Pros and Cons of Adding External Links to Your Website

We recently had a client ask, “Should we add a website link of another company to his website?” We found it interesting because the other website was not related to our client’s industry, so we looked into the website, did some analysis on whether it would benefit their rankings, and we provided some well-informed feedback. We concluded that it was in our client’s best interest not to add that link to their website because it provided no value to their overall rankings. In fact, because the other website was not in the same industry, it would most likely damage their rankings on Google.

The company that contacted our client was performing what is called “Link Building.” Link Building is where a company, such as the one that contacted our client, asks you to publish a link to their website to increase the traffic to their website. In exchange, typically, they would agree to link your website to theirs. Link building will either increase your SEO value or will significantly damage it. There is no in-between.

So how did we come to this conclusion? How did we know that that website would negatively impact our client’s rankings? Besides the fact that it’s what we do, we have seen how the algorithm in Google’s ranking system has evolved over the years to become as strict as it is today. Prior to the change in Google’s algorithm, Link Building or Link Sharing your website would have a positive impact on your website rankings, increasing natural rankings exponentially. However, since the change, there is a good chance that Links Sharing on the wrong website or allowing Link Building from an unrelated business may get your website penalized, causing it to lose significant rankings.

I’m sure, if you’re reading this, you want to know how to share your website link on other sites and share other’s websites on your domain without getting penalized. So, let’s go over some of the ways that it can damage and benefit your rankings.

Cons – When You Should Not Add External Links On Your Website

As I mentioned before, the company that contacted our client was not in the same industry, which is almost a surefire way of getting your website penalized. Linking to a non-related website confuses search engines because they cannot differentiate between what service your company provides and what service the link provides. Additionally, since that website is not in your industry, as with our client, they utilize a completely different set of SEO-friendly words and content, which, in some cases, maybe considered as part of a spamming or phishing website. If you are publishing another company’s website link on your website without your link being published on theirs, you are contributing to that company’s SEO, while damaging your own SEO, which means: They increase in ranking and you decrease in ranking. Ultimately, if the website that you want to Link Share is not in the same industry as your company, it is safer to stay away from that link, as it will have no value for your SEO and it may harm your current rankings.

Pros – When Adding An Outbound Link Would Be Helpful

However, linking to authoritative websites—websites that provide research or support for the product or service that your company provides—will give your website a good chance of improving its ranking. For instance, if your company focuses on chiropractic care, it behooves you to Link to Share with a notable website, such as www.ACAtoday.org, that offers rich content related to chiropractic care. Linking with a well-known business will help your business and website get recognized as a trusted source for information and services, therefore, increasing your overall rankings. Additionally, sharing related governmental website links such as those that end with “.gov” or related educational website links that end with “.edu” may also offer a tremendous amount of content that can positively influence your rankings. In this case, although you are passing some of your SEO juice to the other company by publishing their website link, your website will still rank since you are increasing the reputability of your own website by referring to such authoritative websites.

In conclusion, if your company can benefit from sharing another company’s link on your website, improve brand recognition and authority, and increase traffic to your website, you should consider beginning a Link Sharing or Link Building campaign.

To learn more about Link Sharing or Link Building, we would be happy to provide more information. Simply ask below using the comment area.