Links out of site

sanhal · #1 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 10:15 AM

I hope some one can give me their opinion on this.

I have just watched Matthew Glandfield critique a website saying
that the owner had too many links going out of her website.
She had some buttons showing she was a member of certain organizations which
you could click on to be taken to those sites.

I put an Ezine Article's expert author button near the bottom of my opt-in-page
and am wondering if this is just a back link for them and really does nothing for my page?

Does this count as link out even though it is only an opt-in-page with a few article pages behind it?

Sandy

Bingo · #2 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanhal

Does this count as link out even though it is only an opt-in-page with a few article pages behind it?

Yes it does.

You can apply a nofollow attribute to an outbound link if you want. This stops sending the other site some link juice.

lisa · #3 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 11:57 AM

An Expert Ezine Author button is really just more of an honor for you. I often wonder how much credibility that brings, especially since non Internet marketers don't really know what that means. I suppose it can add some credibility. To be honest, I think it does more for Ezine Articles than it does for us, the authors.

And to answer your link out question, I think it's the total package. If you have a big site with a lot of content and most of your links are internal then I don't think a link out here or there is going to hurt you. I have a ton of link outs on my pages and never really counted or worried about them because I also have much more of my own content.

Now, I agree you should keep your link outs to a minimum on your HOME page and of course you don't want a site with more linkouts then internal links but overall if you have a good amount of your own unique content I wouldn't worry about it.

So your ezine button is probably fine.

marketingmama · #4 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 01:14 PM

I agree with Lisa, if you have a lot of your own content, there's nothing wrong with linking out to other places. I'm not sure about the Ezine thing but, why not? To some people, this may very well add credibility to you.

I think that if you link out to other places, like bloggers do, it adds something to your own credibility as well. If you're confident enough in your own content and care about your users enough to add even more to their search for information by linking to other things that may help them, that's really saying something about you.

That's my opinion anyway.

Sheree

MikeD · #5 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 01:21 PM

As a general rule your opt-in should never let the visitor leave the page.

The ezine button might give you some credibility. I don't know if the average person knows what ezines is so it's a shot in the dark. Your already and authority because your a Nutritionist.

Personally, I wouldn't use it. You can link to your ONLY your articles on ezines which point back to the opt-in. Another option is to leave the graphic but don't link. Right now the button takes them out of your world and into ezines.

Remember, the goal of the opt-in is to grab email addresses...period.

Check your stats to see what people clicked to leave. If a lot of people go to ezines then I would get rid of the link.

Another thing I would do is get rid of the individual article links and keep the Article Directory link. or the other way around...you don't need both.

Get rid of the "Links" link that takes them to a page where they can leave the site. It looks like you want to provide something useful, which is great, but in doing so the visitor might start clicking around for more stuff and end up off the page without ever getting the free ebook. This also applies to the Google ads on the opt-in...you don't want to monetize the opt-in you want the email addresses.

What do you do with the links page? Write some copy and send them the url in your auto-responder sequence. Change the link to the "ThankYou" page your AR automatically shows to the Article directory page

The other and longer way to go, if you intend to write a lot more, is to restructure the site isolating the opt-in from the main site or blog. This way you can take advantage of different ways to monetize other than Google and provide the service you want--that's a lot of work tho'.

--Mike

PS those sliding Google ads are cool.

sanhal · #6 (**permalink**) 01-30-2008, 03:22 PM

Wow, thanks for all that info Mike.

Much appreciated.

I'll get to it and implement a lot of what you suggest. It makes sense.

Sandy

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