Search Engines: Link Popularity
How
Link Popularity Affects Search Engine Rankings
Search
engines use a concept known as link popularity in
determing the rankings for competing websites. The
idea behind it is simple: If many other websites are
linking to yours, then it must have some valuable
content. With all else being equal, search engines
will give a site with higher link popularity a better
ranking than its competitor because the site with
higher link popularity has demonstrated that it has
content that others find useful.
There are three main factors involved in determining
a site's link popularity: quantity, quality, and relevancy.
Quantity is fairly straightforward -- the more links
the better. More important is the quality of the links
going to your site. One link coming from a very important
site with high link popularity can be worth more than
a dozen links from sites that have low link popularities.
Finally, links coming from sites that have content
related to yours will be worth more than those that
don't. A link from a site that focuses on the same
keyword phrases as your site will be weighted much
more heavily than one from a completely unrelated
site.
Improving Your Site's Link Popularity
If
you are targeting highly competitive keywords, then
you should definitely put in the time to work on your
link popularity. Below are some of the different avenues
you can take to improve your site's link popularity.
They are listed from the easiest to most time consuming.
Directories
Getting
your site listed in directories is one of the fastest
ways to build your link popularity. Probably the most
important directory to be listed on is DMOZ.
It is free and several large search engines including
Google, use the DMOZ database for their own directories.
By getting your site listed on DMOZ, you'll effectively
be listed on Google's directory as well as dozens
of other directories that use DMOZ content.
Yahoo
now charges $299 per year to be listed in their directory.
Whether this is worth the cost or not, depends on
your situation. If you have the money, and can convert
the additional traffic you gain into dollars, then
by all means, add your site to Yahoo.
Other public directories you can add to are JoeAnt.com
and GoGuides.org. Getting your site listed on these
directories will cost a one-time fee of $39. You can
also get listed for free if sign up as an editor.
Real estate and local directories
In
addition to the major directories listed above, there
are many real estate industry and local community
directories you can submit your site to. If you'd
like the updated list of free real estate directories
that we provide our clients, email us Southport
Design Real Estate Marketing and Tools
To find your community business directories, try searching
Google.com for "YourCity business directory" (Replace
"YourCity" with the name of your city or county).
This should turn up lots of local directories you
can submit your site to.
Find potential link partners
Another
way you can improve your link popularity is to contact
other websites you'd like to link to and offer to
trade links. Make sure you personalize your email
and include an explanation of the benefits of link
popularity. Your request should be professional and
give the impression that you put some thought into
this.
Identify some positive points in the site you wish
to link to and mention them in your email. Point out
the benefits their visitors will receive by visiting
your site and make sure everything is working on your
site. Most webmasters won't want to link to your site
if it has poor content or broken links.
Writing Articles for Republishing
One
of the best ways you can improve the link popularity
of your site is to write articles and allow them to
be republished on other sites. There are many article
submission directories which webmasters use to find
content for their websites.
At the end of each article, you include a short profile
about yourself and a link to your website. It's a
good idea to explicitly state that your article may
be republished only if the link to your website is
active.
Below are couple sites you can submit your articles
to:
http://www.realestateabc.com/propages/linkpartners/author.htm
http://www.ezinearticles.com/
If you write a good article, it can quickly become
an excellent viral marketing tool. If a webmaster
reads your article online, he may publish it on his
website creating more exposure. His site's visitors
will read the article and may publish it on their
own site. Each time someone republishes your article,
you get a new link to your site. Each of these links
will also tend to come from websites that are highly
related to yours since they're republishing your articles.
As mentioned earlier, these links will carry more
weight with search engines.
Final Tips
Avoid Link Farms
A
link farm is a reciprocal linking service where everyone
participating agrees to link to each other. Also known
as free-for-all link pages, there's usually no foundation
or relevancy in the linking and it's simply an attempt
at improving link popularity.
Most search engines are aware of link farms and will
either penalize or ban participants from being indexed
completely. The minimal benefits you can get from
having random unrelated links directed to your site
are simply not worth the risk of getting banned by
a major search engine. Writing quality content can
do wonders for your search rankings, but if you allow
other sites to use the content on the understanding
that they link back to your site, it can benefit the
both of you. It helps them rank better in the search
engines while providing content they otherwise wouldn't
have the time or knowledge to write. It helps you
because you get more exposure to your work while improving
your link popularity.
Use Keywords in Your Link Text
Most
search engines take note of the text used for links.
A link containing an important keyword phrase will
be worth more than the same link with unrelated text.
For example, instead of using your URL as the link
text, use a keyword phrase:
Instead of: http://www.southportdesign.com/
Try using: Real
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