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SEO Link Building – Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How)1 |
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Search Engine Optimization Link Building – Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How)1 |
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In this article, we discuss search engine optimization link building strategies that you can implement.Click here to download SEO Link Building - Who, What, When, Where, Why (and How) in PDF format Perhaps you’ve read an article or two by search engine optimization (“SEO”) experts stressing the importance of link building to the visibility of your web site on the major search engines. If, for example, you happen to navigate the Google online documentation to the “Webmaster Help Center” you will see the Google response to the question “How can I improve my site's ranking?” The Google response includes the statement “In general, webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages.2” “Link building” then, is the process of developing “inbound” links to your web pages in order to drive traffic to your site and improve your search engine ranking. Sounds simple, but there are so many different complex online link building programs and strategies it’s mind boggling! And, some techniques, even legitimate techniques implemented incorrectly, may actually render inbound links completely useless. I started this article intending to cover the 5 W’s – who,
what, when, where and why. But, at the risk of detracting from the clever
title, I felt the need to add “How?” in order to make it
more useful. So this article is designed to provide insight into the
following questions: No doubt, reasonable minds can disagree with some of the opinions and strategies contained in this article. I direct your attention to footnote references to several online articles that I found helpful. I encourage you to review these articles so you can draw your own conclusions. I do hope you conclude that there are a number of legitimate link building strategies that you can tackle! Why Should You Care? It is believed that, in the eyes of the major search engines, the number and quality of the incoming links that point to your site are indicative of the worthiness of your site. I know, it sounds like a popularity contest – perhaps this stirs up memories of the disdain you had for your high school prom king/queen election process. Popularity and Page Rank aside, you are interested in driving qualified traffic to your web site and developing relationships with businesses that offer complementary products and services. Link building techniques are designed to accomplish this. Who Should Link to My Web Pages? As for “related” sites, partners, vendors, but not competitors are good “reciprocal linking” (discussed later) opportunities. Their sites should be related to the products and/or services you provide. Make sure to set your standards high! Analyze the inbound links to the page where you would like to see your link. Are they in fact authoritative and relevant sites? How do you research inbound links to your potential linking partner? There are some excellent SEO link building tools out there! Netconcepts provides a free “Link Popularity Checker” at http://www.netconcepts.com/linkcheck/. Another site is LinkPopularity.com - http://www.linkpopularity.com/. Use these tools to assess the quality of the links to the page before you ask for a link! While you’re there, check out the link popularity of your web pages and those of your competitors. Note that many SEO experts believe that you should stay away from a web page that already has too many links. How many is too many? According to an article in Website Magazine, “… it is best to shy away from any pages with more than 20 outbound links.3” You’ll recall that we mentioned the term “PageRank” earlier in this article. The Google PageRank scoring system is used to quantify the relative importance of a web page. You can determine PageRank by downloading and using the free Google ToolBar (http://toolbar.google.com). Should you consider PageRank while determining whether to ask for a link on a page? One contributor to the online article “Over 125 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies”, Dixon Jones, suggests that the PageRank of the web page where you would like your link to reside should be between 3 and 10.4 In his article “The Nitty Gritty of Link Requests”, Chris Boggs suggests that PageRank is not as useful as it used to be but “PageRank is still a good guide.5” Many Internet marketing professionals continue to suggest that you submit your site to the appropriate category within the major directories as well as to vertical engines and industry directories. Examples of popular general directories include Yahoo!, Open Directory (dmoz.org), GoGuides, Gigablast, JoeAnt, Gimpsy and BlueFind. Many allow you to submit your website URL for free. Some may require you to add a reciprocal link to their directory. In his article, “SEO: Weaving a Web of Links”, Stephan Spencer cautions against seeking links from “free for all” links pages that are packed full of links.6. Again, pay attention to PageRank and topic relevance. Watch out for automated submission programs that submit to irrelevant search engines and directories. What Should the Link Entail? What Should You Put on Your Link
Page? Embed your keyphrases into the link text. Although the subject of web page optimization is beyond the scope of this article, make sure the page the link points to (the “Target Page”) is “optimized” for those keyphrases. The target page need not be your website home page. Not sure how to determine the best keywords for your business? I discuss this very issue in my article “Web Page Keywords – Do’s and Don’ts” which you can review at http://www.ebizmachine.com/seotips.html. The question “What should you put on your link page” presumes that the linking relationship is “reciprocal”. Not all links will be reciprocal – we’ll talk more about link building strategies that involve the creation of useful online content encouraging “natural” link growth without reciprocal arrangements. However, your arrangements with partners, alliances and some directories may well be “reciprocal”. In other words, “I’ll point to you if you point to me.” Before you approach a partner for a reciprocal link, you may wish to create your link to their site in advance demonstrating the techniques described in this article. “One good turn deserves another” - include one or two carefully drafted paragraphs of descriptive information for each link. When Should I Add a Link to my Site? It’s clear that link building is a slow and steady grass roots process and some experts maintain that link growth should follow a natural, free range, pesticide-free progression (OK, I added the italics for fun). Boggs writes that efforts to rapidly gain links “are sometimes easy for search engines to discern…, especially if the links are in a known network of sites that exchange links.8 ” Suddenly adding 100 new links to a site that for 6 six years has had 5 inbound links may cause a search engine to penalize you for your participation in a “link-farm.” But, adding a few relevant links every so often does appear to be consistent with natural growth. Where Should the Link Appear? Check to make sure the agreed-upon location is a page that has been indexed by the major search engines. In particular, it should not be a page that only authenticated users (login & password) can view. How Can Businesses Develop Their Own Inbound Links? Here are some suggestions that both enhance the usefulness of your web site content and help you build inbound links to your site. 1. Publish a “How To” or a “Review”
Article Not sure what to write about? Start with your most popular keyword search phrases and develop a topic that your customers frequently raise. You sell GPS devices - compare and contrast the two most popular manufacturers who also happen to be popular web searches. You are a CPA– how about a “top ten” list of personal tax misconceptions? Do your best to make your content unique, original, useful and entertaining. Convert your article to PDF format that online visitors can download and print. Consult with your web developer about adding “email to a friend” functionality. 2. Post in a Relevant Online Forum or Newsgroup 3. Post in a Relevant Blog? 4. Publish in an “e-zine” 5. Write a testimonial or review for a trusted product/service
Finally, make sure to track your link building progress. Create a spreadsheet for this purpose. You will no doubt have to follow up on your link requests. Capture details including the information you entered and the date you submitted your request. Politely remind link partners of their commitment to link to your site and point them to the inbound link from your site to theirs. Run your favorite link popularity and page rank tools to monitor your progress.
In the “How Can Businesses Develop Their Own Inbound Links?” section of this article, I provide several suggestions designed to help you achieve that end. However, they say “The devil is in the details.” When it comes time to manage the process of soliciting and adding inbound links to your web pages, there are many details that will influence the success or failure of your program. You must carefully choose your link partners and directories and be prepared to suggest the link page location as well as the makeup of the link itself. Finally, you must be both diligent AND patient. It’s fine to methodically forge relationships and build a community with complimentary web sites. But there is growing evidence that link building in an “unnatural” manner will hinder your search engine visibility and negate your efforts. So, be careful out there. Bill Schwartz, BSEE / JD / MBA, owns and operates EBIZ Machine
of Denver, Colorado (on the web at www.ebizmachine.com). He supports
his clients' E-Commmerce initiatives through web site design, web-based
application development, eCommerce platform integration, search engine
optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click internet marketing program development.
He may be reached at 303-759-9000 or bill@ebizmachine.com. Does your web site search engine optimization need work? For a free assessment of your site's optimization, contact EBIZ Machine.
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