Newsletter and Grammar Coach

A website administrator who devotes considerable time and expense to developing or refreshing a website wants to make sure that it attracts throngs of readers. A site needs to rank high in search engine results in order to score lots of visitors. Consequently, search engine optimization (SEO) to achieve high rankings is a fundamental component of website development.

SEO experts apply various techniques to attract the search engine “bots” (robots) that “crawl” and index the searchable content of websites. One tactic that is gaining acceptance nowadays contradicts prior conventional wisdom. Only a few years ago, SEO strategists encouraged web designers to do all they could to keep visitors on their site. Sprinkling a site with plenty of “internal links” to other pages within the site was an important element of that approach. SEO specialists had advised that “external links” to other sites should be used sparingly, if at all. Even then, website administrators would seek “reciprocal links” from cooperative webmasters on other sites to redirect traffic back to their own site.

Nowadays, SEO experts encourage webmasters to make strategic use of so-called “outbound links” to authoritative, trusted websites, as a means to bolster credibility. It works like this: The website for your organization — Acme Products — makes a claim about a particular subject — the speed of roadrunners, let’s say. To lend credibility, the Acme webmaster includes a link to the site of a wildlife organization that is recognized for its expertise about roadrunners. Such use of outbound links (also known as “external links”) is analogous to citations in scholarly papers; inclusion of the source information helps to validate statements.

Skeptics might say that such use of outbound links is akin to McDonald’s sending customers to Jack in the Box to verify that French fries are tasty. But outbound linking advocates say that such a view is short-sighted. For example, a web analytics service named Alexa Internet Inc., owned by Amazon.com, regards use of outbound links as “one of the most undervalued tactics in content marketing.” Asserting that outbound links build trust in content, an Alexa blog says, "Today’s savvy readers look for signals that your information is authoritative and trustworthy, and external links are examples of that." Alexa, based in San Francisco, makes a strong case in favor of outbound links to:

• identify the source of statistical data;
• point to a source for more comprehensive background information on a topic;
• validate an assertion or verify a professed fact;
• give credit to an article or other document that influenced content on your site.

Feel free to incorporate outbound links anywhere on your site, with the exception of two areas. Alexa advises against placing outbound links in navigation panels, or on “landing pages” that prompt readers to take a specific action, such as filling out a form, making a purchase or submitting contact information.

Studies have shown that relevant outbound links contribute to website rankings, according to an article that London-based SEO software developer SE Ranking Limited published. “Search engines consider what websites link to you and what sources you link out to. This is how search engines learn how authoritative your website is. And the more they trust your content, the more likely you are to rank well,” according to a December 2020 “SEO Insights” article that SE Ranking published. “By linking out to other websites, you work in the interest of your readers and help search engines connect relevant sources.”

The SE Ranking article, titled "Smart way to use external links," also said, "The most important thing about external linking is that you don’t need to force anything into your content, but use the most relevant and valuable information in the most natural way. When done properly, outbound linking will improve user experience and search engine rankings, making your website more credible and authoritative."

Delving deeper into the topic discloses that outbound links have an altruistic component.

“Outbound links most definitely matter for SEO. Not per se for your SEO, but for SEO in general. Your link helps your neighbor, your supplier, your customer, and of course, your visitor,” explains Yoast SEO, a Netherlands-based international company that produces a plug-in to help webmasters optimize WordPress sites to improve search engine rankings.

So outbound links have an indirect benefit to web hosts. “At Yoast, we feel that every page should include an outbound link,” the company’s website asserts. “By asking you to add that outbound link, we ask you to connect your website to the next website. And that website to the next website. By doing so, we create a web that expands and expands, from one related website to another. We help Google to connect the dots. We help Bing to get insights on what sites, or rather what pages, relate to each other.”

Digital marketing and SEO consulting firm Five Channels said that outbound links wield important influence over search engine results. “When you fail to include outbound links on each page of your website, your SEO tanks,” asserts Jason Hall, the owner and chief marketing officer of Five Channels, headquartered in Destin, Florida. “Outbound links increase the relevance of your website, especially when it comes to search engine algorithms. Think of links as providing the trail of crumbs that allow search engine algorithms to process what you do, and the industry you’re in,” Hall wrote in a blog post.

“Although the idea of sending readers away from your pages via outbound links might seem like a disastrous idea,” Hall acknowledged, “it’s essential to nurturing great SEO.”

We at EditPros remain skeptical, because deliberately sending your website visitors elsewhere seems inadvisable. But in the evolving realm of search engine optimization, use of outbound links may prove to be a useful strategy if it’s done thoughtfully, and only if your own content is compelling enough to hold the attention of visitors..

Everyone has at least one good book within them. Chances are you have a story that you’ve kept to yourself, but which you yearn to share with others. Whether it’s a fictional tale that came to you in a vivid dream, or perhaps insights that you gained about careers, relationships or parenting, the book in your mind deserves to be published.

EditPros can help you do that. Our Book Prep service is intended to help novice as well as experienced authors prepare their manuscripts for self-publication and to guide them in managing their own books.

In the old days (20 years ago) self-published authors had to lay out cash to print 1,000 copies or more of their books, which they had to stockpile somewhere, typically in their garage or in a storage facility.

Books published nowadays with advanced print-on-demand (POD) technology are indistinguishable from books printed with traditional methods. With POD, publishers (including self-published authors) don’t need to speculatively print pallets full of books. They’re printed as needed — on demand — with orders fulfilled individually.

Our Book Prep service formats your written and illustrative content in book page layout configuration, including cover design, and we connect you with book manufacturer, wholesaler and distributor IngramSpark.

With POD self-publishing:

• your book can be distributed worldwide;
• you’re never out of stock;
• you don’t need to warehouse unsold copies;
• you don’t need to ship books to retailers; the manufacturing facility does that for you;
• you don’t need to calculate and collect sales tax; the retail outlets do that;
• you can choose among a wide variety of book formats (paperback, hard cover with or without dust jacket), page dimensions, paper weights, color and finishes (glossy or matte);
• you retain full control over content and royalties;
• you can update files whenever you wish, and subsequent printings reflect your changes.

While Book Prep primarily serves California's Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties, we have helped writers across the United States attain their self-publishing vision. Your book also can be published as an ebook for iPads, Kindle and Nook readers. You can sell your book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other retailers — or, if you prefer, you can keep distribution private. In either case, you'll be able to buy as many copies as you wish at a wholesale price for promotion or for gifts to family members and friends.

We look forward to helping you transform the book in your mind into reality.

LEARN MORE about the EditPros Book Prep service.

Richard K. wrote:

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