FAQ

IMPROVE YOUR LINK POPULARITY!
Every major search engine gives huge importance to link popularity and link quality on their ranking algorithms.

What is link popularity?

Link popularity is the gauge of how many web sites incorporate your website. A measure of inbound links to your web site.

What is link analysis?

Link analysis evaluates which sites are linking to you, their popularity and significance, what page your link is in another website and the link text itself.

So how do you improve your link campaign?

1. Perfect your website first. Give importance to good content and ease of navigation.
Make sure your site looks professional. Validate your HTML code and check your links with a tool like HTML Toolbox. Take care of all broken links. Directories disregard sites with broken links and page errors. Directories want only professional looking sites in their databases.

2. Take time for link building. Google crawls at most 2x a month. Link popularity does not grow overnight. Link building is an incremental activity. Over time these one or two new links start adding up until they are hundreds or even thousands of links. Take time per week for link building.

3. Patience is a virtue in link building. Keep track your progress so you know who you've asked already. It could be embarrassing to ask a site for a link if they've already given you one. Link building can realistically be time consuming and frustrating.

4. Develop internal links. Set up an intranet and link with websites you have, if you have a lot.

5. Link popularity is all about quality. Be selective about the sites from which you request links. Search engines use sophisticated rules when judging the importance of a link, and the popularity of the site linking to you is a key criteria. One link from CNet is worth far more than a link from a personal web site. Do not invest in a link farm. Link farms are websites specifically designed for link popularity.
Try to identify non-competitive sites in the same field as your site. Links from sites that are related to your area carry more weight. Links from sites within your industry are strong endorsements for your site.

6. Build a site map and develop a relationship with a site.

7. Provide the linking code.
Make it easy for other sites to link to you. Send the prospective linker the exact HTML code you want in the link and suggest which page you want the link from. This ensures the right words are used in the link and reduces the burden in setting up the link.

8. Get directory listings

Jumpstart your link campaign by getting directory links first. This is especially important if you have a new site or a site with no inbound links. A shortage of inbound links puts your site at a severe disadvantage because link analysis is an important part of every search engine's ranking algorithm.
Be sure you are listed in as many directories as you can. There are many directories out there, and the more you can get into the better.

A few to target include Open Directory:

www.yahoo.com
www.looksmart.com
www.zeal.com
www.jeant.com
www.business.com

Some of these directories require you to pay for a listing. It's worth the expense.

9. Do reciprocal linking. It's a good give and take relationship. Many sites won't link to you unless you link back to them or otherwise make it worth their while. Create a Resources or Partner page that allows you to have a place from which you can easily link to them. You might also offer to work a barter arrangement with them. If you have a popular site with their target market, they might consider free advertisements in exchange for a link. If the link is of great value to you, give something back.

10. Outsource link building
If time constraints keep you from link building, consider outsourcing your link popularity work. Link building is the most time consuming part of search engine optimization. You may find it is not cost effective to do it in house. Many top SEO firms have turned to outsourcing this function.

Outsourcing to a reputable link building firm ensures good links and could be a more efficient model for you if you are already time limited.

Just make sure link building outsourced firms follow a personalized approach, and don't simply spam sites with requests for links.