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MethodSmart Media, Inc.
Top Search Engine Placement by Proper Link Building
by Gerald S. Adler
For some new to Internet marketing, optimizing a website for top search engine placement simply means entering some metatags and possibly also appropriately titling the webpages. Previously, this tactic was effective. Unfortunately for those optimizing their own websites, and fortunately for those using search engines to research information, this is no longer the case.
There are now approximately ninety (90) factors of a website that are considered when determining the its ranking. Everything from titles, metatags and labeling graphics and links to content are weighed and analyzed when placement on the various search engines is determined.
This MethodSmart (www.MethodSmart.com) article addresses some of the internal website design factors considered in determining website search engine rankings. Among those factors to be taken very seriously is a website's external links, or links to another website. Links to a site are not the most crucial factor in determining ranking and one has to have a well-optimized site to rank well. However, when all else is equal (i.e. when your competitors also have well-optimized sites) external links can be the determining factor between being found and being buried in the search engine rankings. This is especially true of current Google rankings!
Effective Links
The initial consideration in link-building is who should be linking to you and to whom you should link. These are two separate considerations and despite that fact that one will be working on both at the same time, they must be considered independently.
Who Should Link To You? (Incoming Links)
When one is reviewing sites to link to there are five basic questions one must ask oneself:
1) Are they competitors? While one can try to request a link from a site that provides
the same or similar products and services as do you, this is generally a waste of
time that could be spent finding legitimate links from sites that would like to
promote your product or service.
2) Does their site content relate to or compliment yours? If one has a site promoting
cabin rentals, a link from an electronics site will not be of significant benefit. Google
and other major search engines look for content relationship when determining link
value. If the content of the two sites is totally irrelevant the link is given minimal
weight, if any. Focus only on attaining links from relevant or complimentary sites.
3) Google's rating. Google has come out with a fantastic tool called the Google
Toolbar. The advanced version of the toolbar includes the PageRank of the site one
is currently visiting. Without getting into a long description of PageRank (see
Google's definition), the higher the number the better (it is a ranking out of 10 where
traditionally anything above 4 is good and anything above 6 is excellent. If Google
rates the site well then the link will be more valued than from a site that Google
rates poorly. When reviewing links give more time and attention to those with
PageRanks of 4 or higher. The Google Toolbar is a free download available from
Google at http://toolbar.google.com/.
4) Is a reciprocal link required? Whether the site will require a reciprocal link or not is
a serious consideration. The more links to your site that you have that are not
reciprocated the better. These links are given added weight. This area will be
addressed further below.
5) Number of links on the page? How many links are on the linking page, and where
your link will be placed is another serious consideration. If their link to your site will
be on a page with 100 other links then the value of the link is significantly reduced.
Also, whether your link will be on the top of the page or the bottom will also
determine the value of the link.
This may be a lot to consider, however it can save enormous amounts of time and frustration. Do-It-Yourselfers and uninformed online marketers will often work for hours to attain a link from a site they like. In reality the site has a low PageRank and the link won't even carry much weight as far as search engine placement is concerned. MethodSmart Media (www.MethodSmart.com)constantly and thoroughly reviews all changes in various search engine algorithms – keeping current with all the various rules and regulations for effective search engine optimization and link building!
As a general rule it is responsible to note that any relevant inbound link will be of some assistance. If, during research, one discovers a related site with a PageRank of 2 from which it is very simple to get a link, it is well worth the time and effort to do so. Not all link building is this simple and it is in the more advanced efforts (email communications with the webmaster for example) that one will want to apply the above noted “rules". Also, as the Internet and its sites develop, sites with a current Google PageRank of 2 may very well have a PageRank of 4 or higher in short time! Getting a link to your website on a developing site may, in short time, very well prove highly valuable. This is true in terms of cost, link placement, and reciprocation terms.
To Whom Should You Link? (Outgoing Links)
The question, “to whom should you link?" is very serious and can have significant repercussions on search engine placement. If one is linking to sites this is a way of saying, “This site is highly relevant to mine and that my visitors will enjoy the content on it." For this reason there are a number of considerations that have to be made when determining whether reciprocal links are in one's best interest.
Factors of the website that one should be consider when determining whether to link to that website are:
1) Is the site's content related to mine? Like incoming links (sites linking to you), the
relevancy of the content on both sites should be high. If you have a number of links
from your site to websites that are completely unrelated to yours the value of these
links is negligible and further, will reduce the perceived value of your site.
2) Does the site compete with yours? In this case it is your interests, and not those of
the other webmaster, which must be taken into account. Do you want to site link
that provides the same or similar products/services as you? Unless the site is
willing to reciprocate the link and they have a very high Google PageRank it is
probably not wise to give your visitors the opportunity to go to the site of a competitor.
3) What is their Google PageRank? Many people falsely believe that any outbound link
(OBL) will hurt your placement. This is simply not the case. Poor link-building is
the cause of this misconception, not the link itself. When one is determining
whether to link to another site, review their Google PageRank. Like the boost this
gives to your site in the incoming links, so to can this have a positive effect on your
outbound links. If all of your outbound links are to highly regarded sites (by the
search engines) and whose content is relevant to yours then these links will help -
and not hinder - your rankings.
Finding the Links
Since one is researching links to boost your search engine placement, the best place to start is… the search engines. A few searches should produces hundreds of potential links. There are a few tactics that work better than others. The first tactic provides the best links for their relevancy and for their Google PageRank. The second provides the best results for getting many links quickly and easily.
Getting High Quality Links –
The easiest way to get high quality links (that will be well regarded by Google and the other search engines) is to perform a search on the major search engines for your targeted keyword phrases. The supplied results will provide a list of those sites that the engine rates as the top sites for that phrase. If the engines believe this to be of value for searches looking for a particular phrase then likewise, they will view it as a valuable link to your site, which obviously deals with the same subject.
One does not have to stick to your main targeted keyword or phrase. In this stage of link building one can run searches on all the keyword phrases that one is targeting and request that they link to your site. You will have to obey the above-noted guidelines and this will mean that there will be many sites you will have to skip, as they are competitor.
Getting Numerous Links –
Getting numerous links is not as difficult as getting high-quality links. Some of the same rules apply here. One will want a related site, want it to be well-regarded by the search engines, want submission to be relatively simple. To accomplish this, the easiest way is to once again turn to the search engines. This time however, the search will be a little bit different.
Rather than typing in the keyword phrase one is targeting one should type in the keyword phrase followed by the words “submit" or “add url". What this provides is a listing of related sites but also with an added bonus: a submission page. Sites that advertise their submissions traditionally allow easier submission (i.e. they probably have a simple form to fill out rather than you having to email webmasters, etc.).
One may be surprised at the number of these sites that will link to you without the need for reciprocation. If the form is easy to complete, then submit to it. If the form will require significant efforts to complete (requiring information you do not have readily accessible) or they require a reciprocal link one will have to use the above-noted guidelines to determine if the effort is worth your time, effort and/or outbound link.
Build Quality – And They Will Link
Why would anyone link to your website without requiring a reciprocal link? What benefit do they possibly receive? The answers to these questions depend greatly on the website, its design, and its content.
The most significant factor that will affect your ability to attain incoming links is the quality of the site itself. If one has a well-designed website that contains a significant amount of useful content/is a valuable resource, it will be much easier to get other webmasters to link to it. If, however, your site is poorly designed and/or does not contain any useful information, then one has provided nothing that the other site requires and thus, probably will not receive quality links.
For example, if one has a website such as MethodSmart Media's at www.MethodSmart.com regarding Internet Marketing, and in it one has provided a great deal of information on search engine optimization, link building, website design, web hosting, and their benefits and uses without clutter, one stands a very good chance of attaining links from other sites - as the content one has provided will be useful to their visitors.
One important thing to remember is: If one wants sites to link to yours without having to link to theirs, one has to provide valuable visitor information and present that information in an attractive format.
Where to Begin?
When building non-reciprocating incoming links the easiest place to start is the directories. There are thousands of directories focused on a variety of different fields. Find the directories related to your industry and submit your site to them.
After one has submitted to all the related directories it is time to progress to other sites. One will now have to apply the rules noted above and determine how much time each link is worth - and how to allot your valuable time in attaining them.
Best Practices for Outbound Links:
There are a few considerations one will want to make in regards to how one organizes the outbound links from your website. The most important thing to do is to create a “Resources Page". One should call it a “Resources Page" or something similar rather than a “Links Page" for both search engine considerations and your visitors.
Placing the majority of your outbound links on one page will avoid inadvertently affecting the optimization and search engine considerations taken with the rest of your website and gives one a place to place new links as they come.
Each outbound link should look something like the following example linked from an Online Marketing web site:
MethodSmart Media at www.MethodSmart.com
MethodSmart Media provides comprehensive online marketing services, including website design, web hosting, search engine optimization, link building, placement, and pay-per-click Internet advertising services.
Each link shall have descriptive text within it (not something ambiguous like ‘click here') and there shall be a quality description of the website below the link. If one does not know what to include as the description just ask the site owner as they are often very pleased that you are putting so much care into the reciprocal link. Of course, always feel free to contact MethodSmart for internet marketing consultative services. See our site at www.MethodSmart.com for further information.
Something one will also want is to have the outbound links open in a new window. It is surprising the number of websites that do not do this. If one can keep a visitor in your site, even if your site is now in a browser beneath the one being seen, one stands a higher chance that the visitor will return than if they have completely left your site and you are now relying on them to go back.
Conclusion
With these practices put in place your link-building efforts, while time-consuming, will be well worth the effort. As mentioned above, link-building, like metatags, is not the panacea to obtaining top search engine placement. Initially, one will have to build a marketable and optimized web site that provides visitors valuable content for appropriate search terms. Link building is crucial, however without the proper foundation it amounts to little.
For detailed information on how your website can work best for you, feel free to
contact MethodSmart Media at www.MethodSmart.com or call 865.599.6843.
Gerald S. Adler is President of MethodSmart Media, Inc.
MethodSmart (www.MethodSmart.com) provides comprehensive online marketing services.
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