A Content Writer’s Guide to External Linking

External linking, also known as outbound linking, is an important tool in a content writer’s arsenal. External links play a key role in search engine optimization (SEO). A good external linking strategy can help you build topical authority, boost your search rankings, and get your content noticed by your target audience.

In this post, we’ll explore:

• Why external links are so important
• How external links differ from internal links
• How external links impact SEO
• What the best external linking practices are

Read on to learn more!

What Are External Links?

External links are hyperlinks in your content that direct readers to websites other than your own. You can place them in the text, on images, or on buttons (e.g., call to action buttons). 

Here’s an example of an external link to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary. In fact, it’s to the dictionary definition of the word link. Definition 2d is the one we’re talking about, but if you want to read about cufflinks (1b) and sausages (2a) while you’re there, be our guest. Just make sure you come back – we’d be disappointed if you missed all the great stuff we have to tell you about links!

It might seem counterintuitive to send your readers to a page on another website after you’ve worked so hard to attract them to your content. However, doing so can actually be very beneficial in building trust. In addition to providing your audience with valuable, engaging content, you’re:

• Giving them a quick and easy way to find other great resources in your niche
• Showing them that you’ve conducted thorough research and used reputable sources
• Providing them with “evidence” that supports your points 

All of this enhances your credibility and shows the reader that you care about producing accurate, well-informed content.

It’s really easy to add external links to your content. All you need to do is copy the destination URL and insert it into your own page. The process might vary slightly depending on the website builder you use. For example, here’s how to add a link in WordPress, and here’s how to create a text link using Squarespace.

External Links vs. Internal Links

The clue’s in the name here, so let’s not overcomplicate things.

External links take users to external sites – someone else’s blog, a different company’s website, or a different platform (e.g., social media). Here’s an external link to Proofed, one of our trusted partners. When you follow it, it takes you to their website, a different one from ours.

Internal links take users to a different page (or a different section of the same page) on the blog or website they’re already on. Here’s an internal link to our other resources on SEO content writing. We’re nice like that! When you click on this link, you stay on our website, but you go to a different page.

Are External Links Good for SEO?

Yes, they sure are!

As we mentioned, external links improve the user experience and show the reader that your content is credible and well researched. They also act as signals to Google (and other search engines) that your content is worth paying attention to – and worth bumping up the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Here’s exactly how external links affect Google results:

1. They impress the Google gods! Including relevant links to high-quality, authoritative websites shows Google that you know your stuff and that your content is reliable and trustworthy.
2. They improve your click-through rates. Google collects data on how many people click the links in your content. If you include relevant links to other trustworthy sources of information, users are more likely to fully engage with your content and click through to learn more. 
3. They reduce bounce rates. Google also collects data on how much time people spend on your site. If someone lands on your content but immediately closes the page, Google counts the action as a bounce. A bounce tells Google that the page is confusing or that the content isn’t relevant to users. By creating high-quality content, you encourage users to spend more time on your website. 
4. They help build relationships with other websites. Other websites can see that you’re helping drive traffic their way, and that can encourage them to link back to your content. This feature is known as a backlink – essentially, a vote of credibility from their site to yours. 
5. They help increase traffic. All of the above increase your visibility and ranking in SERPs, in turn driving more traffic to your website. More traffic means more eyes on your content!

Being able to write SEO-friendly copy is an essential skill for all content writers. Some writers even specialize in SEO content writing. Clients who may not want to rely too heavily on paid advertisements want to know that you can help them reach prospective clients. High-quality, SEO-friendly content is a great, cost-effective way to do this! 

8 Best Practices for External Linking

When you’re putting external links into your content, using them in the right way is important. We’ve all been put off by that blog post that’s just link-crazy! Having so many links that readers can hardly focus on the actual content isn’t the way to go. Here are our top tips to help you get it right.

1. Keep Links Relevant

SEO is important, as we said, but don’t focus on it to the detriment of the user experience. Any links you include should be relevant and add value to your content. Consider what would add context or support your main points. For example, you could link to: 

• Further details on a related topic 
• Statistics that back up your argument
• Definitions of key terms

Take this sentence from our blog post on how to become a content creator:

According to research by WordPress, the creator economy is worth an estimated $104.2 billion – and the market is expected to double in size by 2027. So if you’re curious about the world of content creation, now is the time to find out more.

Here, the writer has provided a link to relevant, up-to-date research that shows how content creation could be an exciting new career path. The link also leads to a reputable source with high domain authority.

2. Use Reputable Links Only

Again, always keep the user experience in mind. Nobody wants to click on a link that takes them anywhere dodgy, be that websites that aren’t secure, inappropriate content, or unchecked sources that offer no real value. If you link to low-quality websites, your search rankings will be adversely affected, as will your readers’ hard-won trust in your content.

Authoritative, trustworthy sources are the way to go. For instance, in this blog post, we’ve included links to sources regarded highly in the SEO industry (such as HubSpot, Neil Patel, and Semrush).

3. Think Quality over Quantity

As we said, links are important, but don’t use them too liberally. Just as you can have too many keywords (i.e., keyword stuffing), you can have too many links.

There’s no one-size-fits-all rule when it comes to the number of external links you should include in a piece of content. It depends on several factors, such as your audience, your niche, and the length and purpose of your content. As a rough guideline, you could aim for three to five external links for a 600- to 1,500-word blog post. However, for more complex topics, you might need to include more links. As long as you focus on quality and relevance, not quantity, you’ll be on the right track.

4. Make Links Open in a New Tab

Always set your links to open in a separate tab. This function allows readers to stay on your web page but also take a quick look at the linked page in a new tab. That’s what we were talking about with the dictionary link near the start of this post!

5. Don’t Link to Competitors

If you’re working on your external linking strategy, you’ve probably already conducted a competitor content analysis. Once you know who your main competitors are, you can avoid linking to their sites. The likelihood is that they’re targeting the same keywords as you – and you don’t want to help them outrank you.

Let’s say, for instance, you’re writing a blog for a company that sells hamster toys and accessories. Your post is about the best hamster toys. Rather than linking to another website that sells similar products, you might consider linking to related content from a veterinary practice on how exercise benefits your hamster’s health.

6. Use Anchor Text Carefully

Anchor text is what constitutes the link. In other words, anchor text is the clickable part of a sentence. In the sentence you’ve just read, anchor text is the anchor text. There’s good and bad anchor text.

Good anchor text is keyword-rich. It makes clear to search engine crawlers and your users what the link will be about.

Here’s an example from our blog post on content marketing trends to watch in 2024:

To stay competitive in 2024 and beyond, marketers and writers will need to be comfortable using AI tools to streamline their content creation processes. This will mean developing a variety of generative AI skills, from writing effective AI prompts to knowing how to humanize AI content.

Here, the anchor text uses popular search terms and clearly indicates the topic of the content being linked to. Bad anchor text doesn’t fulfill those functions.

Using the same passage, here’s an example of poor anchor text:

To stay competitive in 2024 and beyond, marketers and writers will need to be comfortable using AI tools to streamline their content creation processes. This will mean developing a variety of generative AI skills, such as this and this.

The word this is very generic; it doesn’t give the reader any information about what to expect from the links. Because the anchor text is a single word, it’s also much easier to miss.

7. Check Your Links Regularly

Links can break, external sites can change their URLs, and content can become outdated. Check your links frequently to make sure they still work and they’re still relevant. Users find it irritating and unhelpful when they click on a link and find an error or a redirection message, and their negative experiences can damage your credibility.

8. Avoid Linking Schemes

Linking schemes, also known as link spam, are tactics some websites use to manipulate their search rankings. For example, a website might buy or sell links, use automated link-building software, or create lots of irrelevant links. These activities violate Google’s guidelines, so you should always avoid them.

Becoming A Freelance Writer

There’s a lot to think about when you’re trying to succeed as a content writer. We hope this post has helped you understand more about external links. Taking a freelance writing course can give you all the information you need about content writing. Our course, Becoming A Freelance Writer, will provide that information, setting you on your journey to a rewarding new career!