The SEO use of Outbound Links:

A link from one web page to another can also be used to covey meaning to a search engine. It helps the search engine better understand which keywords it should associate with the page. For example, consider this outbound link...

<a href="http://wikipedia.org/Lead_generation">lead generation</a>

The anchor text contains the keyword phrase 'lead generation', and connects to Wikipedia's lead generation page. Wikipedia is an Authority site with high PageRank and Trust (important data used by Google).

The search engine's indexing software already knows this phrase applies to the page being linked to, and so assumes it must also apply to the originating page.

You can use this feature to your advantage by creating outbound contextual links to web pages that...

Have a high PageRank score (5 or more)
Have a high degree of Trust with Google (e.g. Wikipedia)
Properly define or deal with the keyword you want associated with the web page you're linking from
Aren't likely to otherwise engage or distract your leads. I try to find a non-commercial site, or one I don't compete with for business

The best way to do this is to have the page open in a new window, and nofollow the link. Here's how that looks in HTML...

<a href="http://site.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">keyword</a>

The attribute target="_blank" tells the browser to open the site in a new window (or tab). The attribute rel="nofollow" tells search engines not to let link juice flow from your site to the one you're linking to (you'll find out more about this in section 2).

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