{"id":40532,"date":"2016-04-22T10:06:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-22T17:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/?p=40532"},"modified":"2019-07-23T16:48:35","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T23:48:35","slug":"googles-outbound-link-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/googles-outbound-link-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s Outbound Link Penalties: How to React without Overreacting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Penalties for links usually focus on the inbound<\/em> kind. So Google\u2019s recent spate of manual actions against websites for having \u201cunnatural artificial, deceptive, or manipulative outbound links\u201d was a surprise to many. (If this is news to you, then go ahead and read about it here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

The quick version:<\/strong> This time, the search engine targeted sites linking out<\/em> because the links looked like an attempt to boost the destination site’s rankings in search results. Google took action by devaluing all of the linking site’s links as untrustworthy.<\/p>\n

Granted, we saw this coming as an SEO services company<\/a> that\u2019s successfully mitigated countless penalties for clients. But here\u2019s why this outbound link penalty shouldn\u2019t have surprised anyone paying attention<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Warning Signs That Penalties Loomed<\/h2>\n

Just a few weeks before the penalties came down, Google noted that those receiving compensation for things such as product reviews needed to take steps to call out any links from their site to the product site, page, or supplier.<\/p>\n

In a Webmaster Blog post<\/a>, Google spelled out exactly how to disclose such a relationship, when to use a nofollow tag, and so on \u2014 items that are already clearly explained in the guidelines. That was a clear warning sign that a crackdown was coming.<\/p>\n

At a more basic level, disclosure is also covered by federal law. In the U.S., Federal Trade Commission guidelines<\/a> require businesses and individuals to identify when they have been compensated for a review, whether that\u2019s through payment or just free products, for example.<\/p>\n

All in all, this outbound link penalty shouldn\u2019t have caught anyone unawares.<\/p>\n

Overreacting Can Hurt Your Website<\/h2>\n
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There is simply no logic behind cutting off all link equity flowing out of your site, and we highly recommend avoiding this action.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s what is<\/em> surprising: the reaction of some websites to simply nofollow ALL links across their website. (For those not up on SEO<\/a> lingo, “nofollowing” a link means applying a “nofollow” attribute to the link tag.)<\/p>\n

Such a drastic move is an attempt to avoid any problem with Google in the quickest way possible.<\/p>\n

Unfortunate reality check:<\/strong> By “nofollowing” all outbound links, webmasters simply create other issues for themselves.<\/p>\n

In fact, when he saw this happening last week, Google\u2019s John Mueller posted this urgent advice in a Webmaster Help Forum: \u201cThere\u2019s absolutely no need to nofollow every link on your site!\u201d<\/em> (source: The SEM Post<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Appropriate Reaction to a Penalty<\/h2>\n

First, check your messages in Google Search Console to find out if your site received a manual action for outbound linking. If you were penalized, then the best solution is to call out things naturally. For example, wherever you\u2019ve linked to a product you\u2019re reviewing, you should:<\/p>\n