Having links in a web page - good or bad for rank? 1

[hotfusion]

My understanding was that having links to external sites on a web page divided down any page rank you might have, and as such was a disadvantage as far as rating was concerned. Is this (still) correct?

Would it be better for ranking if any useful sites that the author felt would be useful to include on the page were just written into the web page as plain text, and not as hyperlinks?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.



Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
Hot Fusion

 

[Foamcow]

What would be best for your users?

<honk>*:O)</honk>
Designease Ltd. - polyprop folders, ring binders and creative presentation ideas
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucestershire

 

[hotfusion]

It would be simpler to place a link, obviously, but the site could almost as easily be reached by copy/pasting the address into the address bar of the browser. Either way, the viewer can reach the referenced site, which is the intention.

For a link which, say, very few people were likely to click on, is it worth the loss of rank (if this happens) for such a minority?

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
Hot Fusion

 

[traingamer]

Don't be silly. If your Web site calls for a link, by all means use a link. Do not put a text url that your users have to 'cut and paste'. See Don't Make me Think, an essential book for developers.



Greg
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught." - Winston Churchill

 

[Foamcow]

Don't be silly. If your Web site calls for a link, by all means use a link. Do not put a text url that your users have to 'cut and paste'. See Don't Make me Think, an essential book for developers.

Well said.

I was trying to make the point that you should build your site for your users and not worry about how search engines are going to treat it.

If you keep it straight down the line you'll be ok. It's only when we try to be clever and manipulate or second guess how a search engine works that we will fall foul of their 'rules'.

If you need a link, use a link. Don't fret about leaking PageRank or other such dross.

My opinion on that recent bit of claptrap is that you don't lose PageRank from the page giving the link, but that the PageRank is distributed more thinly to the pages being linked to. Even then, I'm not sure it's actually the case.


<honk>*:O)</honk>
Designease Ltd. - polyprop folders, ring binders and creative presentation ideas
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucestershire

 

[hotfusion]

OK guys, thanks for clarifying that little issue for me. I like the idea of including helpful links on passing subjects, as to my mind this is what the

http://WWW is

all about, but didn't want to get penalised for doing so.

Cheers.

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
My home page

 

[Foamcow]

You won't get penalised.
Why would a search engine penalise you for doing something the web was designed for? It doesn't make sense and the one thing about SEO is that it's about making sense.

<honk>*:O)</honk>
Designease Ltd. - polyprop folders, ring binders and creative presentation ideas
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucestershire

 

[hotfusion]

Fair comment.
I was just worried about an inference that outbound links were a bad idea for page rank - it was obviously incorrect.
Thanks all.

Regards, Andy.
**************************************
My pathetic attempts at learning HTML can be laughed at here:
My home page

 

[ChrisHunt]

It is incorrect, but indirectly.

PR flows around the internet by way of links. Each page has a PR, and each page it links to gets an equal share of that PR-goodness.

So on the face of it, you might indeed think that linking to other sites will disipate the PR of your own pages.

However, by making your site useful to others - by having useful, usable links to interesting sites in sensible places - you increase the likelihood of people linking to you. That's what PR is all about.

Of course the PR system can be gamed, which is why it plays a smaller role in determining Google's search rankings than it once did. That's another good reason not to obsess about PR.

Just spend that time and energy in building the best site that you can instead.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd