When you are building links to increase your link popularity,
who do you link to? The question of where to link to increase
ranking can be confusing. Logical thinking is needed to achieve
link popularity in a natural way.
Google PageRank First and foremost, PageRank is part of the
algorithm of Google's ranking in the search engine results.
Other search engines use link popularity in their algorithm to
evaluate your website as well. But PageRank is only one of the
100 plus criteria Google uses to evaluate your web pages. Use
the idea of PageRank as a "tool" to help make decisions, there's
no need to live and die by the results. Link popularity itself
is merely one way to improve your ranking.
Should You Link To Them? Think about it. You see a quality
website, you see good content. The site is a "Mom and Pop"
website with little ranking. So what if the Google Toolbar says
PageRank 2/10? That 2/10 may one day be 8/10. More importantly,
you are linking to it because it is good to link to for your
visitors - end of story.
Reciprocal Linking Fears There is a general fear of reciprocal
linking to websites who inadvertently link to a "bad
neighborhood" with penalties or PageRank zero, passing on
problems to you. Use your common sense. Is this a website you
would want to visit or your visitors would want to visit? If the
answer is no or you can't tell what the subject of the site is,
make a note of it and keep looking. A website full of links with
little content doesn't "make sense" because what benefit is it
to you or your visitors? Of course you are going to link to your
partners in business or maybe the small website that is doing a
bang up job of selling widgets and providing widget information.
Linking Just To Link If you are going to link, what purpose does
it serve? The idea of acquiring link popularity by linking back
and forth to other sites to boost your popularity artificially
is a popular method. But is it of value to your website? Ask
yourself:
* Would you link to this site if link popularity in the search
engines didn't matter? * Would your visitor care about this link
or find it helpful? * Does the website have good content? * Is
this an opportunity for you to publicize your website by being
listed there? * Will this link cause you to spend a great deal
of time worrying about it? * Is the link "just a link" or do you
want a link from any site whose visitors care about what you
have to say
Places To Seek Out Links That Make Sense It makes sense to list
your website in the search engines and directories. In fact,
one-way linking, such as listing your site in directories, is a
good way to improve your link popularity naturally. Well, you
say to yourself, of course I've done that. Besides the major
directories, what else is out there? You'd be surprised at the
amount of good secondary and specialty directories that drive
traffic. Some even specialize in a topic - maybe your topic. If
you have a product to sell, look at who your competitor is
linking to. Search for directories and business sites on your
topic. Look for websites that talk about the widgets you sell
and see if they accept submissions to their directory listings
in the category for widgets. Do they accept original articles,
product reviews, press releases or white papers about widgets?
If so, submit your topical articles and watch your link
popularity rise naturally. Always include your author bio,
website link, reprint and copyright information for your
company. With your good content on other websites as well as
archived on your own website, there you have it, links pointing
back to your website.
Think Like A Search Visitor You've heard about good navigation,
website usability and other ways to keep your site visitors
interested in your site. Who are the search engines catering to?
Webmasters? Search Engine Marketers? Google is a prime example -
they want to create the best experience for their search engine
users. It all ties in together - good content, good navigation,
good usability, validated code, and relevant search engine
results - because it makes sense. If Google as the leader in
search engines is concerned about the visitor, don't you think
the other search engines following suit?
Hard Work Instead Of Worrying Focus your time on good content
which uses your important keyword phrases. Optimize your web
pages using those keywords. Develop your website so once your
visitors arrive, they will want to stay. The world wide web uses
linking to connect us all. By using hard work to create a
quality website and common sense when linking you can stop
worrying and start succeeding.
About the author:
Daria Goetsch is the founder and Search Engine Marketing
Consultant for Search Innovation Marketing
(http://www.searchinnovation.com), a Search Engine Promotion
company serving small businesses. She has specialized in search
engine optimization since 1998, including three years as the
Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly & Associates, a technical
book publishing company.
