External Links: Links From Your Page to Other Sites
An external link points from your page to another site. Learn how to use them as citations without leaking your strength.
An external link is a hyperlink from your page to a page on another website, used to cite sources and back up claims.
What External Links Do
An external link points a reader to another site for more depth, a source, or the original claim behind your statement.
Search engines see them as part of a page's usefulness. A page that cites its sources tends to read as more trustworthy.
Do They Hurt or Help?
Old fears said every outbound link leaks authority to the target. The modern view is simpler: cite the sources that deserve it.
Links to relevant, trusted sites help the reader and the page. Links dumped at random, or to spammy sites, raise a flag.
Best Practices
- Link to the original source when you make a claim or quote a number.
- Add rel="nofollow" when the link is sponsored, paid, or a user submission.
- Keep the anchor text descriptive so readers know where the link goes.
- Choose sources that load fast and work on phones.
Balancing External and Internal Links
A page can cite outside sources and still guide readers through its own site. The mix matters more than either count.
Use external links where they add evidence, and internal links where the next step lives on your own site.
The page: a health blog writes a guide on sleep and links to the research studies behind each claim.
The effect: readers trust the claims, and the page reads as a serious source for the topic.
The balance: each section also links deeper into the blog, to related guides and the recommended products.
Why it works: external links back the claims, while internal links keep the reader moving through the site.
Quick Tip
Add rel="nofollow" to links that would fail an editorial test, like paid placements or affiliate codes. The readers stay protected and the page stays clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
External Links, Bottom Line
External links point to the sources behind a page, and the right ones make the page more trustworthy.
Cite what deserves citing, mark what needs marking, and keep the reader moving through your own site.