Outbound Links
Hyperlinks on your page that point to external websites or domains.
Reviewed by Alexander Yarovenko · Updated: 2026-09-22
What Are Outbound Links?
Outbound links (also called external links) are hyperlinks that direct users from your page to a page on a different domain. They contrast with internal links, which point to other pages within the same site.
SEO Value of Outbound Links
- Citing authoritative sources signals quality and thoroughness to search engines
- Relevant outbound links improve user experience by offering additional context
- They can contribute to topical relevance through association
Best Practices
- Link to high-authority, relevant sources (government, academic, industry leaders)
- Use descriptive anchor text that reflects the destination content
- Use
rel="nofollow"orrel="sponsored"for paid or untrusted links - Open external links in a new tab where appropriate (
target="_blank") - Audit for broken outbound links periodically
Common Misconceptions
Linking out does not "leak" PageRank in a way that hurts rankings. Quality outbound links can improve perceived expertise. Avoid excessive outbound links to low-quality sites, which may signal spam.
Editorial decision
Link normally to trusted supporting resources; qualify paid, user-generated or untrusted relationships appropriately.
Validation
Check destination relevance, anchor meaning and sponsored, ugc or nofollow use on representative live pages and record the result.