Peadig

rel=”external” is now the XHTML valid version that informs search engine spiders that the link is external. However, using this does not open the link in a new window. target=”_blank” and target=”_new” does this, but is not XHTML valid.
This very simple plugin adds a small JS file to your header to let this happen!
<ul>
<li><a href="http://pleer.co.uk/wordpress/plugins/rel-external/" rel="nofollow ugc">rel=”external”</a> plugin homepage.</li>
<li>More <a href="http://pleer.co.uk/wordpress/plugins/" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress Plugins</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://pleer.co.uk/wordpress/plugins/facebook-comments/" rel="nofollow ugc">Facebook Comments</a> Plugin</li>
<li><a href="http://pleer.co.uk/wordpress/plugins/wp-twitter-feed/" rel="nofollow ugc">Twitter Feed</a> Plugin</li>
<li><a href="http://twitter.com/alexmossSEO" rel="nofollow ugc">Follow @alexmossSEO on Twitter</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://alex-moss.co.uk/" rel="nofollow ugc">Alex Moss</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://pleer.co.uk/" rel="nofollow ugc">Pleer SEO</a>.</li>
</ul>

rel=”external” in a New Window

Opens a new window with rel="external" instead of having to use target="_blank" or target="_new"

Jorge A. Gonzalez

Easy External Links is a SEO friendly, external link handler for WordPress.
The current aim of Easy External Links is to standardize the format of external links and create consistent on-page SEO.
<a href="http://watchworthy.io/underwater-base-jumping/" rel="nofollow ugc">Demo</a> | <a href="https://s.w.org/plugins/wp-links/screenshot-1.png" rel="nofollow ugc">Options</a>
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Open external links in a new tab or current tab</li>
<li>Domain Filtering</li>
<li>Show icon next to external link (100 icons to chose from) </li>
<li>External image hosting support</li>
<li>Add rel=”external nofollow” to external links</li>
<li>Add title attribute to external links (uses to the text of the link)</li>
<li>Add target=”_blank” to comment links (rel=”external nofollow” coming soon) </li>
<li>Add target=”_blank” to external links in excerpts</li>
</ul>

Easy External Links

Install, activate, configure, forget. Works really well!

As simple and as good as it gets

Take control of external links in WordPress posts, pages & comments. Insert rel=external nofollow and target=_blank to all your external links.

rel=”external” in a New Window vs Easy External Links