Are you making the most of your links?

Over the last couple of months, I have spoken to a number of people about linking and its importance in search engine optimisation. Lots of people have heard that links help you get a better search engine ranking but it’s not always obvious how to make the most of your links.

The first thing to mention is that there are internal links, the ones you have on your own website which take visitors from one page to the next, and inbound or external links which come from other websites and send visitors to you. Both can be valuable in search engine optimisation.

The second thing to explain is that search engines ‘like’ inbound links because they ‘feel’ that they are a great form of peer endorsement. The logic is that if someone is willing to put a link from their website to your website, they must respect your site. However, search engines also ‘know’ that some links are better than others. ‘Link farms’ or ‘link rings’ consist of websites which all link to one another, often for a fee. For this reason, if you suddenly gain a large number of inbound links from websites or have only reciprocal links, the search engines downgrade the importance of your links. They are pretty ‘smart’ when it comes to spotting a scam!

If you decide to develop an external or inbound linking strategy, I recommend that you consider the following questions:

1. Am I using links to gain traffic to my website?
   
2. Do I need links to gain credibility with my human audience?
   
3. Am I looking for links primarily to boost my search engine rankings?

Your answers to these will make a difference to the quantity and quality of links you require and the type of sites you approach to request inbound links.

Traffic-gaining websites
These sites typically have a large number of visitors, from a relevant sector or geographical area, who may have an interest in your business. These sites might or might not be well regarded by the search engines.

Credibility-giving websites
These sites will be ones which those in your target market admire. Even if the site is not particularly popular with search engines, it will support your brand, image and marketing for you to be included. Examples of this could be: a mention on an industry body’s website for a professional services company; or a disability charity for a site selling special needs products. Similarly, a site targeting wealthy individuals may benefit from an association with glossy publications or classy boutiques.

Rankings-building websites
Links from these websites might not bring you huge amounts of traffic but they will build your website’s credibility in the ‘eyes’ of the search engines. This will improve your search engine rankings. These websites will have a high Google PageRank (a measure of their importance). You might pay for these entries, such as Yahoo Directory, or they may be free, like Open Directory. Rankings-building sites will almost certainly contain high quality information and genuine content, the best of which is relevant to your own website.

Whichever types of inbound links are important to you (and for most of us, it’s actually a mixture of all 3), having a site with good quality, interesting content is an absolute necessity if you want to create a successful linking programme. And, when you get started, here are some general guidelines which you might find helpful:

1. Always avoid link farms or circles
   
2. Decline links from sites which are excluded by Google (To check this, type the website’s address ‘www.site.com’ into Google. If it does not appear, it may have been blacklisted. You can also look at its Google PR on the Google Toolbar: a rank of 0 or a grey toolbar may also indicate a site which has been penalised)
   
3. Aim to get links which you do not need to reciprocate as these are more powerful
   
4. Ask for the visible text of your links to be keyword-rich so rather than www.branchout-internetmarketing.com, I should ask to have independent strategic e-marketing advice as my inbound link text. Both take visitors to my website but the latter uses my keywords in the link
   
5. If you create a links page on your own site, call it a Resources page and add information alongside the links
   
6. To begin finding link sites, try examining your competitors’ links, industry associations or directories, Google or Yahoo Directories and geographic directories

If you would like to learn more about developing and implementing an effective linking strategy or analysing your competitors' links, please call me on 01608 737653 or email: kate.barlow@branchout-internetmarketing.com.

Kind regards,

Kate Barlow

You may copy or distribute this newsletter as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author are attached. The author is: Kate Barlow of Branch Out Internet Marketing, The Old Co-Op, High Street, Hook Norton, OX15 5NF, UK. Contact kate.barlow@branchout-internetmarketing.com> or Tel: 01608 737653, Fax: 01608 737653.

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