Many websites I come across don't have a single link to another website. Ask the webmaster why not, and the answer you get is simple enough: "If I link to other websites people might leave my site." At this point I break the news that site visitors will leave your site. And there's nothing you can do about this.
Site visitors won't leave your site because you provide links to external sites. They'll leave for one of two reasons:
- They've found what they were looking for and no longer have a reason to stay on your website
- They can't find the information they're looking for and leave to seek it elsewhere
"OK, so site visitors are going to leave my site. But why should I hunt around for websites to link to?" I can think of four reasons why linking out is good for you and will ultimately increase traffic to your website:
Proof there's a real organisation behind the website
One of the best ways to prove your organisation really exists is to link to other websites that reference you. Any website willing to mention your organisation is in effect providing a reference for you. Just 52.8% of web users believe online information to have credibility (source: http://ccp.ucla.edu/pdf/UCLA-Internet-Report-Year-Three.pdf) and four in five users say that being able to trust the information on a site is very important to them in deciding to visit a website (source: http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/1_TOC.htm).
Links about your organisation can include:
- Press articles
- Affiliation listings
- Professional association membership details
- Awards your organisation has won
- Articles published by a member of your organisation
- Directory listings (such as Yahoo! or the Open directory)
Anyone can put up a website making whatever kind of claims they want to. Have a look at the fantastic Christian women's wrestling website at http://www.jesus21.com/poppydixon/sports/cww.html. It's got quite a lot of information about them and lots of photos. And it's 100% fake.
Backs up your arguments
Ensure that all statements about your organisation are backed up by third party websites. For example, if you sell toys it's very easy to make a statement such as, "We're the number one online toy seller in the country!" Anyone can make this statement, so prove that it is true by linking to an external website showing a list of the top online toy sellers last year.
Most of the time your site visitors probably won't follow these links, but that doesn't matter - the important thing is that you've shown evidence to back up the claims you're making.
Benefit to your site visitors
The Internet is designed for users to flow through it from one website to the next - don't make your website the last one in the flow. If you know of websites that you find really useful, and you think your site visitors might too, be sure to link to them. By offering a range of useful links you may even come across as an industry expert and someone who really knows their stuff.
When providing links make sure you do so at appropriate times. Don't relegate external links to a links page - site visitors aren't so likely to visit this page as a links page doesn't immediately address their needs. Instead, provide links as and when they're appropriate to the content of each page.
For example, if you run an accountancy firm you may wish to link to a website that has an up-to-date reference guide about new tax laws in the field of accounting. You don't have the time to provide that kind of regularly updated information on your website but your site visitors would find it really useful. Help out your site visitors and they'll hold your organisation in a positive light.
Search engine benefits
One of the ways search engines try to work out what your website is about is by analysing its inbound and outbound links. The more confidence a search engine has of what your website's about, all other things being equal, the higher search engine ranking you'll achieve. By providing outbound links to related sites you actually help the search engines analyse your site and therefore help your search ranking.
Jon Ricerca did a mini-analysis to see if outbound links affect search engine rankings and his results were pretty conclusive: web pages with more outbound links generally achieved higher search rankings ( see http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/search-engine-optimisation/number-links.shtml ). Be warned though, an inbound link is worth far more than an outbound link so do not link to your competitor's websites!
Conclusion
Don't be afraid to link out. Your site visitors will appreciate you introducing them to useful websites, you can increase your credibility and you can achieve a higher search engine ranking. So check your favourites folder and if you think your site visitors would benefit from any of the websites there be sure to include them in an appropriate place on your site.
This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.
My life's greatest passion is a safari hobby. And what... Read More
I recently helped my mom to launch a website (www.mom2me.com)... Read More
Starting an internet business can be confusing to non-veterans. The... Read More
Getting a Targeted Visitor to a website is a waste... Read More
In the time that I have been using the Internet,... Read More
People like to get immediate responses to requests. Autoresponders are... Read More
August 8 2005, Macromedia announced a release of Studio 8.... Read More
The Internet has opened a whole New World of opportunity... Read More
"What's in it for me?" you ask. "Why should I... Read More
See how you can create graphic effects on text with... Read More
First, using a lot of web graphics, flash, banners and... Read More
Here's something you may never have thought of before:If I... Read More
The internet has taken over our lives with a vengeance,... Read More
The growth in Internet usage around the world is astounding... Read More
In the big, wide online world there are millions of... Read More
An automated accessibility tool is a piece of software which... Read More
When I started my company in 2002, I knew I... Read More
Can you imagine the hypocrisy of spending thousands of dollars,... Read More
There have been many significant changes to the face of... Read More
"If you build it, they will come"; is an age... Read More
More and more non-profit organizations are developing websites to help... Read More
Dan Kennedy once said that if you can't make money... Read More
If you don't have a web site yet, are thinking... Read More
When most people build a web site, they think one... Read More
The process of Web application development is critical to the... Read More
When used to describe a web site, the term "sticky"... Read More
Creatively marketing your corporate site takes time in the set... Read More
A website lets you put your products in front of... Read More
People often come to me in a state of crisis... Read More
One of the things that many people overlook when building... Read More
1. Many people are not getting good or complete advice.... Read More
Many millions of dollars are being wasted on promoting and... Read More
If you've been developing websites on Mars for the past... Read More
So your traffic is going through the roof yeah? It's... Read More
1. Upload robots.txt file in to your root directory and... Read More
Customer service questionnaires can help your clients better understand their... Read More
Having an eye catching website is great, but are you... Read More
What you should do and know if you are an... Read More
The Internet car buyer is an elusive animal. Trying to... Read More
Dance is how you pamper your soul and satiate your... Read More
If you have your own business website and you are... Read More
Psychology is a long word which everyone thinks, "no, that's... Read More
If you ever want to create a state directory, article... Read More
Why do some sites succeed while the vast majority of... Read More
So what do you do if need to get a... Read More
A website lets you put your products in front of... Read More
You know exactly what your organisation does and what your... Read More
The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must... Read More
A website is like an information flow, with you as... Read More
Fresh website content for your visitors can be of real... Read More
SummaryHere's the scoop on what you must know when designing... Read More
"Build it and they will come."--Filed of Dreams (1989) If... Read More
SiteSpinnerSiteSpinner is a user-friendly web site development tool that includes... Read More
It may seem like the publishing industry's equivalent of Beanie... Read More
Recently, a friend asked "What's the deal with those DIY... Read More
Does My Web Site Require A Web Database?If your web... Read More
So you finally decided to invest in a web presence... Read More
Internet has opened a whole new world for web developers... Read More
How many Web Sites did you stumble over telling you... Read More
Recently I was reviewing the keyword specific conversion rate data... Read More
The DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) states that service providers must... Read More
Are bloated images slowing down your web site and causing... Read More
Web sites are not just places to sell things; they... Read More
The art of turning website visitors into paying customers depends... Read More
People like to get immediate responses to requests. Autoresponders are... Read More
1. SiteSpinner V2 - On Sale www.deprice.com/sitespinner.htmSiteSpinner is a user-friendly... Read More
Web Development |