The internet is based on links. Without them, we would have a disorganized jumble of loose pages that would be difficult to find and navigate.
The original BackRub concept of organizing the hierarchy of pages through a citation system was brilliant, but flawed. Since then, continuous work has been done to perfect this system so that some links have a value that is counted, while spam links do not.
Also known as an outbound link, an external link is a hyperlink that leads to a page or resource outside of a specific website. It is the opposite of an internal link, which links to URLs within the same domain.
Backlinks, or inbound links, are sometimes referred to as external inbound links.
Internal links are hyperlinks between pages on the same domain. They help users navigate the website and find relevant information they want to read.
For SEO Internal links are important because they:
The link "value" or link "equity" of an internal link is not measured in the same way as that of an external link. Google considers external links more valuable in its ranking.
Otherwise, a website could simply create hundreds of internal links to improve its ranking. And that would go against the original concept that links are "voice" from independent third parties to support the quality of your website/page.
External links create connections between websites and allow users to easily navigate from one to another. Google's John Mueller describes it this way:
"Linking to other websites is a great way to add value for your users. Links often help users find out more, verify your sources, and better understand how your content is relevant to their questions."
In SEO terms, an external link on a website counts as a backlink to another website, and backlinks are one of the most important ranking factors for Google. External links transfer link equity and help linked pages rank higher.
Some webmasters and even SEOs believe that linking to reputable websites can increase a page's authority and trustworthiness in Google's eyes. Although there is no evidence, many SEOs tend to link to websites with a high domain rating, such as Wikipedia or Forbes.
Many people believe that their own websites lose valuable "link juice" when they link to other websites. Therefore, they either make external links "nofollow" or avoid external linking altogether. However, there is no evidence to support this theory.
What we do know is that linking to relevant websites and pages makes your content more helpful and provides a good user experience for your visitors. So don't be afraid to link to resources that deserve it.
On the other hand, it's probably not a good idea to send link equity via external links to your competitors' content.
Link schemes are deliberate attempts to manipulate search engine rankings through links.
Some common link schemes are:
If Google suspects that you are placing links on your website for profit or participation in other link schemes, you may receive a penalty.
Links within a sponsored or affiliate article should have the attributes "sponsored" or "nofollow".
Use descriptive anchor text on all outgoing links so that your readers understand where the link leads.
Google has a helpful but little-known guide to link text, which we highly recommend.
Check the external links in your content every few months.
The page you linked to some time ago may have been deleted, resulting in a broken external link on your website.
Having broken links on a website isn't critical, but it can negatively impact the user experience. Redirects from external links can be even more dangerous.
For example, if you once placed a link to a very detailed and helpful bicycle maintenance guide on your website, and a year later the linked domain expired and was bought by a black-hat SEO who redirects it to a gambling website, your website will link to an irrelevant site, and you won't even know it.
When building external links, the relevance of the linking page should be considered. Think about whether it makes sense, on a semantic and conceptual level, for that page to link to yours.
A page about cats wouldn't naturally link to a page about healthcare. However, a page about cat health could link to a page for veterinarians or a page for cat supplements.
Since links are considered "votes" for another page, based on a concept of academic citations, a link from a page with higher authority has more value.
However, PageRank is transferred at the page level and not at the level of the entire website – therefore, a page on a website may have low authority compared to the homepage.
As a relic from the era of link farms, PBNs, and massive spam link building, many websites created before 2012 have historically harmful backlinks. Following the Penguin update, Google issued numerous manual penalties.
A website should review its link profile and create a disavow file for any artificial links that could potentially be harmful.
Relevance, authority, and link quality are the most important metrics for external links, but volume also plays a role. If you have two websites that both have relevant, high-quality links, the website with the higher volume is most likely to rank highly. When building a backlink profile, you should prioritize quality and relevance over volume.
Following Penguin in 2012, JC Penney's disclosures began to change link building and the use of anchor text. Google states that anchor text should be descriptive and give an idea of what the page is about, but you should avoid using the same keyword anchor text for all backlinks.
Anchor text on external links should use a range of natural keyword variations and natural language that point to your target page.
Use a local citation system to create and automate backlinks from reputable and relevant local directories. Also, use the tool to check your current citations with the listing management tool.
To find external links to your website, you need to use an SEO tool like Google Search Console or Moz's Link Explorer. These indexes can show you known backlinks to your website, as well as other information such as the anchor text used.
Generally, you don't need permission to link to another website. While there are some legal gray areas and specific requirements in certain parts of the world, most webmasters are free to link to whatever they want.
External equity links are external links that transmit SEO signals like PageRank and anchor text, which Google uses to rank pages. These are typically links without the "nofollow" attribute. However, this doesn't mean that almost every external link can potentially transmit equity, as Google now treats nofollow links as indicators.
© 2012-2025, MIK Group GmbH | General Terms and Conditions | Imprint | Privacy policy
