking website and Google has stated that outbound linking does not specifically have any ranking advantages. Even though website owners can add an unlimited amount of outbound links from their page to other websites, these links only benefit the website they direct traffic to. They pass on authority or 'link juice' to the other website. Website owners can choose not to pass authority onto the linked website or give it any SEO benefits by adding the rel=”nofollow” attribute, which will instruct search engine bots to not crawl the URL.
If the number of outbound links a page has was a ranking factor, it would be easy for someone to manipulate the ranking of their page in the search results page by constantly adding outbound links to other websites, often links to unrelated sites that make a page look spammy and cluttered. It is not recommended to add too many outbound links to a page.
However, outbound links can help bring value to the content and deliver a better user experience since they add more context to readers. Search engines interpret the links as an organic relationship between the two sites.
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