Pros and cons of outbound links

Should I use rel=nofollow?

[hhayes]

I have a content site that includes outbound links to related articles on other websites. These are provided simply as a resource for the user. I am not asking for reciprocal links to the sites I link to.

My quandry is whether to use the rel=nofollow code on those outbound links, with a view to improving my search engine rankings.

My instinct tells me I should add it, because I don't want to "vote" for the sites who are essentially my competitors. I am still working my way up the SERPs for most of my keywords. (Of course, that also means my vote is unlikely to count for much anyway!)

On the other hand, I've read comments here in WW that seem to indicate outbound links to high-quality and/or high-PR sites actually increase PR of your own page.

Help!

[arrowman]

They increase ranking, not PR.

If used wisely, that is. Link to high quality and relevant pages with respect to topic of page.

[GuitarZan]

Hey,

I don't think you will rank lower just because of a few 1 way links on your page. And I don't think you will gain rankings by making them no follows.

If they are your competitors, you may want to do it though. Other people may have more thoughts about this too.

All the Best,

C.K.

[MarkWolk]

This is not the intended use of rel=nofollow. That attribute should be used only on pages where urls can be quoted by users without being censored by the website owner, i.e. blogs, forums, etc. Using that attribute in a way contrary to its intented use might be seen as attempted manipulation of search results, and potentially get you banned. A risk worth taking into account.

[hhayes]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. MarkWolk, interesting point. I re-read the Google release on rel=nofollow (http://www.google.com/#*$!/2005/01/preventing-comment-spam.html) and it indeed focuses entirely on using it for blog spam, yet it doesn't warn against using it for other purposes.

Still, you all make good points and I think I'll drop the tags.

[FourDegreez]

Question:

I cross-link my websites to spread traffic around, but I want to avoid Google's penalty for such linking. I'm considering using rel="nofollow" links to do this. Is this unwise?

The fact that I'm even contemplating this shows the flaw in Google's cross-linking penalties.

[MarkWolk]

If you cross-link your websites in a legitimate way (in a way that makes sense to the users) you should not get any penalty for it.

Using rel=nofollow in an improper way can do no harm... or it can be perceived as a manipulation of search results. As of today, we don't know what the consequences might be of an improper use of that attribute. I personally prefer to use only legitimate and proper methods.