Why Search Engines Love Inbound Links
There is a kind of inbound link that the search engines use to decide that your site is worth putting at the top of a search result. Links to your site from relevant, respected websites are a way to hit search engine gold.
You can build up your inbound link count by approaching website owners and asking for a link, or by sending them articles (with a link to your site) that would be interesting to their audiences. But before you do, here’s a list of what to look for.
Great inbound links…
- Come from relevant sites. If your site is about golfing, don’t go after a link from a site that sells hockey sticks.
- Appear natural. If people were linking to your website randomly, they wouldn’t all use the same anchor text, and they wouldn’t all link to you in the same week. When you give out the links you want people to use, vary the anchor text and build them up gradually over time.
- Aren’t lost among dozens of other links. You don’t want the page your link is on to have more than two dozen outbound links… the fewer the better (unless the link is from a directory).
- Are placed in a good position on the site. Negotiate to get your link embedded in a natural position — usually within some text in the main body area. The search engines can discredit links found in the footer, right-hand side, or other popular areas where advertising usually goes.
Don’t worry about getting your link on their homepage. Deep links within a strong complementary website are great.
- Are found on sites that are indexed regularly. Sites that aren’t indexed regularly will not carry as much weight.
- Are on sites that have been around for a while. The search engines assume that an older site is more credible - and usually have a higher page rank
- Are on sites with high Google PageRank. The more links you can get from high PageRank sites, the higher you’ll get ranked in Google’s listings. However, if you find a website that would be a great partner but the PageRank is 3 or lower, they are still worthwhile
Collecting inbound links is one of the most powerful strategies for getting high rankings in the search results. It’s worth spending time on.
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