Search Engine Optimization News Blog

Linking to news stories has been a common practice for years, and since Google started running uncluttered versions in 2007, many thought it would be a great way to link out.

Unfortunately, Google only keeps stories up for thirty days – which means after that your link is broken. This is one of the worst things that can happen to your site, as visitors flee when they encounter a broken link.

It is better to link directly to the source (CNN or AP) than to risk your link going promptly inactive, so take care that you aren’t linking to anything with a shelf life.

That said, Google news is a nice little back door into such publications as the Wall Street journal if you don’t have a subscription.

Be that as it may, use them for research, and follow through to the main source for linking if you want to avoid getting hung up on a non-existent page. This will save you valuable time later having to go back and fix those broken links!

Other sites will archive, and while you may want to check your links periodically, the chances of the page being completely gone are almost nil.