Implementing the latest SEO strategies is important to keeping your tree service visible in search engine results. Outbound links are one strategy that has been a debated topic among digital marketers for decades.
Do outbound links help SEO? Do they hurt SEO? And are they worth including in your strategy at all?
Here’s what you need to know.
What Are Outbound Links?
Outbound links, also known as external links, take users from your website to another website. They’re the opposite of internal links, which direct users to other pages on your site. They are also distinct from backlinks, which are links to your website that appear on other sites.
For example, perhaps you cite data from the Tree Care Industry Association on your website. You include a link to the organization’s web page with relevant anchor text. This is an outbound link.
How Do Outbound Links Impact SEO?
Outbound links in and of themselves don’t directly help SEO. This means that including as many external links on your website as you can won’t be an effective way to increase your search engine rankings.
However, outbound links do impact SEO indirectly and can still be a beneficial part of your digital marketing strategy.
- They help search engines understand your content. When search engines “crawl” your tree service website, outbound links can help provide context about the types of information on your site. For example, a link to the Tree Care Industry Association can help Google better understand the tree service-related information on your site.
- They show that your information is credible. Citing your sources is a good practice that builds trustworthiness and establishes credibility with your audience. When you consistently include external links to the sources of your information or claims, you also demonstrate to Google that your website is credible, potentially ranking you higher in search results.
- They help build relationships with other websites. If you regularly link to another website, that site may begin linking back to you, building backlinks. Backlinks do directly impact your search rankings.
Best Practices for Using Outbound Links in Your SEO Strategy
Do outbound links help SEO? Using them wisely can be an important part of your SEO checklist. But to gain the benefits of external linking, you need to follow a few best practices.
Include Links for Credibility, Not SEO Purposes
You might include links on your website as a way to boost SEO, but that doesn’t mean you should be careless about the types of links you include. If you begin including links solely for SEO purposes and not because you are linking to a trustworthy website, Google may see this as a black hat SEO tactic and even hide your website in search results.
Focus on choosing high-quality, relevant sources to link to in your website content.
Avoid Linking to Competitors
Select your linking sources carefully and avoid accidentally linking to websites that could be considered your competitors. This could mean other tree services or even other home services companies that offer similar types of services.
Linking to competitors may encourage readers to choose them over you.
Use Descriptive Anchor Texts
Anchor texts are the words or phrases that you hyperlink. Choosing relevant, descriptive anchor texts for outbound links can boost relevance and authority, further supporting your SEO strategy.
Anchor texts signal to Google the topic and context of each destination page. They’re also important for your website’s accessibility; individuals using screen readers rely on descriptive anchor texts to understand the purpose of links before clicking on them.
Let’s say you want to cite the source of this statistic:
“Data shows that 8 billion North American ash trees are at risk from the emerald ash borer.”
It’s better to include the link on 8 billion North American Ash trees than on simply “data” or “emerald ash borer,” which may not describe the target resource as well.
Enhance Your Tree Service Marketing Strategy
Outbound links can help SEO if you use them correctly. But taking the time to learn how to use external and internal links in your marketing strategy can be challenging as a busy tree company owner.
Tree Service Digital provides full-service digital marketing exclusively for tree companies like yours. Schedule a discovery call today to learn more.
