External linking is the inclusion of links to other websites directly within content. The widespread concern that this sends visitors to competitors and loses value is unfounded in most cases. A link to a primary source – a law, a statistic, an official methodology or a study – on the contrary strengthens the credibility of a claim for the reader and when the quality of the content is assessed. Several principles apply: link to the primary source, not to an article that merely relays it; place the link next to the specific claim, not all together at the end; and check functionality regularly, because links to non-existent pages look bad. For links to business partners or in the case of paid cooperation, the appropriate link label must be used. It is worth including a link functionality check in regular website maintenance.
See also: Sourcing in content, E-E-A-T.
