Too many outbound links on a new site?

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

I'm slowly working on building a fun resource for yet another of my passions and it dawned on me that I may be linking out a little too much without really having any backlinks yet. I don't really care personally, the links are to credit the source of what I'm writing about if there is one, but am I making it much harder for me to rank well in the process?

Few incoming links and a lot of outgoing links would seem to be like a sinking boat, no?

[tedster]

I have tested this one - launched a site with no inbound links and piles of outbounds. There were a minimum of 2 on every page, and many pages had 6-8. The site had Google traffic within ten days of launch and it just got better and better from there. With 6 months it just ruled.

When Google says they have factors that reward sites who link out, they aren't kidding around.

[aristotle]

I've always had lots of outbound links on my sites, and think it's one of the reasons for their success. You do need to check periodically for broken links. You can reduce the likelihood of broken links by always linking to well-established sites.

[wheel]

So tedster, if one has a site that ranks reasonably well already, would it have any noticeable impact on rankings to:
- add outbound links as sitewides
- add a resources page

I set up a new site last year that is basically a resource site, has 25-50 outbound links on the homepage, but no idea if it ranks better or worse because of it. I just set it up that way because i was doing a resource site.

[tedster]

I've never tested adding outbounds to a page that was already ranking decently. I have done it, of course, but not as a controlled test. And when I have added outbounds, it certainly never hurt.

My overall sense is that too much focus on link juice is a bad idea. PR flows a lot differently than our primitive mental models think it does -- and PR is modified so much by other factors that hopes of any fine-tuned control are fruitless.

Too much focus on link juice gets people tangled up in excessive 301 redirects our of fear that some drop of ranking power might get lost. It stops them from pointing their visitors to valuable external sites. Not a good way to manage a web presence, long term.

[Planet13]

I set up a new site last year that is basically a resource site, has 25-50 outbound links on the homepage, but no idea if it ranks better or worse because of it. I just set it up that way because i was doing a resource site.

I know this is NOT what you are asking wheel, but I do see lots of those types of pages / sites accumulate high page rank, since they are seen as resources. I do try to GET links from those types of pages because they do seem to have accumulated lots of inbound links.

Done correctly those types of pages / sites do seem to be pretty good link bait. You called them a "resources" page and if that's what they do (provide a resource for those interested in the topic), I don't see why those types of pages WOULDN'T be able to accumulate lots of inbound links.

I think if I were setting it up, I would try to be most similar to, say, a professors page on an .edu site as opposed to a directory.

Also, I see that lots of .gov sites that are basically resources have lots of inbound links and page rank. I think that a site that had similar content to, say, a government site but was more helpful would attract lots of links.

[potentialgeek]

I built a small (25-page) new website late last year. The only main difference between it and my other websites is liberal use of links to other sites. It's probably my only site that wasn't Pandalized.

The links are in-text and to relevant+respected (?authority) sites. Two to four on each page. Not sure if the links made much difference but Google should reward sites with relevant outbound links in some way because it allows the user to have a better experience.

[netmeg]

When Google says they have factors that reward sites who link out, they aren't kidding around.

This has been the core of my own site strategy for years and years, and in my niche, I'm killing it. Even the sites I just launched a month ago are already killing it. Plus I overtook already ranking-MSM sites (that don't tend to link out because they want to keep people on page and clicking on ads) that are much higher profile than I am.

(I have very few sitewides; most pages that have outbounds have 1-3 links)

[wheel]

So what's wiser? Blogroll type links, or an external links page? I think a links page makes more sense.

[netmeg]

I dunno, I've never really done it that way - prefer to sprinkle them throughout the pages on the sites.

[Planet13]

Plus I overtook already ranking-MSM sites...

Quick question: what does MSM stand for?

Thanks in advance.

[netmeg]

mainstream media.