She wasn’t the first to say it, but the first time I read it in relationship with SEO was when Liz at Successful Blog said,“Reach out with respect”. And it always struck me as a common sense, down to earth, friendly thing to do.

This phrase actually comes from her entry Link Anchor Text: SEO and Relationships. It’s no accident for me to bring it into discussion now, particularly because this entry will try to deal with a controversial topic: linking to related websites.

Some SEOs say that you shouldn’t link to a website that doesn’t link back to you because “from an SEO perspective, you have no gain.”

What these SEO “experts” tend to forget in their assessments (I’d like to refer to them as “old school”) is the primordial purpose of the Web: interlinking and interconnecting with other websites, in effect creating a network (a WEB) of websites that provide to the users the paths to the content they are searching for.

Linking to related websites is reaching out with respect. You show respect to your visitors, you show respect to your fellow webtrepreneurs, and you show respect to the search engines. All by creating a website that is focused on the users’ benefits and not on the “me, me, me” aspect of your web presence.

Search Engines for Dummies

If you didn’t know it by now, the search engines like it when you link to other sites. It makes the job of Mr. Robot just that little bit easier. The anchor text from the outbound links has an SEO score and that’s something you can even check out by using a free trial version of any good SEO software on the market (I suggest you try IPB 9).

When you link to authority sites (sites considered resources by the search engines) that’s even better.

• Link to the Google Webmaster tools’ help section — and you send Google your love.
• Show your website visitors a great site related to your business, and you demonstrate that you act in the best interests of your visitors.

Think Then Link

No one insinuates that you should link to your competition. If you are an architect, you can always link to a respected online architecture magazine, a BBC article or similar kinds of interesting web resources. If your site is about gardening, you can link to the local Botanical Garden, and the list of examples could go on. All you need to do is think outside the box, and then link

Linking to related websites could only hurt your rankings if they are “bad neighbors” - meaning websites that employ spamdexing to rank in the SERPs. So don’t link to MFA (Made For AdSense) or Link Farms, gaming, gambling, alcohol, drugs, weapons and porn sites.

Everything else brings you on the safe path. So, be a sport and link to related sites. Make your website a real resource and by doing so, you will rank high and make it easy for all of us.

≡ Recent Entries

• Tiger Woods Accident Search Results May Be Harmful
• Keeping It Fresh
• A Beacon For Us All: The Empire State Building Goes Green
• Why Are We So Fat?
• $134 Billion
• The Dawning of the .mobi Age
• The Susan Boyle Phenomenon
• “House” Crosses the Line with Kutner’s Death
• Fixing America: Return Policies that Make Sense
• A world with too much customer service?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 5:50 pm and is filed under Web 2.0 SEO. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.