The weakest link

If some of the links you list are not reciprocal, i.e. the site does not link back you, then be sure to link to their index page rather than a specific page within the site for two reasons.

Firstly, if you by-pass the target site’s index page you may be depriving them of click-thru revenue from pop ups or other advertising opportunities. Or worse still exposing a back door entry that inadvertently circumvents login requirements. Again, err on the side of caution and extend the simple courtesy of an email asking permission to link to them. The request will be appreciated and is good PR on your part as well as sound business practice.

Target the index

Secondly, by linking directly to the target site’s index page, the link on your site is much less likely to become obsolete by the link site restructuring or updating its content.

Indeed, it is a well worthwhile exercise every couple of months or so to check all the external links on your site to ensure they are still valid. Pages may have been removed for instance, or the web site moved onto a new domain.

The former will result in your visitors receiving a 404 page unavailable message, which is irritating and indicates your site hasn’t been updated.

The latter scenario of the link site changing domain name will result in either a 404, arrival on a “we have moved” redirection page or, if you are lucky, the domain pointing to the new site. In the worst-case outcome, visitors may find that the domain name expired and was bought by a Dutch porn site! (No, this isn’t a joke...)

Broken links

Many site owners assist themselves in this task by including an email link specifically for web site visitors to report broken links.

In any event, you should cover yourself by including a disclaimer regarding external links as part of the Terms and Conditions of use for your site.

The thrust of this clause is that you are not responsible for the content, performance, accuracy, or services of any external sites accessed from your domain.

Using the HIE disclaimer as an example, regarding external link this states: “In linking to Third Party Sites, HIE makes no representations whatsoever about any other website which you may access through this one. When you access a non-HIE website, please understand that it is independent from HIE, and that HIE has no control over the content on that website. In addition, a link to a non- HIE web site does not mean that HIE endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use, of such website. It is up to you to take precautions to ensure that whatever you select for your use is free of such items as computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other items of a destructive nature.”