|
|
Link Popularity Explained and How To Build Links
Link popularity is the single most influential factor for determining how well a web site will perform in search engine rankings. A web site's link popularity is computed from the number and more importantly, the quality of links pointing to a web site.
Link Popularity history
To gain a better understanding of link popularity it is useful to know why it became so crucial for search engine rankings. In the past a web page's ranking was determined, amongst other factors, by the number of keyword occurences within 'on-page' elements i.e. in page text, META tags, title tag.
When web developers learned that they could trick a search engine to return their web pages by cramming keywords into their pages the search engines had to get a bit smarter. They were using 'on-page' elements to determine relevance so it was only natural that they would look to elements out of direct control of the web page creator i.e. 'off-page' elements. Search engines made the assumption that the greater the number of links from other sites pointing to a web site, the more popular the web site is and therefore a more quality resource. This worked nicely in theory but in practice it was also to be abused.
Web site owners figured out many ways to get links pointing to their web sites one example of which was through the use of link farms, pages the contained nothing more than a collection of links, Quantity of links was being abused so the search engines made use of the old saying "quality not quantity" and began to assign a quality factor to each of the links pointing to a web site. Now web sites that had a higher number of high quality links were looked upon favourably by the search engines. Building link popularity became a science in itself and today is still the most time-consuming and frustrating activity for a search engine optimizer.
Main classes of links
Note: In the following examples SiteA is our web site and SiteB is an outside site (i.e. a web site under a different domain name than SiteA).
Inbound links:
Inbound links to a web site are links that originate from an outside web site. An example would be a link on SiteB pointing into a page on SiteA.
SiteA (----- SiteB
Outbound links:
Outbound links from a web site are links pointing to a page on an outside web site. An example would be a link on SiteA pointing out to a page on SiteB.
SiteA -----) SiteB
There are two further classifications of links:
Reciprocal links:
An example of a reciprocal link is when SiteA links to SiteB AND SiteB links to SiteA, the link is reciprocated by both parties.
SiteA -----) SiteB
AND
SiteA (----- SiteB
To achieve a high link popularity the type of links to build are inbound one-way links. This simulates how natural links are created i.e. links that people create to point to your site because they found it worth linking to.
For outbound links it is natural to assume that they might decrease link popularity of a web site but this is not true. You do not give away your link popularity when you link to another site. They do not add to your link popularity though.
Reciprocal links can add to your link popularity if the web site that you exchange links with has a higher link popularity than your site. However they are not as powerful as inbound, one-way links as they are quite artificial in nature i.e. most probably created by communication between the owners of both sites.
How to build link popularity
So it is quite obvious that to help build up a nice link popularity many inbound, one-way links need to be created. This can be achieved in a number of different (and most importantly, legal) ways:
Directories:
Directories are categorized listings of links from around the web. Many, many directories exist and vary in their methods of getting your link posted on them. They provide a great source of quality inbound, one-way links. Getting listed in quality directories such as DMOZ or Yahoo can be more beneficial for your link popularity than a lot of links from smaller, newer directories.
Great site content:
The most powerful way to get inbound, one-way links is to have great site content that other web sites will want to link to. This allows you to get links from sites other than directories, which can definitely be better. The best thing about this is that it requires no communication on your part, it just happens naturally. If your site has poor content then others sites may not link, including the directories. Most of the top ranking web sites today got to the top because of great content. Writing interesting and informative articles for your web site is a good way of getting these kind of links.
Emailing web site owners:
If you come across a listing of links on a web site other than a directory e.g. a links page on a somebody's personal web site, it can do no harm to write the web site owner a polite email requesting a link to your site from their page. They may request a reciprocal link in return but sometimes they do not and you can get a quality inbound, one-way link for your efforts. I have got many links in the past using this method. In my email I always ask them to visit my site first before making a decision to link and I personalise each email with a comment or two about their site.
Summary
The best and most effective way of increasing your search engine rankings is working to improve your web site's link popularity. This can be achieved by getting as many inbound, one-way links as you can from quality sites such as directories. Other ways to get these links are having great content on your site and requesting a link to your site from other web sites.
Increasing link popularity is a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process but is definitely worth the time and effort when you see a dramatic increase in traffic.
Frank Kilkelly is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Expert and Webmaster at http://www.seo-ireland.com/, a complete search engine optimization resource. The highlight of the site is an SEO forum http://www.seo-ireland.com/forum/ for discussion of the latest techniques and tips to improve the ranking of your web site.
Do Not Drop Your Web Site Off the Search Engine Cliff
If you've been feeling like Tom Cruise climbing up the side of some remote jagged mountain in the blazing hot sun and concerned you're facing "mission impossible", chances are you own a web site.
Which SEO Company/Firm to Choose for SEO Services?
In the last 2-3 years many new companies have mushroomed, providing cost effective seo services to their customers. In this whole galaxy of seo companies some are authentic, while others are not. A novice owner of the website has a little knowledge of the technical jargon involved in the SEO, and sometimes can get into trouble.
New Free Online Tool for Keyword Research
I came across a new website the other day and was quite pleasantly surprised.
Google Sitemaps Explained - How To Use Google Sitemaps
Three Ways To Index Your Site With Google Sitemaps [Difficult, Hard, And Easy]
How To Improve Your Search Engine Ranking
With search engines like Google currently indexing over 8 billion pages, it is becoming more and more difficult to get a top search engine ranking. Type in a popular search phrase such as "Internet Marketing" into Yahoo or Google and you will be returned over 8 million results!
How Ive Maintained 7 Top Ten Google Rankings For Nine Months
Back in November 2004 I discovered a way to get a top 10 ranking in Google. I tested the technique for 3 months before I shared my findings with the world.
Internet 2005: The Ten Billions Pages Search Engines
To see each and every page during 10 seconds would take 694 days 24/24. The leading search engines fight to be the first that oversteps this level. In the meantime the key word "sex" has been typed about 20'000'000 times on the entire web and Google found 333'000'000 results for this query in January 2005.
Why SEO (as we know it) is Doomed to Failure and How You Can Avoid the Trap
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become one of the biggest internet buzz-words recently. Everyone is talking about it. These days it seems there's an "expert" around every corner promising all kinds of wonderful things to online business owners. Beware! If you are interested in building a long term successful online business, there are few things you should know when it comes to search engine optimization.
Search Engine Optimization Tips For 2005 - Part Two
Welcome to the second part of our series of articles on search engine optimization. In the previous article we discussed keywords, domain names, content and keyword density issues. This article moves past that to the nitty gritty of improving your web pages and website for better search engine rankings.
How To Rank High On MSN Search
The new MSN Search is quickly gaining popularity among internet search engine users. Google still being the #1 search engine with Yahoo in #2, and MSN in a strong #3. Each of the three major search engines has their own unique algorithm, and MSN is no different. Over the past several months I have had amazing success with MSN. With a few tweaks and tricks I have all of my sites ranked top 3 (mostly #1's) with my targeted key words. This article will give you a quick look at how I have managed to rank so high so often.
Search Engine Indexing - 3 Strategies Guaranteed to Skyrocket Your Success
In order to design a website that performs well with the search engines, it is very important to give the search engines what they want. You'll want to find out what search engines index and what they do not in order to have your pages returned as a result. Consider the following strategies to get your web page noticed as frequently as possible.
Spamglish; A Search Engine Comedy With A Language All Its Own
When the movie Spanglish hit the screens in 2004, it was dubbed "A comedy with a language all it's own." I don't think the producers even knew they were slipping a lesson for website owners who want better search engine listings into the movie.
SEO Training - Avoid Making this Costly Mistake!
SEO training can be overwhelming. There are literally hundreds of factors that go into search engine ranking on today's major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN. When designing a web site or a web page for high search engine ranking,avoid making this one mistake that alone could prevent you from achieving a top ten ranking on your target keywords. What is this one costly mistake? Read on to find out.
The Google Sandbox Explained
The Google Sandbox is a metaphorical term to explain why most new websites have very poor rankings in Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). Very few people know for sure if the 'sandbox' actually exists, but it seems to be a filter added to the Google algorithms sometime around March 2004. What is the function of the Google Sandbox?
Google Page Rank - Important Or Just Another Number?
In my last newsletter I wrote about how your websites Alexa rating is not actually that important to the success of your online business. In this issue, I want to look at another popular statistic - Google Page Rank - and ask a similar question - is it that important?
Search Engines The Masters Of The Internet Universe ? Part 1
Trillions of Billions of content pages make up the wide world of Internet. Keeping a house clean and arranged with proper placement for each household item is so big a task for each of us that it is a much despised daily chore. Ever wonder who or what keeps the Internet clean organized and keep them in arms length for you when you need it? This humongous task of making sure the right set of data is kept organized and delivered as information to the right folks when they need it are done by the Search Engines (SE). There are many popular search engines that deliver search results for countless number of searches every Nano-second. The Internet is the first place folks go for obtaining any type of information. The Internet has become the knowledge warehouse of what the world knows. Well almost true. If you have not discovered the full potential of the search engines it is not too late.
How to Increase Alexa Ranking of Your Website
Alexa toolbar also useful to Browse expired websites database. Many times when we visit any website we got error message that website is not available. We have to simply click The Wayback Machine button on Alexa toolbar and we can see the old data of that website.
Affordable Small Business SEO: 5 Common SEO Errors and How to Fix Them
Don't put the cart before the horse.
Search Engine Optimization Explained
Search Engine Listing And Optimization
Goofy Mistakes that Hurt Your Search Engine Rankings
One thing is for sure, you don't want to spend hours, perhaps days, months, or years on a website to have some stupid little mistake get your site dropped or never even listed in the search engines. There are a lot of rules that search engines have created to block out what they call spammers, so don't kid yourself by telling yourself you are not an evil spammer. As the courts might say, ignorance of the law is no excuse. So what kind of horrific mistake could sneak upon you and possibly ruin all your hard work?