Do you need permission to link to other peoples websites?
Written by General Seo on Mar 9th, 2011 | Filed under: Link Building
I am in the process of building a website for our company and would like to incorporate a local section, and provide links to electric companies, utilities, attorneys, town halls ect. Do I need to call everyone on my list and ask for permission or can I just link to them?
Usually no permission is needed. You are performing a public service by providing the link to a utility company. All of their information is public. Attorneys see your link as free advertising so they won’t care if you do.
It is important to get permission in writing from every link that you include on your website.
Not only will you be protected from legal action, or liability ( in case someone followed your link and got cheated or injured in some way ) – but it also allows you to work out "reciprocal link" arrangements that could give you commission.
Reciprocal links work like this – you put their link on your site, they do the same for theirs. If someone from your site clicks through to theirs, and buys something, you get a small commission. And Vice Versa.
You don’t need to ask permission to link to a website. If you did don’t you think that Yahoo would say so. The guide lines say; We encourage members to use online resources in answering questions. Just be sure to cite your sources and give credit where it is due. These are active links in the Yahoo Answers leading to resources. I have links on my site to authority sites and I have never had a problem.
If your content is good quality and linking to a relevant site. You shouldn’t have a problem. Look up the FTC rules about links and the page below has a disclaimer that I would suggest you put a similar statement in your privacy policy. However you do have to ask permission for sites directed toward children explained by the FTC. I am not giving legal advice. I would consult a lawyer for that. I am just telling you to follow the rules that are laid out by the FTC.