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The power
of inbound links: How to win friends and influence people
We
all know search engine performance is critical in gaining
website traffic. So where do we start if we want to increase
our chances of getting a high listing? If only it was as easy
as twigging a few meta tags they'd be no need for the growing
number of SEO (search engine optimisation) professionals.
Everything in relation to search engine performance has become
vastly more competitive. Increasing numbers of organisations
in all sectors and markets are adopting ever more sophisticated
methods to increase their visibility on the web. If we are
considering Google performance (which is generally the case)
rather than overall search performance, then link popularity
remains the main criteria by which websites are judged. Assuming
we have done our level utmost to optimise our pages, then
link generation has to be our main concern.
In trying to manufacture links there are several approaches
we can take. Possibly one of the most common methods has been
to ask. Simply scanning for likely websites and then making
contact has become something of a preoccupation for some webmasters.
While this approach is possibly the most straightforward,
those that have tried it will have found it somewhat time-consuming.
Not to mention the nine out of ten willing participants who'll
want something in return…..usually a link back their
website, slightly diluting the overall result. The best that
we can do is dig their link deep within our site but hope
they feature ours more prominently.
For a good quality link, conceivably from a website with similar
content to ours, with a high page rank and a page one search
result, it may be worth offering a highly visible link (say
on our home page) in exchange for a lesser listing on their
links page. Although it appears we've given more way, we stand
to gain by association with their high page rank.
As people have begun to realise the power of inbound links,
methods to achieve these links have become increasingly devious.
Through plugging our website URL at every opportunity, such
as forums, blogs etc, a gradual boost to our link popularity
measure can be achieved. A word of caution however, general
opinion suggest there to be a correlation as to the quality
of links pointing to our websites. By quality we mean the
relevance of the link partner website / page to ours. Hundreds
of links from sites with little in common to ours can be greatly
outweighed by just one with a similar topic or theme.
Other approaches to building inbound links include submitting
websites to general directories along with article syndication.
Directory submission can be a good option in avoiding a reciprocal
link situation. Some require a fee while others are free,
so we need to determine how useful the link will be before
parting with any of our hard earned cash. Article syndication
on the other hand works by producing quality articles that
we then post to high-traffic websites. We stash our URL at
the bottom of the article and so self generate a link. Again,
the point concerning link quality is important here, but often
our article will be featured by webmasters looking for relevant
content. So long as they respect our copyright requirement
and leave the link intact it can frequently provide high quality
linking.
Taking the idea of article syndication one step further we
could consider seeking out product review websites. Amazon
is the most obvious that comes to mind, but as with everything
on the web – there are trillions to choose from. If
we can track down products (they'll nearly always be a good
book) that somehow relates to our website then this is an
excellent way to generate an inbound link, plus we may actually
get people clicking through in the belief we are an authority
on the subject.
This
article is free to republish provided the resource information
below remains intact.
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