Linking to Authorities

[tylerfraser]

Hello,

I know that if its good for the user, its not a bad move. But for this question I am specifically asking for how it affects my ranking.

Does it help my ranking to link to appropriate authority sites?
Have you done any tests to see if linking out to authoritative sites like .gov info pages, industry leaders, etc. help with a sites ranking.

I am thinking about taking of all of these outgoing links and just link to my important pages.

Thank you,

Tyler

[alexhoug]

Having outgoing links to authority sites, shows an indication of usefulness for the end user which Google is looking for, because Google wants what's best for the end user. We have heard that from Matt Cutts time after time.

So, furthermore, first, I would just test it, because you don't know till you test.

What I would personally say would be have a mix of both (links to authority and internal links), because if you have been following the SEOmoz blog, the post today (http://www.seomoz.org/blog/facebook-twitters-influence-google-search-rankings) actually talks about ranking factors at the end with a power point, and internal links were still deemed a very valuable part of on-site optimization. So, I would change half of the outbound links to internal links.

Once again, just test it, then you can draw the conclusion yourself for your site and niche.

[gfiorelli1]

Hi Tyler...

I do not remember the exact definition of this, but to preserve all the juice on your site is not suggested by Google.

To answer to your doubt, I suggest you to find the answer reading this old but still very valid post by Randfish: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/5-reasons-you-should-link-out-to-others-from-your-website

[wissamdandan]

In my opinion,

Linking out to Business/Gov/Local authoritative sites can help built that trust in your brand, in the Eyes of the searcher. and Google will acquire these info about your site too. ( that u do exist and your are legit---> Trust)

For example BBB badge, NLA (national Limo association), FAA.gov, Local Chamber of commerce.