Based on a thread in the Helium forum, it was September 29, 2008 when they announced that they are now allowing live links in every articles submitted.

The live linking announcement came with other new functions including the refurbished spell-check, article preview and the most awaited word count.

But what concerns members the most is the linking option. The thread was flocked with questions as to what can be linked and to what can be linked to.

Link building is one way to promote an article and improve search engine ranking. With Helium’s PageRank at 6, it is eminent that members can use this linking feature to improve the rankings of their own websites.

Embedded Link Dos and Don’ts

The Helium Team was quick to come up with these “Dos and Don’ts of Embedded Linking:

1. Do use embedded links to provide sources for your articles.
2. Don’t use embedded links to link to your personal or business website. Self-promotion in articles is against out User Agreement.
3. Don’t use embedded links to link to adult content.”

Helium also encourage the use of flagging to stop inappropriate linking.

Their User Guide is clear on not allowing promotion like “including your name or website or your products in an article you write is not allowed. Why? The simple answer is this: Anonymity is critical to the success of the rating process.”

Helium’s rating process involves comparing two articles under the same title and rating which one is the better. Having a name or any identifying information would make the rating biased.

So what can the writers link to?

They are not really strict on what you can link to. The Dos and Don’ts are just general guidelines to show that Helium trusts their members. As long as a member is not violating any guideline, he can link to anything and to anywhere he wants.

With a creative mind on how to link well, writers can still bring traffic to their own websites and improve their rankings.