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Is it ok to link to other websites?
Generally speaking, yes, it
is usually ok to link to other websites. However, there are several
things to take into consideration:
- Linking to another site in
a normal way (i.e. with a hyperlink that goes directly to the
other site) is perfectly legal.
- It is considered proper "netiquette"
to remove links to any site if the site owner requests it.
- Generally, linking to bigger
sites like Google, Wikipedia, etc. (as long as it's not about
something illegal) will almost always be fine.
- Embedding text, images, or
movies from another site on yours without their direct permission
is considered unethical and may be illegal.
- It is illegal to link to
sites that infringe on the copyright of a third party (such as
a site that sells knockoff software).
Linking to other sites
can provide credibility to your site by showing your users that
you have done your homework. Sometimes you just want to touch
on something on your site and other sites have a lot more information
about it. Providing a link to one of them in these circumstances
is usually a good idea too.
Link building
When other sites link to your
site it helps increase your site's credibility with search engines
and improve your ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Sending an email to the webmaster of a site and asking if it's
ok to link to their website along with a request for them to link
back to your site might just net your website a link on theirs
someday.
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