Pleasing the Search Engines and your human visitors is why it’s important for you to develop an effective linking strategy. Links are one kind of off-page criteria that measure human reaction to your content.
The more sites that link to your site, and the more important the linking sites are, and the closer the linking sites’ themes are to the theme of your site (even to the topic of individual pages), the more “popularity points” Search Engines award to your site (and page).
It is helpful to adopt a link-building strategy of some sort to ensure your business receives proper exposure at the SEs. For all the best 80-20 strategies for building an effective linking strategy, download the free Make Your Links WORK! book.
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Get the jump on your competition!
Search Engines consider the number of IN-pointing links to a site as a way to… 1) Establish credibility. An IN-pointing link from a quality, related site tells the Search Engine that another Webmaster thinks highly enough of a site to link to it. See how the link becomes representative of human feedback? The link constitutes a vote of confidence.
And the more highly a Search Engine regards the site that provides the link, the more powerful that “vote” is! For example…Suppose you have a Web site all about porcupines. The Web authority on porcupines decides to link to your site. In essence, this tells the SEs…
“This is a credible porcupine resource. As such, it deserves to be listed in your database.”
This recommendation carries weight because the Web authority on porcupines already has established credibility with the SEs. Obviously, there’s no better judge of the quality of a porcupine site than a porcupine expert. Links from lesser authorities or from sites with related themes or topics (i.e., zoo, or animal sites) are helpful but they don’t carry the same weight.
And what about off-theme links? Do not attempt to solicit links from sites unrelated to your topic or theme. Why would a Web site about Viagara or online casino games link to your site about porcupines? Usually it’s because they want to artificially increase link popularity, and manipulate the SEs.
Manipulation jeopardizes the integrity of SE search results. So you can expect SEs to ignore, and at worst, penalize you for off-theme links.2) Formulate ranking algorithms. More and more, Search Engines are factoring link popularity and link credibility (i.e., where your IN-pointing links originate from) into their ranking algorithms. That’s why it’s so important not to fall into the trap of continuously tweaking your on-page criteria. Chances are, the key to an elusive top 10 ranking lies off-page, not on-page as we saw earlier with our anguilla-beaches example.
Without a few credible links, you may find it difficult to get listed in some of the major SEs (especially Google). And of course, your site won’t make it into the databases of SEs that do not permit site submission. Their spiders must find your site on their own.
The good news is that for most businesses, a very small number of credible links will do the job. 99% of Web sites do not have many IN-pointing links. (If the SEs were to weigh IN-pointing links too heavily, they’d make 99% of the Net disappear!)
Of course, if your topic is much more general in scope (i.e., “e-commerce,” “computers,” “sports cars,” and that sort of thing), obtaining links becomes more and more important.
Some people misunderstand the role of links. While links will bring in some traffic, it is a miniscule amount. A properly optimized KFCP wins hands down.
Questions? “When do I start building my link popularity?”That’s a good one! Don’t worry about link popularity until you have built at least 20-30 content pages. Why?
Webmasters will link only to sites of value. Quality content is the currency of the Web so you will need a sufficient number of Keyword-Focused Content Pages before you go link hunting. To get a Webmaster’s “vote” of confidence, your site must provide some benefit to his/her audience.
Directories too, are interested in adding only Web sites of substance and value. A more mature site will also help you impress a human editor and secure a major directory listing.
Once you have your 20-30 high value pages, build a simple inbound link program, sprinkled with a few high-quality value exchanges (be patient) and even a couple of super-high-quality outbound-only links.
Here’s how to get your link program rolling along…
Directories are a different beast from Search Engines. They do not spider pages. Instead, a human editor reviews each submitted site and decides whether that site “makes the cut.” Think of directories as gigantic bookmarks of qualified, quality sites, organized into categories and sub-categories.
It generally costs cold, hard cash to submit to the major directories. And paying the fee does not guarantee that your site will be accepted. So use paid resources wisely, and only when you are sure your site is ready for “prime time.”
Let’s take a look at the major directories first…Zeal.com
Some of you may wish to hold off on the commercialization of your Web site. This will enable you to submit to the Zeal directory, which is free but only open to non-commercial sites.
Why is Zeal important? It provides a back-door entrance to the LookSmart directory. It will provide a decent quality IN-pointing link, as well as a smattering of traffic from LookSmart and its directory partners. However, you’ll have to become an editor yourself before you can submit your own site. This can take an hour or two, so be prepared.
The Open Directory (OPD) http://www.dmoz.org/The Open Directory provides directory listings to many crawler-based Search Engines who use OPD to supplement their crawler-based results. There’s no charge for submitting your site, which makes this a “no-brainer.” However, take your time researching the right category for your site, and do not resubmit, even if you are not listed after 6-8 weeks. The OPD is often backlogged, and notoriously slow for adding new sites. Resubmitting may make your site lose its place in the listing queue.
You can check the status of your listing at the public forums…http://www.resource-zone.com/
Yahoo! is the grand-daddy of all directories. Want to list in the “Shopping and Services” or “Business to Business” areas of Yahoo!? You must use Yahoo!'s Business Express service.
This service has a $299 annual recurring fee ($600 for adult sites). That’s enough money to give many budding netrepreneurs pause, and for good reason. However, the value of a Yahoo! listing isn't the amount of traffic it will drive, but the quality IN-pointing link it provides. New sites looking to establish some critical link popularity may find real value in a Yahoo! listing.
Your best strategy is to investigate the free options (Zeal and The Open Directory) and the second tier directories first. They may provide you with all the link popularity you need.
LookSmartLookSmart is looking less and less like a directory, and more like an advertising medium, a sort of cross between Yahoo! Search Marketing and Google’s AdWords. To make matters worse, LookSmart has been losing many major distribution partners of late. As a result, a LookSmart listing is diminishing in value.
Investigate LookSmart as an advertising option but keep in mind that it’s becoming less and less valuable as a source of an IN-pointing link. Wait until you’re “up and running” and have determined your ROI before you seriously consider LookSmart. Its service pales in comparison to the power and flexibility offered by Google’s AdWords, a much better alternative.
Now let’s consider the second tier directories… In some ways, these directories offer greater value than the majors. Submission costs, for example, are quite reasonable -- between $15 and $30 will get you in, usually within a couple of days. Because they are not as congested, it’s easier to obtain the listing you want, higher up in the directory hierarchy (i.e., a listing in Health > Weight Loss is more desirable than a listing in Health > Weight Loss > Supplements). Even though these directories are not as highly trafficked, it will be easier for your visitors to find your site.
Here are some smaller directories to investigate...JoeAnt
#3) Participate in SiteSell’s Value Exchange. It is the simplest, fastest, most efficient, and (most importantly) most real way to identify high-value sites that want to link to your site.
It's also an ethical use of the Net, exactly the way Search Engines want you to use it -- relevant sites linking only to relevant sites. And did I mention that it’s also free?…
http://value-exchange.sitesell.com/#4) OUTbound-link with high-quality theme-related, non-competing sites as you happen to discover them in the course of normal business or surfing -exchange links with them, if possible.
Linking counts both ways, IN-pointing and OUT-pointing. If your OUT-pointing links go to an income-generating source for you, even better!Links OUT count with the human editors of directories and your visitors, too. If directory editors see that you provide bona fide links to other quality sites, your site is more credible, a more valuable resource for their directory. A visitor appreciates being presented with quality, credible links to related material that further enhances her surfing experience.
On the other hand, nothing is more damaging to you, your credibility and your ability to build your business than linking to an inferior Web site. By providing a link, you are in essence placing your seal of approval on the linked Web site. Should that site be of low quality, visitors will question your judgment.
The SEs will not take a positive view of such practices, either. Should you link OUT to a low quality site that practices deceptive linking strategies, the SEs may penalize you. After all, you are, in essence, condoning such activity.
What’s the take-home message here?You can’t control which sites links to your Web site so you cannot be held responsible for them. But you must choose your OUT-pointing links wisely.
IN-pointing and OUT-pointing links are both important. In general, of course, you want to have far more IN-pointing. And don’t make all OUT-pointing links purely monetary links. You want to show your visitors that you have their best interests at heart, not just yours!
Bottom line about links? By far, the easiest, long-term strategy for building link popularity is a passive one. Simply build a site of such high quality that people want to link to it in order to increase the value of their own visitors’ experiences.
What could be easier? Your link popularity builds itself!