Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Link Popularity Explained

Search engines like Yahoo and Google store over ten billion web pages in their vast databases, so structuring and organizing this content is a major undertaking.

To properly organize this data, search engines have developed sophisticated algorithms to the measure the importance of the web pages within their databases. The importance of a web page is measured by in two ways, as detailed below:

1) Onsite Optimization
This form of optimization is commonly referred to as “search engine optimization” or “natural search engine optimization.” Natural search engine optimization information can be found all over the web. For more information, search “natural search engine optimization” on Google.

2) Offsite Optimization
This form of optimization is commonly referred to as “Link Building.” It is often categorized under three identities called “one way links,” “reciprocal links,” and “text link advertising,” as detailed below:

One-Way Links
One-way links can be attained through:

  • Directories.
  • Message Boards / forums.
  • Blogs, RSS feeds, and press releases.
  • Company affiliates including partners, clients, parent and sister websites.
  • One-way link email requests.
  • Three-way link email requests.
  • Reciprocal Links
    Reciprocal links can be attained through:

  • Link exchange (two-way) e-mail requests.
  • Acceptance of outside exchange requests.
  • E-mail exchange requests sent from the Company to other relevant websites.
  • Partnerships – Reciprocating with partners is common among websites. When this arrangement occurs, both partners benefit.
  • Internal Reciprocation – Many organizations may own or operate more than one website.
  • In some scenarios, internal reciprocation between sites is search engine friendly. In other scenarios, it may not be. I would advise consulting with an expert to analyze your situation, if you have one.

    Link reciprocation should not occur through existing link reciprocation databases that cater to the same group of websites. These networks are commonly called “link farms.”

    Text Link Advertising
    This process involves the negotiating of text link ads on relevant and/or high profile websites. Similar to the process of buying banner advertisements, text link advertisements are available on many websites in all industries. Google Adsense and Yahoo Publisher Network have popularized this form of advertising. Text link advertising is an appealing model to many because it is typically much more cost-effective than banner advertising, and offers an alternative ad model to the more common banner advertising model.

    With that said, advertisers can negotiate a wide variety of relevant and/or high profile text link ad media buys. Text link advertising should be employed sparingly at first and expanded over a long period of time. Understand that sparingly can mean different things for different websites. You may want to consult an expert on the best strategy for your website. There is no such thing as a “quick fix” to poor link popularity.

    Building link popularity for a website can be a time consuming, monotonous, and daunting task which requires a lot of patience. Employing search-engine-friendly strategies will typically have the best long term results while maintaining a low risk of penalty throughout. It is important to carefully plan the long term popularity for your website. Unlike most public relation strategies, too much attention too fast is bad.

    Grow your link popularity over the course of 12-24 months. You should always plan on a one-year strategy when deploying any natural search engine optimization or link building campaign.

    Happy Searching.

    Joe Griffin is the President of SubmitAWebsite.com. Founded in 1997, Submitawebsite, Inc., “The Industrys Original Submission Company,” is a leading provider of search engine marketing services including natural search engine optimization, xml feed syndication, contextual advertising, and search engine advertising/pay-per click management. Submitawebsite, Inc. also offers web design and development, credit card processing, and web hosting.

    Stopdog.com
    Tel: 480.949.6830
    Cell: 602.882.1979
    joeg AT submitawebsite.com

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