So what is external linking?
In most simple terms – external links are the links that point to any other domain than the one they are placed on. Similarly, if you add a link to another site from your own, it would also be considered an external link, also called outbound link.
In short, external linking is the practice of placing hyperlinks that point to any other domain but the domain the link exists on.
How do external links look like?
Here is an example to give you an idea of how external links look like in the code:
<a href=”http://www.example-domain.com/”>Link Anchor Text</a>
However, the external link and internal link structure in the code would look almost the same.
What’s the difference between external and internal links?
This is actually pretty simple. Internal links are similar to external links. The only difference is that external links point to any other domain but your own, but internal links point to the same domain they are placed on.
Some common examples of internal links are the links on your pages pointing to your contact page or links in the menu bar.
Any other links that point to your pages but originate from other domains are called inbound links.
External and internal links for SEO?
Many SEOs swear that external links are the most impactful Google ranking factor.
And in this case, we definitely agree. Our experience has shown that having external links pointing to your pages significantly helps with content rankings.
According to this study, the data shows a very strong correlation between links and rankings. So naturally, focusing on internal and external links is a good objective to increase your rankings in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Therefore, one of the most common SEO practices is backing your content with both – internal and external links.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of external links. If you want to learn more about backlinks, head over to this FAQ about backlinks.