[ElfMage]

Originally Posted by djbaxter

There may be some good reasons for using "nofollow". "PageRank leak" is NOT one of them. In fact, "PageRank leak" doesn't exist. It is a myth, a very persistent myth despite the fact that it was long ago and repeatedly debunked.

Hi djbaxter, you may know about this more than I do...

I have read many articles and debates about Pagerank leak. Some say it doesn't exist, others swear by it.

It is a documented fact that incoming links will boost your pagerank. The reverse, pagerank leak due to outbound links, has been speculated ad nauseam, and no proof has been established on either side.

Again, that's my understanding. The initial purpose of rel=nofollow was to fight spamdexing.

Let's say that pagerank leak doesn't exist, and search engines ignore this entirely, you don't loose anything adding the rel=nofollow to your external links. On the other hand, if rel=nofollow does in fact help boost your pagerank, you may lose significant traffic due to having a pagerank "lower than your site deserves".

On one hand, if wrong, you don't lose anything, on the other, if right, you gain a lot. I think it is an easy choice.