Incoming links are important to the rankings of your website.
Having a quantity of relevant incoming links increases your
sites relevance and boosts rankings within Google and the
other search engines.
Traditional SEO wisdom use to state – the more incoming
links the better. However the new belief is that there is
a preference for quality over quantity.
There is a growing consensus that within Google a ‘Sandbox’ exists
for new links. This is similar to the aging filter believed
to exist for new sites - what has traditionally been known
as the Google ‘Sandbox.’
There is strong evidence that that Google now employs a
link filter as part of its algorithm. The belief is that
new links do not get full credit when they first appear but
that they receive partial credit until they have been established
for a ‘holding’ time period. Once this holding
period is complete they are given full credit and they then
go on to benefit the site and influence Page Rank. There
is further evidence that having a large quantity of new links
actually harms your rankings and can trigger a penalty filter.
The other influencing factor is how strongly the link relates
to your site. Is the link related to and of a similar theme
to your website? If not, it could be of less value to your
site.
How does this information affect your website? Well, let’s
look at the reasons why Google introduced the filter. Too
many links in a short period of time is viewed as artificial.
This may be the result of an unnatural link strategy such
as a ‘cheap and nasty’ SEO links campaign, link
sales or the result of signing up with a link farm. Google
are obviously looking for natural links. The holding period
gives Google time to discover just how relevant the new link
is.
As in all areas of business a sound and ethical approach
is always the best tactic for long term success. A natural
linking strategy will build natural and quality relevant
links. These links should be applied over a period of time.
The links should be of a similar theme to your website’s
content. The drawback is that this can be a slow and time
consuming process.
There are a few options that may be worth considering:
* You can add one way directory links which are usually
high quality and offer you link that are relevant and theme
related
* Do not ask for links from unrelated sites
* Make sure that all links you ask for are theme related
* Spread your linking over a period of time.
By following good SEO practices and or by hiring an SEO
company that follow these practices and works within the
search engine guidelines you minimize the risk that your
site and your business will be adversely affected by the
Google filters.
James Peggie is the Director of Marketing for Elixir Systems – a
search engine marketing agency located in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Their website is located at http://www.elixirsystems.com and
James contributes to their blog http://searchblog.elixirsystems.com
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