The Value of Outbound Links

The SEO forums and blogs are constantly buzzing about the use of linking strategies to increase Google Pagerank. The usual chatter is about acquiring inbound links, but the topic of outbound linking strategies doesn't seem to be as popular with the forum members. I was over at Searchen Internet Marketing and Search Engine Forums the other day, and the topic of outbound linking came up, and I realized that something I had been doing naturally, is actually an effective SEO strategy regarding outbound linking.

It seems linking to government (.gov) educational (.edu) and organization (.org) sites that have high PR has it's benefits in Google's eyes because you're linking to authoratative sites. I don't suggest abusing the technique and approach it naturally , and make sure the outbound links are relative to your website's content. For example, I'd strongly suggest anybody running real estate or local business sites to link to the county Property Appraisers Office, the Department of State, Better Bussiness Bureau or any legal or governmental agencies that are appropriate to visitors of your sites. For almost every site there is something, a Pizza Parlor website could link to the Small Bussiness Association at SBA.gov, as could any business related site. Not only would you be making your website look better in Google's eyes, but it will make your website visitors think your site is more official.

Just remember, if Google's bots are weighing inbound links in their Pageranking algorithm, when they assign that weight, there has to be some sort of reciprocal weight applied to the origination of the outbound link. Remember the obvious advice of keeping the number of outbound links on each webpage between 10 an 30, and do keep a common linking pattern in your html, avoid messy link pages with multiple link formats, and don't link to porn or gambling sites if your site is not specifically related to the porn or gambling industry.