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.
If you are thinking of buying an
SEO software application, here are some programs that actually
work as advertised and the reason why they are recommended
by FreeSEOTutorials.com
Seo
Elite: New Seo Software! The Grand Daddy
Of All Seo Software! Get A Top 5 Google Ranking In Under
30 Days!
www.SEOElite.com |
| |
| |
Still haven't found what you're looking for?
Search below to find what you need:
|
