Word of Caution; Outbound Links - DodgeBoard.com

Administrator · #1 (**permalink**) 11-19-2007, 07:18 PM

(This is important as it pertains to some recent posts on DodgeBoard.com)

PLEASE READ!

I realize this is technical jargon and that not many of you may be aware of the effect on posting a link in a post may have on ours and the destinations site ranking. So let me try and explain it.

What is ranking: If I was to do a search for "Dodge City", the first site that would come up would be Dodge City, KS - Official Website. You would notice that DodgeCity.com comes up in 6th place. So, DodgeGlobe.com does not have as good a ranking as the first (or those above that one).

Why is ranking good? Because it increases traffic exponentially to your site by listing your site first in the results- people are more likely to click on the first few, and less likely to click on the ones on page 13 in the results.

How do you get a high ranking? While there are several factors, the biggest is inbound links. How many sites link to your site? Microsoft for example has over 30 million sites that link to Microsoft. Ebay has around 13 million inbound links. The more inbound links you get (other sites linking to you), the higher you get ranked in search rankings. This is also called PR (Page Rank) or SERPS.

We link to many sites here on Dodgeboard, and for the most part (99.9% of the time) it's okay to do so. Keep in mind that Google will see the link and boost the PR of the destination.

When should I not link? When it is someone who's site is offensive or someone who's site you do not wish to boost, then don't link. If you want to give the site name, without linking, spoofing is better.

EXAMPLE: The thread about Phelps and the soldier that was killed (RIP), has several links to Phelp's site. Now, do you want to help Phelps by boosting the PR of his site, thus increasing his Internet platform? I would think not- you should spoof instead. Instead of showing the real site name by including a clickable link, type out godhatesfags(dot)com/schedule . That will show the reader where to go look for the picket schedule without feeding Google the inbound link that in turn helps Phelps.

Another Note: Google blacklists millions of sites that show porn, post racist views, and are of poor content. They will also downgrade or penalize a totally legitimate site for linking to the blacklisted site. For that reason, linking to sites that may be offensive can actually hurt Dodgeboard.

In closing...

It's okay to post outbound links in your posts. But remember, you may be helping a dirtbag site by doing so.

We reserve the right to remove links to outbound sites that Google has blacklisted, or to alter the name so as to spoof the link.