Link popularity has recently become
an important aspect to consider when promoting a website.
Many search engines have started to use link popularity
to help determine ranking in their listings. Gaining
links from other sites is also very beneficial because
you gain added traffic when users follow the link from
another site to your site.
What Is Link Popularity? Link popularity
is basically the number and quality of links that point
towards your site. A link from a very important site
is worth more than a link from a smaller site. The search
engine companies think that an important site would
only link to your site if your site was important, and
it makes sense too. Try getting the main page of Yahoo!
to link to you and you'll fail, but if you did get a
link, then your site must be worth something. You couldn't
even get a link to your site from a medium size site
unless your site was important enough and had something
to offer. Both of which are important aspects in determining
relevancy - a search engines main goal.
The number of links is also important
for the same reason. Your site must be important if
many sites link to you. Search engines know these things,
and that is the basis for link popularity.
Linking Strategy Rules
The most basic way of gather and exchanging
links is to simply visit websites and email the webmaster
asking for a link exchange. However, there are a few
rules to keep in mind.
1. Related, Not Competitive - You should
try to focus your linking strategy on sites related
to yours, but not in direct competition. For example,
a search engine submission company site wouldn't want
to link with a competitor. They would be better off
linking with a website that teaches various ways of
promotion. The object is not to lose business to competitors,
but to gain business from similar sites.
2. Offer A Link - Most sites won't
just give out a link for nothing in return. Have a link
to their site setup and then email them asking for an
exchange. Even go as far as to give them the URL of
where their link is located. This basically just makes
the offer more serious because you already have a link
setup.
3. Be Selective - You shouldn't just
fire off an email to every website you find asking for
a link exchange. Be selective based on the importance
of your site. If you have a large site that has been
around a while, you can be more selective with your
linking. You just want to be sure that you aren't wasting
your time with sites that will benefit greatly from
your link, but won't do much for you at all.
4. Mini Yahoo! - When I created my
links page, I had in my mind a picture of a small directory.
Yahoo uses actual people to decide where and if a site
gets added. Although my link page is obviously much
smaller than Yahoo, I try to keep the same idea. I set
up a page with different categories that relate to my
site. This makes your links page professional and also
offers another free service for my visitors to use.
They can use my links page as a targeted directory where
they can easily find specific, relevant information.
Best of luck to you,
JC Anderl www.Redlionbooks.com, JC@Redlionbooks.com
.Visit my site or email me if you have any questions
about marketing or website promotion.
About the author:
JC's website, Redlionbooks.com, specializes in advice
about
Internet marketing and web site promotion. Free access
to
articles and ebooks, learn how to market your product
or service
online at http://www.Redlionbooks.com |
