In Google’s debut two-minute episode of #AskGoogleWebmasters on the Google Webmasters YouTube channel, Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller addressed whether linking out is good for SEO.

“Does linking to other websites help or hurt SEO?” In the video, Mueller said that links help users find out more about a topic and be able to check your sources. He then cautioned about link schemes, links in advertisements and within user-generated content, recommending that they apply the rel=“ nofollow ” attribute in those cases.

Why we should care. Links are a critical component of SEO, and you should regard outbound link quality similarly to inbound link quality. Are your links useful to your readers? Do they point to reputable sources? These should be your goals, and achieving them will improve your users’ experience and won’t hurt your optimization efforts. In short, be careful about where and how you link.

Learn more about link building. This first #AskGoogleWebmasters episode stuck to the basics, but there’s a lot to cover when it comes to links. Here is some related reading to bolster your knowledge.