 |
|
   |
 |
|
Get Links
Part 4, Get Links. Why are links important? The Google search rank formula (substantially copied by Yahoo) heavily relies upon links to determine google pagerank value. How a given page on your site ranks in search engine results for a given search term is a factor of both it's pagerank value (again, heavily reliant on links) and the optimization of the page for the keyword in question. Thus, to rank high in search results, the webmaster must both optimize the page plus get links. Every link does not carry equal weight. Links from pages with a higher pagerank value have more value. Also, the link is more valuable if there are fewer outbound links on the page from which the link is received.
|
- Anchor words. It is desirable to have your target keyword within the anchor text of a link. For example, if my target keyword is "online legal forms", I wish for the link to be coded as follows:
<![CDATA[
<a href="http://www.medlawplus.com/legalforms/">
Online Legal Forms</a>
]]>
- Source of Link. It is beneficial if the content on the page and the referring web site from which the link is received are of the same subject matter as the link topic. For instance, in my legal forms example, a link from an attorney web site to my online legal forms page is more valuable than a link of equal pagerank value from an IT consulting web site.
- Placement of Link. The closer to the begining (or top) of the page that a link is placed, the more valuable that link is. Also, the fewer links a referring page has on it, the more valuable the link.
- Directories. This is the first place I always start in my search for links. Yahoo directory and dmoz.org (used by Google) are the two monsters in this arena. Dmoz.org has become next to impossible to get listed in. I have no idea why. You submit your site and wait, and wait. Yahoo directory is also very difficult to obtain a free listing from but offers the option to pay an annual fee to get listed. There are loads of secondary directories out there but be careful, their value to Google has been dropping. I would not discourage the use of directories for link building but their value is dropping. The best type of directory to get listed in is one specifically targeted to your industry that is an old URL with a solid pagerank on the home page.
- User Comments. Commenting on blogs and online newspapers that give back links is the best tool for a very useful tool for building links IMHO. A few minutes of work writing a useful comment can result in an inbound link to your website. Nice tradeoff. Not surprisingly, Google has counterattacked against this strategy encountering webmasters to utilize a new anchor tag: "rel='nofollow'".
The attribute was devised as a way for Webmasters to identify or "flag" links of unknown or potentially poor quality, such as those in user-generated content, e.g. blog comments, forum posts, etc. Thusly flagged links would therefore not be "followed" by search engine crawlers, hence the "nofollow". Since they are not followed, PageRank (PR) does not flow out to the linked page. Link.
First, not all blogs follow this convention placing "nofollow" tags on all user comment links. Check the source code on the comment page to determine where or not this is the case. Second, Yahoo appears to ignore the "nofollow" tag counting and giving weight to such links. Further, my research indicates Google does in fact count links even with the "nofollow" tag. What weight does it give such a link? It's anybody's guess really. This is a good article on the subject breaking down how each search engine treats the "nofollow" tag. Bottom line: blog posting to create inbound links still has value.
- Blogs. Got friends with blogs? Ask them for links. Better yet, start your own blog. This may be done for free at Google Blogger. The blog can be set up so every page on has a link back to your commercial web site. The blog will be of the most benefit to your commercial web site if its topic is related to that of the commercial web site. For instance, if you are an attorney, create a blog on some legal topic that is of interest to you. There are many free blogging sites out there but I would go with Google. IMHO, they give blogs within their own system preferencial pagerank value (so create your blog at blogger.com). Blogs are easier to create free links for than commercial sites. If you write quality content, links can be garnered for free through news sites such as digg.com, propeller.com, and reddit.com. Also, your blog URL is another candidate for inclusion into search engines as mentioned above.
- Link Exchange Programs. I'm a bad source of information on these programs as I have never participated in one. The concept is that by exchanging links with a company that operates in a field similar to yours with a similar pagerank value then you both benefit by increasing inbound links. I get numerous requests to exchange links every month and, invariably, the web site making the offer has a very low pagerank.
- Buy and selling links. This practice has been banned by Google. How well they actually police this ban is open to debate but, given Google's state jihad against the practice, I don't suggest you purchase links to promote your web site.
- Internal Links. One of the keys to SEO is to create as many pages with unique content for your site as possible and get them all indexed within the major search engines. Further, your most important pages should have links from all or a majority of your pages. Note the tool bar at the upper left of this page containing links to our best selling legal forms. This increases the pagerank of those legal form pages. When Google counts links to determine pagerank, they do not distinguish between internal and external links.
Add A Comment
Joe's Search Engine Marketing Tips Home Page
|
|
|
|
 |
   |
|
 |
