You know search engines evaluate a site based primarily on
the links going to it (inbound links). The PageRank of the
sites on which the inbound links are located, and the anchor
text of the links, matter a lot. But if you're like most
webmasters, you don't appreciate the value of outbound links.
Outbound Link Relevance & Anchor Text
The clearest way that outbound links can affect SEO is through
their anchor text.
Outbound links' anchor text affects a page's search engine
ranking in much the same way that inbound links' anchor text
affects search engine ranking. Anchor text of inbound links
is arguably the most important factor in search engine rankings
for particular keywords. For instance, if "fuzzy keyword" is
in the anchor text of a link to a webpage, that webpage may
well appear in SERPs for "fuzzy keyword" even if neither
the word "fuzzy" nor "keyword" appears anywhere on your site.
Outbound links' anchor text works the same way, though it
is slightly less powerful. If you have a particular keyword
in the anchor text of a link on a webpage, that webpage will
likely show up in search engine results--even if it appears
nowhere else on the page, and even if there are no inbound
links with that anchor text.
Don't believe me? Look at your web traffic logs. Check out
the search engine traffic to specific pages. You'll likely
see plenty of instances of the page getting traffic for search
strings that appear nowhere else on the page but in the anchor
text of outbound links.
One example from a site I own is on endometrialcancer.org,
a project devoted to provided information about a disease.
There are separate pages for symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis,
and other aspects of the disease. Strikingly, one page my
rank highly for another page's target keyword, if it links
to the other page with the target keyword in its anchor text.
For instance, the "diagnosis" page may outrank the "symptoms" page
for the keyword "endometrial cancer symptoms," merely because
the "diagnosis" page has that keyword in the anchor text
of its link to the symptoms page.
How to shoot yourself in the foot with outbound link anchor
text relevance:
There are four main ways to shoot yourself in the foot by
mishandling outbound links' anchor text:
- Don't include relevant outbound links on the webpage.
There are many sites nearly all of whose pages have no
outbound links but a standard navigation bar, and perhaps
a link to the site's web designer, host, or CMS maker.
What exactly is a search engine algorithm supposed to make
of a webpage if the only outbound links it has have anchor
text such as "about us," "contact," "privacy," "site map," "Design
by TechGnome," and "This site powered by Mambo Open CMS"?
- Don't include off-site outbound links on the webpage.
Think about it for a moment: what is the one thing a truly
informative webpage would have to have, besides content?
Links to other sites! If a page has no outbound links to
other sites, there is a good chance the page is a dead
end, or worse, a billboard. At the very least, include
at least one intra-site link that isn't part of the standard
site navigation.
- Include irrelevant links. I have a client site that sells
computer equipment. After paying me all the money for my
services largely in hopes of getting more search engine
traffic, they decide to sell irrelevant links on the homepage,
for a fraction of what they paid me. If you were a search
engine algorithm, what would you make of a site that had "computer
equipment" in the page title, headings, and inbound link
anchor text--but had two outbound links with "Costa Rican
beach resort" and "Low-cost mortgages" in the anchor text?
If I were the algorithm, I'd get a little confused, and
play it safe by ranking the site for none of those keywords.
After all, there are plenty of sites that make a less ambiguous
case for their relevance for any of those keywords.
- Include relevant outbound links, but forget the anchor
text. If you are linking to a relevant webpage, whether
on-site or off-site, by all means, use your page's target
keyword in the anchor text! Now is not the time to get
lazy and use the URL as the anchor text. You are doing
the right thing by linking to relevant webpage. Make sure
you get credit for your good deed!
After all, they call it the web because the links go both
in and out, tying sites together like nodes of spider silk.
If links were only meant to flow one way, they'd just call
it the chain.
Don't chain your website down. Start sharing the links.
About the author: Joel Walsh writes prolifically on SEO
articles.
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http://www.UpMarketSEO.com<=
