Outbound Link
An outbound link is a hyperlink on your website that points to an external website. In other words, it’s a link that takes users away from your site to a different domain. These are also known as external links.
While much of SEO focuses on getting inbound links (backlinks), outbound links also play an important role in creating a helpful, trustworthy website. When you link to high-quality, relevant sources, you improve the user experience and help search engines understand your content better.
Why outbound links matter for SEO
Outbound links can:
- Support your content by referencing authoritative sources
- Help search engines understand context through association
- Build trust with readers by citing useful, credible information
- Encourage reciprocal linking relationships over time
Although outbound links don’t directly improve your rankings, they show that your content is well-researched and connected to the broader web.
Types of outbound links
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Follow | Standard links that pass link equity (unless otherwise specified) |
| Nofollow | Tell search engines not to pass SEO value to the linked page |
| Sponsored | Used for paid or affiliate links (rel="sponsored") |
| UGC | Used for user-generated content links, like blog comments (rel="ugc") |
HTML example of an outbound link
<a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/what-is-seo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Learn more about SEO at Moz</a>
This example links to an external website and uses rel="nofollow" to prevent passing link equity.
Best practices for outbound links
- Link to reputable, high-authority sources
- Use descriptive anchor text that clearly shows what the user will find
- Open external links in a new tab using
target="_blank"(optional but common) - Use
rel="nofollow"orrel="sponsored"when linking to sponsored or untrusted content - Don’t overload your content with too many outbound links — use them where helpful
In summary, an outbound link is any link from your site to another domain. Using them wisely helps support your content, build credibility, and create a better experience for your users — all while signaling trust and relevance to search engines.