Why would linking to your association's web site appear to be a mistake?  Because trade association web sites tend to have search engines or listings of members on them.  In theory, by linking to your association's web site, you could provide a path for a prospective customer to end up at a competitor's web site.

 

The logic is undeniably true.  Whether or not it's likely is another question, and will vary based on how aggressively your association promotes their "find a member" service, among other things.  But in any case, the fear that your association web site might cause you to lose customers could be short sided.

 

Why?  Because when all members provide links to the association web site, it might help the association web site rank higher in search engines.  This, in turn, may result in more people visiting the association web site, using the "find a member" service, and ending up at the members' web sites.

 

The net result may be that by giving up a few potential customers, each member actually gains far more.

 

Does your association have a high percentage of members linking back to your web site?  Have you noticed more "find a member" use as a result?