Linking out 'not so black and white'

The issue of whether to link out to websites mentioned in content on webmasters' own sites is among the main issues for the coming year, it has been claimed.

Writing for Search Engine Watch, Justilien Gaspard explains that the decision to link out is becoming less clear-cut.

"There has always been a segment of webmasters scared to link out," he observes.

"The number of fearful webmasters has increased drastically because they're worried Google will consider it a paid link."

Mr Gaspard suggests that "fear has infected" the online community after a Google crackdown on paid links.

But for webmasters trying to decide whether to link to a site in exchange for free tickets or discounted services, he argues that the issue could be a complex one.

Google asks its users to inform it of any sites using paid links to pass on PageRank, the search engine's assessment of the importance of a particular page.