|
|
|
|
Link Building Linking With Integrity - Getting One Way Links The Right Way It's just as important to know what not to do when executing a website linking strategy as it is to know what to do. With inexpensive linking software and services so readily available, there's a strong temptation to take shortcuts when it comes to getting quality links. Avoiding these traps will help your search engine placements rise naturally and stay that way for a long time. In this article, I describe two ways that you can help yourself avoid being labeled a link sp@mmer. Link Farms What is a link farm? A link farm is any website designed and set up for the sole purpose of getting search engine spiders to crawl and index web pages. These websites provide absolutely no end user utility or benefit. So how do you recognize a link farm? First, you need to ask yourself, is this site heavy laden with links? Most link farms will have a "farm" of links with little to no content. As for an explanation of the site's existence, it's usually missing too. The next question you need to ask is, what does the URL of the site itself look like? Most of the time, link farms will have long, hyphenated URLs (i.e. our-great-linking- directory dot com). This is a generalization so not all link farms will have these types of URLs. Many of these link farms are generated using software. The software will go out and find a domain name that contains specific keywords even if it settles on something with several hyphens and numbers. You may still consider a long, hyphenated site for linking purposes but make certain you conduct more research before you submit a link. Next, look at the domain name extension and note if it's .ínfo or .bíz. In order to sell these extensions, many domain name registrars provide a one-time, deep discount. I know of several registrars that sell .ínfo domains for 89 cents per year. These cheap domain names allow sp@mmers to generate thousands of sites at a huge discount. The next criteria I use to help identify a link farm is what I call the "cheese factor". Although some link farms will look professionally designed, most are either 1) generated with software or 2) are designed with the same cookie-cutter, non-altered templates that fill search engine results. This is especially true with blogs. Sp@mmers and Internet newbies will not take the time to brand their websites or blogs. These are commonly referred to as "pump and dump" websites. Another question you should ask is, does it look human? That is, does it look like someone hangs around and takes care of things? You should also be able to contact the webmaster either via web form or e-mail. If there's no contact information available anywhere on the website, be very afraid. If it's a directory site, check out the links in a few of the main directory headings. Are the URLs hyphenated just like the main URL? If you visit one of these sites, does it look the same as the site you just came from? Are there more URLs crammed onto one page than anyone could possibly visit in a lifetime? Last but not least, if you have your suspicions that a site might be a link farm, for any reason, stay away. It's better to miss a great linking opportunity than to post your link and get downgraded in your search engine placements. Non-relevant Links When you're placing your links, you want to make sure that the site you're linking to has something to do with your site and, vice versa. A non-relevant link is defined as a hypertext link placed on a website, or in a directory, that has little to no relevance to the linking site or directory. These links are placed for the sole purpose of 1) increasing page rank or 2) getting a website crawled and indexed or a combination of the two. The most obvious way to combat not-relevant links, over which you have complete control, is the placement of links on your site. Avoid placing links on your site to another that has no relevance to your content; even if it's legitimate. Why? The link doesn't do anything for you or the person whose link you placed. On the other hand, don't ask someone to place a link on their site which doesn't relate to yours. Google, Yahoo, and MSN all look closely at whom you're linking to and who's linking to you. In fact, Google's PageRank definition specifically states that link relevance (quality) is looked at more than just the link itself. So what's the solution? As in researching a potential link farm, you need to check out the sites that you're linking to. If you're submitting your site to directoríes or article directories, make sure that you're submitting your content and links to the most relevant topics and sections. Don't worry about getting an exact match in terms of relevance between your site and the linking site; just make sure that each site complements the other. Know the Linking Pitfalls In summary, you can be accused of being a link sp@mmer even if you think you haven't done anything wrong. To keep your linking strategy clean, I've outlined two specific techniques that will keep your site safe with the search engines. First, watch out for unscrupulous link directories and sites (i.e. link farms). Use the techniques and ask yourself the questions I've outlined to recognize and avoid these harmful sites. Second, make sure you're posting to relevant sites/directories/ articles/ blogs or wherever you choose to submit your content and links. Most importantly, if you think you might get accused of being a sp@mmer, by attempting to use a linking technique you just read about or software you just bought, trust your gut and don't do it. Linking software creators claim that you can get thousands of back links with the press of a button or for only "$49". The only way to get good quality back links is to do the research yourself and hand-submit every single link. If you avoid these two traps, you'll be well on your way to getting the links you need to get your website placed higher in search results and, as a result, generate more sales. About The Author: LinkAcquire.com is a full service article marketing and link building firm. Source: SiteProNews * May 14, 2008 * Issue #1090
Top 3 Google Linking Strategies of 2008 If you're serious about getting great ranking on Google you need to be serious about linking. Of course there are lots of ways to get links so we'll focus on just the methods that are fast, low cost or free and get the best results. Here are three that can put you on top of Google in no time flat! First let's start with getting inbound links from directories. A link from a directory gets a lot of weight from Google because they value it as a form of endorsement. You've probably used some directories yourself, like Yahoo. Or maybe you've used some without even knowing it, like The Open Directory Project (DMOZ.org) that powers many of the most popular search engines, including Google! Each directory is different and offers different options for obtaining links to your site. Here's a rundown of how different directories will link to your site... 1.) Free Submission: Just like it sounds. No charges for inclusion. DMOZ.org is the best one and powers Google, AOL and even Yahoo Search (not Yahoo directory.) Just be sure to follow their submission guidelines and pick the most appropriate sub category possible for inclusion. This is extremely important. 2.) Paid Submissions: They charge a fee to review the submitted link and possibly place the page. You might pay a few dollars one tíme, a recurring annual fee or as much as the $300 that Yahoo charges for commercial site review. 3.) Reciprocal Link: These usually require you to link to the directory before they will even consider linking back. 4.) Featured Link: Your link gets a premium spot that you pay for. 5.) Featured Homepage Link: This is a featured link on the homepage. As you've probably guessed, this can get real expensive. Yahoo is easily the most popular (and most expensive) but it's not the best. It's been my experience that a free listing with DMOZ.org is worth more than a paid listing with Yahoo. Even though Yahoo is more popular as a directory that people actually visit, DMOZ is much more popular with search engines and carries a lot of weight. A "vote" from DMOZ is a big deal indeed. Here are the five top directories offering free listings. Some even provide inexpensive expedited listing services or featured listings: 1.) dmoz.com There's a site that keeps an updated list of directories, but not all are free. You have to visit each to see if there is any cost. Go to TopWebSiteTips and scroll down to the drop down box at the bottom of the page. Select your desired Google PR and search. If you want to avoid getting niche directories in the results, check the "General Directories Only" box after your first return set and rerun the search. As a second option, you can also consider paying a submission service to get your site listed in the major directories. There are plenty that will do it for a reasonable fee. Just be sure they do the following three things: 1.) Manual submission only. Just search Google for "directory submission service" and you'll get plenty of options. I've used SEONext.com/ in the past with good success. They provide a "slow submission" service that makes your link building appear more natural to Google and other top search engines. And finally, there is no better way to get quality links than from a traditional reciprocal link campaign. This can be a time consuming step without automated software, but is very important. Here are 10 steps to a successful reciprocal linking campaign: 1.) Write down the keywords you want to be found for. 2.) Draft a standard letter you can use to easily customize for each site (customization tips at the end.) 3.) Run a search on Google for each keyword and jot down the URL for each match returned (not just the homepage but the URL for the actual page you want the link from, which is the one that came up in the search.) 4.) Remove any direct competitors from the list. 5.) Go back through your list and find the contact info for each site. Record this information. 6.) Create a link to each page you want to get a link from. This should be from the most appropriate page on your site, not the homepage. Do not exceed 10 outbound links per page at most. The fewer, the better. 7.) Send the customized email with the considerations outlined below. 8.) Verify their backlinks. 9.) Remove any outbound links that do not reciprocate within a month or so. 10.) Check your inbound links every couple of weeks. Make sure you are still getting the links you earned and that the people linking to you have not moved you to a less desirable page. Reciprocal Link Email Tips: A.) Address the email to a person by name if possible. B.) Start with a complimentary statement about what you like on their site. C.) Introduce yourself and your site. D.) Lead into why you feel your site is a good, non competing match (outline benefits for them and their visitors.) E.) Mention that you have already linked to their site and hope they feel a reciprocal link will be beneficial. Provide the URL to the page you linked from. F.) Explain why you linked from the page you did and the anchor text you used to show you understand link strategy. G.) Request that if they link back they use one of your anchor text suggestions along with the exact URL you want them to link to. H.) Offer to change the link anchor text of their URL if they wish. I.) Thank them genuinely for their time and sign with your first name to make it more personal and natural. You can do all of this manually or invest in a good piece of software to do the difficult and time consuming work for you. Many SEO professionals (myself included) use SEO Elite because it finds the best link partners, automatically gets their contact info and even manages entire campaigns. It's also a link verification system and search engine rank checker so it covers all of my SEO needs nicely ($167.) So whether you do the work by hand or invest in a time saving "instant gratification" SEO tool, the information in this article can help you to the top of Google in record time. Good luck! About The Author: Mike Small has been an SEO specialist since 1998 working with clients from start up to the Fortune 500. He has authored five SEO books and is the founder of popular SEO blog SEOpartner.com. Source: SiteProNews * April 30, 2008 * Issue #1084 |
|
|
Home | SEM | SEO | PPC | RSS | SMO | CSS | W3C | CMS | Link Building | Domain Names | Website Design | Website Statistics | Email Marketing | Ecommerce Marketing | Online Resources | Contact Us NASIKS Productions - SEMply The Best! |
