Link popularity is without doubt one of the most important
aspects of a search engine ranking algorithm - this variable
tells the search engine how many web sites out there are
linking to your web site, which gives a really good indication
of how popular or important your site is.
Your web site NEEDS links, it can't survive at the top of
the search engine rankings without them. In this article
I am going to explain how anyone can get good quality links
for their web site, without paying for them...
Link building for your web site is not technically difficult,
it just requires some time and dedication to do the job properly.
If you don't have the time and discipline to do the job right,
I strongly suggest hiring someone - WCR Internet Marketing
provides this service in some of their Web Marketing plans.
I recommend only looking for links from sites that are related
to your site. If you can't determine a relationship between
your site and theirs, move along, there are plenty more sites
out there that are more relevant!
Always remember why you have a web site - you want people
to find your site useful, so make sure you are only linking
to useful, relevant content. Think about this - if a surfer
is browsing a site about rebuilding a car engine, they aren't
likely to find a mortgage broker link very useful, are they?
Stick to linking amongst relevant sites, and I guarantee
you that in the long term your site will benefit greatly.
This is the 6 Step process we use when building links for
clients:
1) Determine what sort of links you want.
This is extremely important. The types of links that you're
looking for are industry specific. If you have a web site
that is focussed on the rebuilding of car engines, you will
be looking for links in the automotive or car related areas
in directories. If you are selling electrical contracting
services, you will want to look for regional listings or
general business listings to find possible links.
2) Find your source of links.
So we're looking for links that are relevant to your web
site. The best place to source your links are directories
such as DMOZ. Go to a directory, browse through to a category
that suits your site (a lot of the time there will be more
than one suitable category) and you will see a whole lot
of other relevant sites, perfect for sourcing quality links.
Try the directories below, they should keep you going for
a while:
http://directory.google.com
http://directory.yahoo.com
http://dmoz.org
3) Determine whether or not a site is relevant.
It's time to start visiting web sites. Have a look at each
site one by one to see if a link to your site would realistically
fit in. A webmaster isn't likely to want to change the structure
of their site just to add a link to you, so if you don't
think you're going to fit in, close the site and move along
to the next. If you think you have a chance of getting linked,
move on to the next step.
4) Determine where on the site your link would fit
best.
If it's a directory that you're browsing through, find the
most appropriate category for your site. If it's just a web
site, have a look for a links page or any other pages that
have links or might be suitable to have links on it.
5) Submit your site.
If it's a directory that you're on, once you are in the
appropriate category for your web site, look around the page
for a place to submit your site. Quite often you will find
something like "Add URL", "Submit your site" or "Add a link" etc.
Use this link to submit your site.
If you're on a relevant web site and there is no "Add URL" function,
you will need to find an email address for the webmaster.
Keep in mind that when emailing the webmaster, always personalize
your request - don't just copy and paste a template to thousands
of different webmasters - that's a sure way to have your
request sent straight to the recycle bin.
Take the time to look around for a name, it won't always
be available, but when it is - use it. Let the webmaster
know where you think it might be suitable to have a link
to your site and let him know if you are happy to reciprocate
the link. At the end of the day, the easier you make it for
them, and the more polite your request is, the more likely
you are to end up with a link.
6) Document all of your work.
I can't stress this point enough, it is absolutely the most
important part of any link building campaign. Create a Word
document with all your site information in it (Title, Description,
URL). Also in this Word document, have a few email templates
prepared for different scenarios - I know I said don't use
templates, but you don't have to type out every request every
time you want to ask for a link - make up a template that
you can fill out specific information on like the web site
address, where you would like your link to be placed etc.
Make sure you also document each individual link request
you make - every time you ask someone for a link, write it
down in your Word document. That way, at a later date, you
can go through the list and check who is linking to you and
who isn't.
In Closing
Remember to be patient and keep your eye out for new potential
links. Improving your web site link popularity won't send
your web site straight to the top of the search engine rankings,
but it will help you in the long term. If you plan on building
a successful web site over a number of years, a properly
organized link building campaign will do you the world of
good. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.
Charles Ryder is the CEO of WCR Internet Marketing, a specialist
Australian
Search
Engine Optimisation company. For a free site analysis,
visit
http://www.wcr-internet-marketing.com.au
