Do external links help SEO? Google's answer

If you want to improve your SEO and Google rankings, you might wonder if external links can help you. External links are links that point from your website to a different website.

According to Google’s John Mueller, external links do not have a direct impact on your rankings, unless they are relevant, natural, and provide additional value to your users. In other words, you should not use external links just for the sake of linking, but only when they make sense and improve your content.

Some studies have suggested that external links do help with rankings, but they are either outdated or not conclusive. Therefore, the best practice currently is to focus on creating quality content that serves the user’s needs and interests, and to use external links only when they enhance the user’s experience and understanding. To summarize, “treat links like content”.