SEO Link Building
The Key to Successful SEO...
The use of inbound links is vital to search engine success and the quality and thematic unity of the links makes all the difference. Ever since Google started to consider link popularity in its search algorithm, it has become one of the most important aspects of SEO. Websites can be optimised for the relevant keywords and be made more search-engine friendly, but without a link building strategy, search engine visibility is difficult to achieve.
To quote Google, "Google's …. search technology works by first identifying the link structure of the entire web, then ranking individual pages based on the number and importance of pages linked to them." Note that the popularity and relevance of the inbound links are more critical than their number. All major search engines place some emphasis on link popularity in their ranking algorithms and they place emphasis on two main types of links:
- Quality sites that use the same content/keywords as yours.
- Links from major directories and industry-specific portals.
The Google
PageRank
Google uses a page rank system to measure the importance of a web page.
The Google PageRank measures from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most
important. Not many sites achieve the magic 10 - the www.bbc.co.uk/news
sites has a rank of 9. Most ecommerce sites hover around the 5 mark.
The number and quality of inbound links is just one measurement for a
website’s PageRank.
So what's important...
-
The amount of external links to your site
- The anchor link text and thematic unity of the external links
- Page linking to you is assessed as a hub on subject
- Location of domain that’s linking to you (UK or US)
- Presence of external link (at least a year)
- Age & Google PageRank of website/page that’s linking to you
- Whether the link is recipricol or from a link farm
Search engines generally discount recipricol link deals!
Format of
inbound links
The format of the inbound link is essential if you are to
create
a good inbound link strategy. This relies on the anchor text including
the appropriate keywords.
<a href="http://www.mysite.com" title="My Site's
Keywords">My Site's Keywords</a>
This is what the search engines see as a description of the site and this helps your rankings accordingly. A HTML based inbound link is much more effective than a banner/image link which is devalued by the search engines. These anchor text descriptions will have a much greater impact if they are alternated, have a few different keyword rich titles to use and swap between them.
How We Will Build Links:
- Create a unique content strategy to encourage link-building
- Identify & request inbound-only links
- Request reciprocol links with partners and accreditations
- Create a social media linking strategy e.g. blogs, widgets, video
- Generate buzz through PR and a news centre
- Distribute your content to through content syndication and RSS
- Create and implement a local search strategy e.g. Google Maps
- Identify relevant opportunities on shopping directories
- Buy links in selected directories e.g. Yahoo, editorial
space
Although buying links is frowned upon by the search engines space in key directories and editorial space is a useful way to increase inbound link quality quickly without being penalised by the search engines.
