Small minds are attracted to zero-sum thinking. They believe that anything that benefits someone else must hurt them. That’s where the myth that sites should never expend “link juice” comes from. The idea is that if you have any links in your articles, the site you link to will gain in search rank and you’ll lose correspondingly.

How much influence do these people think they have over search ranks? Unless they’re operating a leading site in the field, their effect is negligible. Besides, presumably they aren’t linking to their competitors, so giving another site a slight boost doesn’t do them any injury.

Don’t follow me?

Lately there’s been a fad of using the rel="nofollow" attribute in links. This is an advisory attribute that asks search engines not to follow the link. The idea is the same, only even more petty. These people want to link to another page, presumably one with some value, yet they don’t want it to gain even the minuscule benefit of a mention.

Once in a while, the “nofollow” attribute is appropriate. Sometimes you need to link to the American Nazi Party or the Communist International just to prove they said something, but you don’t want to give even the appearance of helping them. Otherwise, just link or link not.

The value of links

The “link juice” myth ignores the value of links in an article. Used properly, they add credibility and interest. If you make an assertion that needs backing up, link to the source. If the reader might want further information and putting it in your article would be too big a digression, link to further information. Including links says that you care about what you’re telling the reader.

But doesn’t that mean the reader will leave your article and possibly never come back? A valid point. The solution is to use the target="_blank" attribute, which will open the target page in a new window or tab. When that window closes, yours will still be there.

Of course, an article for a business should avoid linking to its competitors. That provides them with a direct benefit. Good sites to link to are reputable blogs, journals in a related field, and standards bodies. I wouldn’t recommend linking to Wikipedia as a habit. The quality of its pages ranks from excellent to terrible, and you never know what they’ll contain at the moment someone clicks on the link.

Avoid overdoing the links. Some sites have a link on every unusual term, without leading to anything useful. Limit them to key points that need expansion.

An SEO secret

Here’s a secret. What gets you a good rank in search results? It isn’t keywords. It isn’t the absence of anything that might help someone else. It’s getting lots of links to your page from reputable sites. How do you get them? By having material that’s worth reading and telling others about. Worry less about expending “link juice” and more about the quality of your material.

Building up those links is a slow process. You have to start it yourself, linking from social media and asking for mentions. If you just post filler, you won’t get any further than that. If the people who see your articles like what they read, they’ll contribute their own mentions. Post one good article after another, and you could soon have a leading site in your field.

The other reason for putting quality first is that it’s not enough to get people to come to your page. You’re trying to get them to do business with you. If they aren’t impressed with your articles, they’ll get a bad first impression of your business and probably leave. Create good articles, with links where they’re appropriate, and they’ll have a positive impression. That’s not a guarantee of business, but it’s an excellent start.