WHERE DO YOUR LINKS GO?
Did you get through Monday ok?? I had one of the most energetic and amazing Mondays ... I felt like I was getting sh*t done all over the place and it felt awesome! I think it's because Spring is starting to show its face in Seattle and I was missing the sun SO much! It's nice to know that warm days are right around the corner ...
OK, LET'S TALK ABOUT LINKS.
Links in your website can be helpful ... but they can also hurt you and your 'bounce rate' ... there are two kinds of links:
Inbound: keeping people in your website
Outbound: clicking people out of your website
Obviously, I love INBOUND LINKS for UEO (user experience optimization) ... the more you can keep people clicking INSIDE of your website the more important Google will think your website is ... therefore boosting those SEO goodies and helping people find your services organically!
Now, while I wish I could just forget outbound links all together, they actually can be useful *if* they are used correctly and at the right time.
THE PURPOSES OF OUTBOUND LINKS ARE
Getting people to your social media accounts
Crediting the professionals that helped make the events and weddings you share happen
Making a point by sharing a link to another article or resource
Sharing a link to where you work has been featured online
Now, I am VERY careful when I design for my clients about where I put those and how I sneak them in ... my NUMBER ONE goal is to keep visitors clicking INSIDE the websites I have designed for as long as I possibly can. And if they do happen to click on an outbound link and exit the website I make sure that:
THEY OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW
^^ soooooo important!!!!! The last thing you want is for people to leave your website ... and beyond that you definitely don't want them to bounce out of your website completely without a super easy way to click back in.
Your goal for today if you have some free time?? Make sure that ALL YOUR OUTBOUND LINKS open in a new window ... and also make sure you aren't using too many outbound links throughout all the pages of your website. If you do feel you have tons of outbound links, maybe balance them out with some 'call to action' inbound links to keep people interested in what you have to offer and rack up those page views!!
XO~ Heather
