External Linking Best Practices for SEO

What is External Linking?

In its most basic term, an external link is a hyperlink that directs visitors from your website to another one. While this may seem counter-intuitive, it is one of the largest contributing factors Google considers when ranking your site on the results page. Your SEO manager or SEO marketing company will create an external linking strategy that will lead to high-ranking positions for your web content. In this segment of Total SEO Tips, Total Web SEO will explain what external linking is, why it is necessary and the benefits for SEO and page rank authority.

Best External Linking Practices for SEO & Authority

Relevant Links: Don’t add links just for the sake of having one on your page. Use links that direct visitors to relevant content. Examples include statistics, infographics and videos that support your content.

Use Correct Anchor Text: Stay away from the generic, click “here” to view more information. This doesn’t give the search engines any information as to what the link is about. Instead, use anchor texts that contain descriptive keywords.

Example: Click here to read more about Internal Linking strategies for SEO.

The right way: For even more best SEO practices for your website, learn about internal linking strategies for SEO and conversions.

Open in Different Tab: Set your external anchor links to open to a different tab so users can remain on your website, while having the option to move onto the second article when they’ve finished browsing your site.

Don’t Link to a Competitor: It is detrimental to your SEO efforts to link to a site competing for the same keywords as you. Instead, link to sites that offer value & added information to your content.

Benefits of External Website Links

Improves Credibility: Adding trustworthy and relevant links to your site not only improves credibility but provides readers with references. These types of links prove your content was based on accurate research.

Boosts SEO: Google takes external links into consideration when ranking your website. External links prove the quality of your content and the usefulness to visitors.

Create Connections: A website can see when you link back to their content, and they may do the same for you down the road. It is important to make connections within your industry.

Provides Visitors More Value: External links provide a better user experience for readers. The links provide related information and a valuable resource to help them understand the topic better.

Build a Successful External Linking Strategy Campaign

Our series of Total SEO Tips explores the many factors that contribute to success online and high page rankings in Google. Besides external linking, internal links, heading tags, website content and a successful on-page SEO strategy will determine how well you rank in the SERPs. If you’re struggling to gain backlinks to your website, contact Total Web SEO for help today!