What Is an Outbound Link? Should You Use Them?

Most of us know that inbound links are important for SEO. The quality of inbound links pointing to a website is a crucial Google ranking factor. 

However, a significant number of website owners still ignore the importance of outbound links.

Linking to external websites gives a boost to your search engine optimization strategy. It makes your site credible and trustworthy. 

This article covers everything about outbound links and how they work.

What Are Outbound Links?

When you link to another website from your website, it is known as an outbound link. In short, they are known as OBLs. Some other names for outbound hyperlinks are outgoing links, third-party links, or external links.

For example, I have linked to the Moz Link Explorer and the Ahrefs backlink checker from the ‘How Domain Authority Helps Link Building’ page: 

I have added outbound links in the content to improve the user experience. The link helps the readers to click on the mentioned tools and begin using them if required. 

Are Outbound Links Important for SEO?

Absolutely! Outbound links to reputable sources provide value to users. When you increase the overall UX of your website, people find your site credible and trustworthy. Search engines love websites that people find useful. 

Google EEAT ranking score or the March 2024 update all hints at publishing user-first content on your website

By external and internal linking to credible statistics, tools, and original sources in your content, you raise its overall EEAT score, which ultimately makes the content super valuable for the users.

If users trust the information on your website, they will spend more time reading the content and sharing it with others. As a result, you have a lower bounce rate. Also, there is a chance that people will naturally link back to your content since it is useful for them. Hence, you receive natural organic backlinks, a goldmine for SEO.

The Dangers of Linking Out to Low-Quality or Spammy Websites

Linking out to spammy sites can severely damage your site’s reputation and search engine rankings. Here are the risks of bad link neighborhoods: 

• Search Engine Penalties: Linking to irrelevant and poor-quality sites can lead to Google penalties. Google detects most sites with an unnatural link profile, and they might face ranking declines or harsh penalties like unnatural link warnings. Strict penalties can remove the entire website from the Google database and prevent it from ranking unless you take action to fix the issue. Similarly, sites that give unnatural links also come on the radar and face consequences like decreased rankings and a significant dip in organic traffic.
• Security Risks for Users: Spammy domains may host ransomware, trojans, adware, or other harmful content. When you link to these sites, you unintentionally expose your users to these risks. 
• Brand Reputation Damage: Visitors expect trustworthy, relevant content. If you begin sending users to low-quality domains with untrusted information, it will damage your credibility. Your site visitors will be less likely to return or trust your recommendations in the future. 

How To Add Outbound Links?

To add external links to your content:

• Select external websites that provide additional value to your readers, enhancing the credibility of your content.
• Use descriptive and relevant anchor text that gives context to the link.
• Add proper link attributes to avoid passing link equity to competing websites.

Here is an example code for an outbound link without the nofollow attribute that opens in the same tab:

<a href="https://www.mysite.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">This is an outbound link that opens in the same tab</a>

Here is an example code for an outbound link without the nofollow attribute that opens in a new tab to avoid losing visitors:

<a href="https://www.mysite.com" target="_blank">This is an outbound link that opens in a new tab</a>

Here is an example code for an outbound link with the nofollow attribute:

<a href="https://www.mysite.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">This is an outbound link that has the nofollow attribute</a>

If your site is in WordPress, select the text to which you wish to add the hyperlink and click the link icon. 

Now, enter the complete URL to add an OBL.

How Do You Check Outbound Links on a Page or Your Entire Website?

You can check external links on a page using the following techniques:

Manually Check OBLs In the Browser

If you want to check a few external links, you can use the manual method. It’s easy and accurate. 

Open your webpage, right-click, and select "View Page Source".

Search for the domain name to find external links manually.

Use External Link Checker Tools

Other than the manual method, you can also use external link checker software to locate external links on a page.

The Sitechecker external link software is an excellent tool for detecting all outgoing hyperlinks from any specific page on your website.

The tool displays the external link, the anchor text, and the response code for that URL.

Best Practices for Outbound Links (To Boost SEO Efforts and Avoid Future Google Penalties) 

Here are some of the best outbound linking practices to follow to keep your site safe from unnatural link penalties and boost your SEO:

Use No-Follow Link Attribute for Advertisements

Many authoritative sites leverage advertisements to increase their online revenue. Most advertisements contain a link back to the advertiser’s site. If you give out such outbound links, they should not be followed.

Google’s spam policies for link schemes require sponsored or paid links to include the "nofollow" or "sponsored" attribute to prevent manipulation of search rankings. 

The nofollow link attribute ensures that paid or advertisement-related links do not pass link juice. This protects your site from being associated with low-quality or irrelevant links.

Please note that you should never use the nofollow attribute for internal links pointing to your own website. Doing so will result in a loss of link equity to the internal pages on your site. Nofollow should only be used for advertisements, all other hyperlinks should be dofollow links.

Avoid Linking To Your Competitors

Just because external links are good for SEO, this doesn’t mean that you should give outbound follow links to your competitors.

If you give links to your competitors, they will raise their domain reputation and organic rankings. You would not want that to happen.

Hence, it is always a good SEO strategy to not link back to competing websites. If you have to, you can use the nofollow link attribute to avoid passing link equity.

Link To Thematic and Contextually Relevant Pages

You should always link to contextually relevant sites that match the theme of your original content. 

Outbound links to high-quality, thematically relevant sources enhance your site's credibility. It shows search engines that your high-quality content is well-researched and connected to valuable resources within the same niche.

Moreover, linking internally to contextually relevant pages helps Google understand your content structure. It also spreads link equity across important pages.

You should never engage in paid linking with irrelevant domains to manipulate search results. 

Google keeps an eye on such activities and might take action on your site for engaging in manipulative practices.

Link To Sources of Statistics or Tools Mentioned in Your Content

Search engines and readers appreciate transparency. Linking to credible sources allows users to verify facts themselves, making your content more trustworthy.

All the top-ranked websites always contain outbound links to different reliable sources to verify the facts and stats mentioned in their content. Wikipedia is an excellent example of such a site. 

Moreover, when you mention a tool or a service, you can link to the main website to inform your readers about that service. By providing authority links to tools or data, you encourage users to explore further, potentially increasing time spent on your site or even conversions if the linked tools are helpful.

Use Descriptive Anchor Text

Clear and descriptive anchors tell users exactly what to expect when they click a link. You should keep the anchor text natural and non-promotional for your OBLs.

It is best not to use exact-match keywords; instead, use branded or naturally relevant terms that inform the users what the page is about rather than targeting the primary keyword for that page.

Avoid Linking To Spammy Neighborhoods Like Casino 

Some niches have a poor reputation because they engage in black hat SEO techniques. It is wise not to link to such sites as it might associate your website with that niche. These tactics can lead to penalties from search engines, which ultimately harm your site's ranking and credibility. It's important to maintain ethical practices when building links and understand how to acquire niche edits through legitimate means, such as by reaching out to reputable sites for collaboration. Doing so ensures that your website remains trustworthy and avoids the negative consequences associated with black hat strategies.

Commonly known bad neighborhoods that are heavy producers of spam are:

• Online Gambling & Casinos
• Phishing & Scam Sites
• Malware-Infected Sites
• Fake News Websites
• Black-Hat SEO Websites
• Illegal Streaming Sites
• Adult Content Sites
• Get-Rich-Quick Schemes
• Counterfeit or Pirated Goods Sites
• Spam Blogs (Splogs)
• Low-quality sites or PBNs

Ensure your external links do not point to link farms, as it erodes user trust and harms your site’s reputation. Besides, sites containing malware or scams can infect your users' devices, putting their data and security at risk. You should always link to authoritative websites.

Only Link to Secure Websites (With SSL)

Google prioritizes websites with SSL certificates. Organic linking to HTTPS sites tells Google that you are providing users with safe and trustworthy sources.

Any website serious about its users' security will surely have SSL installed. 

SSL certificates verify ownership of the domain and prevent attackers from creating a scam or copied version of the site, resulting in identity theft. 

For instance, the connection to Outreach Labs is secure.

Linking to high-authority sites with SSL keeps your users safe because they click on genuine sites.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many outbound links should I have on a webpage?

There is no standard rule. You can add several outbound links to a webpage as long as it does not damage the user experience. The number of external links also depends on the content length. Longer content generally has more outbound links than shorter content. Former Google webspam engineer Matt Cutts said to keep links on a page below 100. In 2024, there can be one OBL for every 300-500 words. So, if you have a 3000-word article, it can have 6-7 external links. 

What is the difference between inbound and outbound links?

Inbound links are links that you earn for your website. Links that point to your domain are inbound links. Incoming links improve your site authority, leading to stronger link equity. On the contrary, outbound links are links that you give from your website. External links help to make your site content credible and trustworthy.

Should outbound links open in a new tab? 

Not necessarily. It’s a choice rather than a rule. If outbound links open in a new tab, users don’t lose their place on your website. Users can easily return to your site without having to use the back button, improving their overall browsing experience.

Should I use “nofollow” on all outbound links? 

You should not use them on all external links. Rather, it is a common SEO practice to add the “nofollow” attribute for outbound links that point to sponsored content or advertisements to prevent passing link equity.