Should We Allow External Links in Posts?

[KraftyKyle]

So I've seen this more and more lately. It seems that many people are creating a thread about a given topic and then linking to their own website/blog (or someone else's) for the full article. It's hard to say that we shouldn't allow external links (I don't think that's the solution), but I think we should have some guideline as to when external linking is appropriate. It seems that some people have found BHW as a good platform to drive traffic to their blogs. If a method is already posted online, should we allow someone to link to it? Should we require it? If I think I have a quality thread idea, is it right for me to go and put it up on my blog first and then post it on BHW with a link to it? Is this not even an issue in your eyes? What are your thoughts?

 

[Panther28]

I think the forum kind of takes care of this itself.

More experienced members only post links to their blogs, which are interesting to read,
and we always come back here anyway,

As for noobs posting links to their blogs...we have an in forum team that really expresses their opinions about that when it happens lol

 

[paysos]

As for noobs posting links to their blogs...we have an in forum team that really expresses their opinions about that when it happens lol

lol - That is a good deterrent - noobs and regulars alike should avoid waking the beast!

 

[DunDidIt2X]

Obviously someone posting and promoting their own stuff, the forum already has rules about this. But I don't think stopping people from posting external links is the solution to the issue you are raising.

There are a lot of methods in the forum, some really buried over time, and methods and technics evolve over time. Part of being a forum, it is here to archive all of this. If something catches a spark it stays alive in the forum, if it does not it usually dies in the forum......

At least to me in my eyes I think it is ok allowing the forum to work out what content people are interested in and what content they are not by commenting on specific threads.

 

[acidol2]

Personally with me, I could care less.
So long as it's not spam and actually a good blog post/article that's written up and being linked to.

 

[SEMWORLD]

Absolutely your are right. Support you. I thought so but why authority don't take care about it I don't know. We have some opinion. They should give us access to express it because we are here only for learning and shearing our experiences. But why I have to face such restriction don't know. Authority... Please take care about it. Thanks Guys.

 

[BHW-News]

So I've seen this more and more lately. It seems that many people are creating a thread about a given topic and then linking to their own website/blog (or someone else's) for the full article. It's hard to say that we shouldn't allow external links (I don't think that's the solution), but I think we should have some guideline as to when external linking is appropriate. It seems that some people have found BHW as a good platform to drive traffic to their blogs. If a method is already posted online, should we allow someone to link to it? Should we require it? If I think I have a quality thread idea, is it right for me to go and put it up on my blog first and then post it on BHW with a link to it? Is this not even an issue in your eyes? What are your thoughts?

This is covered in the rules although it's not mentioned specifically. Basically, we don't specifically have an issue with outbound links as long as there's good justification.

If you're posting content on your own site and linking to it with nothing more than a short summary, that would be an issue. You'd be promoting your own site/service (selling outside the marketplace), making posts with little intrinsic value (spamming) and potentially misleading people into clicking through to your site if you've not described it correctly or you've using aggressive monetization techniques.

The issue isn't with the link itself, more the purpose of the link. If you've written a good post with lots of information contained in the text and want to expand on the subject with an article on your site, then that's fine. tOmmy's put together some really good information like this: http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...tural-links-you-can-have-within-24-hours.html - linking from something like that wouldn't be a problem.

Most of the rules (like the 15 post limit to PM, or the 100 post/60 day criteria for Jr VIP) work on the same basic principle - as long as you contribute to the forum and support other members, we're happy for you to benefit in return.

If someone's not bothered about putting stuff into the forum, I don't see why they should be able to drive traffic or use their sites to sell to our members.