Page Loaded with External Links Bad for SEO?

[xento]

Suppose you have a website based on a certain public health issue so there is a ton of great pdf files hosted by various government websites. Because I want to give really the most value to my visitors, I planned on making a page loaded with links to these government pdf files.

Do you think it is bad to have a page on your domain with a ton of external links to third party websites? Should I make all these links nofollow in your opinion?

[rob1123]

It's generally accepted that many out bound links (OBL) is bad for a page, however there is a way around it by using the <rel=nofollow> tag on links.

[strategic seo services]

Originally Posted by xento

Suppose you have a website based on a certain public health issue so there is a ton of great pdf files hosted by various government websites. Because I want to give really the most value to my visitors, I planned on making a page loaded with links to these government pdf files.

Do you think it is bad to have a page on your domain with a ton of external links to third party websites? Should I make all these links nofollow in your opinion?

It is best to make the links on your page nofollow. As long as you're not linking to a "bad neighborhood" site (spam, malware, etc), this should not be a problem. However, I wouldn't put hundreds of links on one page, as your site may be viewed as a link farm in the eyes of Google.

[zabalex]

I have a bit different opinion than others. If you believe the OBLs are of great value for your visitors and also trusted by Search engines (as you said they are government websites) you are not going to face any problem even if you do not use nofollow. The nofollow is used for a webste that you do not trust and do not want to vouch a vote for them. But for the government websites not only you but the search engines also have trust and see them as an authority sites, so you can link their pdf from your page. The number of OBL can be set as per your own comfort level, you can even link to 100 files or so from one page.

[yukon]

Have as many links as you want...

Use an Iframe http://www.w3schools.com/tags/tryit....tryhtml_iframe

<iframe src="http://www.google.com/" width="500" height="500" frameborder="0">
<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>
</iframe>

The iframe page/URL would be another internal page holding all the external hyperlinks, you can NOINDEX the iframe page If you want.

Then seo the real internal page that displays the iframe page.

Or use javascript...

[xento]

Thanks for the input. I would not really want to rank that page full of links for any keyword but only really have it there as a solid reference point for my visitors. I was mostly concerned if my domain could be seen as a link farm site if it had even a single page with many outbound links. I will probably page the results to have 100 or so links per page if I manage to find that many.

[ashleysmith12]

hi
it depends upon the links, if external links are not good then its going to effects, but if its good then its not bad for the site.

[C Rebecca]

As long as those external backlinks are adding value to your page and giving user a good experience, there is no harm in having tonne of external links.

[Ace1337]

Many authority sites have tons of links to other sites and it doesn't hurt them.

There are hub sites that provide value primarily from linking to thousands of other useful sites. So don't worry as long as you're helping your visitors.

[erikajonathon]

Yes it is a bad practice is seo perspective. Rather what you can do you can make the entire division of that part which contain links as no follow.

[Bofu2U]

There's nothing wrong with linking out to other sites (especially authority sites) - I would definitely do that.

[zabalex]

Originally Posted by outsourcefirm

However, I wouldn't put thousands of hyperlinks on one website, as your website may be considered as a url town in the face of Search engines.

Could you please expalin this term url town, I never heard this before.

Originally Posted by erikajonathon

Yes it is a bad practice is seo perspective. Rather what you can do you can make the entire division of that part which contain links as no follow.

Are you saying, we should not give our visitors the most authentic information available on the web?

May I know why this will affect your SEO?
Why it is not advisable to link to the Authority sites?
Are you saying Google do not trust Governmaent sites?

It is very easy to say NO, but we should think 10 times before giving advice to someone who is in NEED. What we will advice will be the act of someone else. If I have any doubt I'll not advice at all whenever I'll not very much sure and have the authentic proof.

googlewebmastercentral(.)blogspot(.)com/2008/10/linking-out-often-its-just-applying.html

Originally Posted by Ace1337

Many authority sites have tons of links to other sites and it doesn't hurt them.

This is absolutly the best answer. If you really know about a good resource for your visitors Why not link it on your site for your visitors to have a look and enjoy their visit to your site. Consider it as a gift for your visitors and their repeate visits as a gift for you.