This is probably super rudimentary and isn’t meant for everyone, however, I was talking with some folks recently and realized so many sites offer that little link button, that lots of people don’t know what the actual code is for a link. This is important from an SEO perspective, as many sites you may want to get a link from will make you write it out in HTML.

So here goes…

There are 3 parts to link code. The opening tag, the closing tag and the anchor text (not in that order).

The opening tag looks like this: <a href=”http://www.example.com”>

In this case, the http://www.example.com is whatever page you want to link to.

In the middle is what’s called “Anchor Text”. These are the actual words that will form the link. So if your anchor text is “Bob’s Rod and Gun Club” your users will see that and when they click on it, go to Bob’s site. Anchor text is important, because it tells the search engine exactly what to expect when it goes through the link. If it’s accurate, then the site gets a boost for being relevant. If it’s not, then it gets a little nod because you mentioned it. For those of you hunting SEO domination, that means you want anchor text with your keywords in them.

The closing tag looks like this: </a> This will never change, but must follow an opening tag or it won’t do anything.

All together, it looks something like this: <a href=”http://www.example.com”>Anchor Text</a>

Obviously, example.com and Anchor Text should be replaced with the site and text you want to use. From a technical standpoint, that’s it, but allow me a moment to get on my SEO soapbox.

Lots of people think that by linking out they’ll lose some of their PageRank or other value in the search engines, but this is flat out wrong. While a portion of your site’s value is “passed” to the linked site, it isn’t a zero sum deal. Your site still keeps what it’s earned, you just tell the search engines that the other site is good too.

Here’s an example. Imagine two scenarios. In the first scenario, you have a cake and cake is good. If you give me some cake, you are out that piece of cake and can’t eat it because I do. You’re reluctant to give me cake unless I really earn it because it’s yours and you don’t give away cake for nothing. This is how many people see the web and linking. They think their site has cake and they don’t want to give that cake away. Fair enough.

In the second scenario, imagine you have a fire to keep warm and keeping warm is good. You decide there is plenty of space around the fire, so you let me sit with you and get warm too. You are no less warm because I’m warm. This is actually how the web works.

But this analogy goes deeper. If you let me light a stick in your fire, nothing much happens. If anything, your fire gets a little brighter while my stick is there and then goes back to normal after my stick is gone. If I create a little fire of my own with that stick, then I’m warm and you’re warm, but it’s up to me to keep my fire going and who knows, if my fire gets huge or yours goes out, then I’ll remember who helped me when I had no fire. Or if you let me just sit there and stay warm by the fire, then next time the fire needs wood, you’ve got someone to help you go get it. With the first (cake) scenario, you’ve got no reason to give me cake and worse, I have no more means to give it back to you than when I took it. But with the fire scenario, hopefully you see how sharing fire will not only get you more fire, but eventually lead to heating metals and creating the industrial revolution as heat and fire flow freely among us and everyone is better off.

As I’ve browsed the web, I’ve noticed that a lot of you folks post some really neat stuff, not just here on MHP, but on your own sites as well. By linking between each other, people on MHP stand to make their own sites better and the community as a whole rank well. So get out there and start passing the flame. Write some great content and if you see great content, link to it! We’ll all be warmer for your work.

P.S. Don’t sweat the nofollow. If you’re moving hard and fast in the SEO world, you’ve probably heard about the dreaded nofollow tag which keeps the engines from counting a link. I don’t mention how to do it here because I don’t think it’s necessary in the scenarios I’ve described. If you think a site deserves a link, give it to them. Likewise, if someone nofollows your link, don’t stress. It’s unclear exactly what the effects of nofollow are and moreover, think of the fire. It costs you nothing and shares value with others. If you have questions about nofollow, feel free to place them below and if you want I can write about it in more detail in the future. That said, if you’re taking the trouble to hand code the link, then it’s pretty unlikely nofollow has any place in your decision.