Is having too many outgoing external links bad?
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I'm currently writing articles for my site Eugene Computer Geeks and remember reading somewhere that having more then 100 outgoing links is a bad idea.
I plan on writing lots of guides, and most of them will have several relevant links.
Some examples are: a virus removal/prevention guide I want to link to the different antivirus programs I'm recommending. Or on the "Free WIFI in Eugene, OR" guide, I plan on linking to all the businesses' websites that offer free wifi.
**Would having too many outgoing links hurt my rankings in anyway? **
If so, should I use the "nofollow" tag to prevent any harm? I always thought that having lots of relevant outgoing links was a good thing, but lately have been reading otherwise. What is all your opinions here at SeoMoz?
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As long as you're linking to quality sites, those links will not directly hurt your rankings. If they are good for users and don't make your site look too spammy, then use them.
The general best practice is to have no more than 100 links on a page (followed or nofollowed). The main reason for this is that each link detracts from the amount of PageRank that flows through the links. This is meaningful for controlling the internal linking structure of your site to maximize your site's PageRank and help Google to understand which pages are most important. You can get an idea of how the PageRank link juice flows using this tool: http://www.ecreativeim.com/pagerank-link-juice-calculator.php
But if you really need to have more than 100 links, then use more than 100. Ultimately what gives the best experience for your users is going to help your site the most -- and while PageRank is still a ranking factor, it's not a top one.
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Thanks so much. You couldn't have answered my question better.
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This post from Dr. Pete also explains the 100 link guideline, its origin, and how to think about it.
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