Powering up your website link-by-link

A major factor in any website’s appeal to search engines is its link popularity. Quality, quantity and location of internal and external links can make or break a site when it comes to being found by potential customers/visitors. So, how can you improve your site’s popularity?

Like any popularity contest, it’s more about who you know (not what you know). Link popularity is defined by the calibre and number of links that search engines identify “pointing” to your site. The more “votes” you have, the more important the search engines consider you. The more quality internal and external links collated, the higher your site ranks in results pages, thus attracting increased traffic … and all the flow-on benefits!

But be warned – link building is a time-hungry, complex craft. In the early days of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) site popularity could be bought using huge “link farms” or “link exchange programs”. Today’s sophisticated search engines have savvied up to that caper and, rather than give your site a boost, those bulk strategies will likely gain you the boot! That’s right – search engines may choose to exclude you or penalise you in the rankings.

An effective link building campaign concentrates on:

• acquiring quality external links;
• developing highly-visible internal links;
• improving site content to attract relevant link partners; and/or
• submitting to themed directories.

It’s all about research, relationship building and content management. With a disciplined approach you can pursue results-oriented linking opportunities – those sites with a complementary (but not directly competitive) focus to your own. You will likely share numerous targeted keywords, as well as some organisational values and objectives. A reciprocal linking arrangement can benefit both parties and produce a pleasing snowball effect. Afterall, the more relevant high-character links your site has, the more attractive you are - not only to search engine spiders, but to other potential link partners.

The character of incoming links is critical. Links from reputable sites are worth exponentially more than those from questionable sites. It really is worthwhile seeking out well-respected or “authoritative” link partners – the sorts of organisations you’d like to share a neighbourhood with.

Themed directories can be a rich source of links relevant to your business or service offering. Think of them as a hub, where all the popular folk hang out. Just by being part of it, you greatly increase your own popularity. Some directories are free while others require an investment. You need to weigh up the cost burden against the potential level of return for each directory. It’s a bit like paying to rub shoulders with the celebrities in the VIP room – the pay-offs can be very appealing. And if you’re really popular you might be invited in for free!

How you rate for the various search engines depends on a range of complicated algorithms and search techniques which differ for each search engine and (curiously) can differ from one week to the next. So accept that, to be effective, your link building campaign will need to be ongoing. The good news is that all your efforts to develop relevant linked relationships, optimise your site content and submit to appropriate directories will drive more “natural” traffic to your site. That is, you will be more visible directly to your potential visitors, not just the search engine spiders.