Linking out from news articles builds trust

The web was built on links, the modern web is all about relevance and reputation, relevance to the user's interests, and relevance to the content on the page.

In journalistic terms it's a way of showing the workings of a journalist, backing up facts, showing sources, leading the reader on to their own points of interest.

All this enhances the originating website's reputation and the visitors trust of the publisher/brand. Leaving articles as dead ends can leave unanswered questions for readers, there's always plenty of other content online, so losing your audience's interest is like showing them the door.

As The SEO Company's study shows:

"a good number of online news websites are very good at crediting sources with the appropriate link... Offering useful links actually makes visitors more likely to return to see what other interesting websites they might find in the future, a model that sites such as Digg and Fark are built around."

In terms of search engine optimisation, it's great for the Google ranking of a page to link out to related, reliable and trusted sources.

Linking within news stories

Responding to Paul Bradshaw's poser: when writing for the web do you think you should include links within an article, or leave it till afterwards?

Well I'm not sure there is a completely fail-safe right or wrong way?

Links within the story make logical sense, as adding them at the end may mean the read has forgotten their purpose or relativity.

Although linking at the end lets the reader read the story without distraction.

But if there are no links, then the stories become dead ends on the website, and that page becomes an exit page rather - BUT the external links take users away anyway?

On our site we add related internal links and useful documents in clearly spaced blocks either at a pertinent point near the top or the end of a story. But specific relevant links go within the flow.