By James Williams
Search engines
are the gateway to the Internet;
they are the first tool that
potential customers use to find the
products and services they need.
This is why link popularity is so
imperative. If the customers do not
find your website, you have no
possibilities of making any sales.
You're probably wondering what the
blazes is popular about
a link! Well, in a word - plenty!
Link popularity refers to the
ranking assigned to your website by
the search engines, and it
determines the ranking your page
gets when keywords are entered into
a search engine. So, you're probably
wondering, how do I make my link
popular?
Search engines are discretionary,
giving status and ranking to sites
that have links to their pages from
related, quality sites. It's a
simple formula, but a very important
one. Google created the system, and
now virtually all the most popular
search engines employ it to rank
your web pages in their indexes.
The more commonly used your keyword
is, the harder it will be to achieve
link popularity, but without
achieving this step, it is almost
certain your site will never rank
highly on any search engine. But
don't be discouraged; there are
tried and true ways of achieving
link popularity using the most
competitive keywords.
There are a few things you should be
aware of. The first is that just
linking up with a large number of
other websites will not achieve link
popularity. In fact, it may have
quite the opposite effect. This is
particularly true when pertaining to
websites that are nothing more than
"link farms" - pages containing line
after line of indiscriminate
links. Search engines may
aggressively discriminate against
your website if you are associated
with a link farm, so steer clear of
them!
The next thing to bear in mind is
the quality of the site you are
linking to. Never link to a page you
have reservations about your
visitors seeing. The last thing you
want your website to appear as is
indiscriminate and cheap.
Linking to
sites of poor quality will only
lessen your link popularity, if not
completely destroy it.
So let's get to what you need to do
to achieve supreme link
popularity and improve your rankings
to stellar status on all the popular
search engines.
The first step, and the fastest way
to get your foot in the door, is to
get a listing in a popular
directory, such as Open Directory
Project and Yahoo. If your site is
business-related, you will want to
be listed on Yahoo, and despite the
fact that it will cost you around
$300 a year, it will be money well
spent. If your site is
non-commercial, the listing will be
free, but it will take time and
follow-up to actually get it listed.
Open Directory is
gives you a free listing whether you
are
business-related or non-commercial,
but be prepared to make
a lot of follow-up inquiries before
you see your site listed.
You are aiming to get listed in the
highest level of appropriate
category, and this just takes some
common sense. For example, if
your company ships Alpaca wool from
an Alpaca farm located in the middle
of Nowhere, Tiny State, do NOT
submit your listing to "Retailers
from Nowhere, Tiny State." BIG
MISTAKE! All you have to do is look
a little deeper - and submit your
listing to the "Fine
Alpaca Wool" category.
You will not only
associate yourself with culture and
quality, but you will be listed in a
national category.
The next step after you have
attained directory listings is to
locate other quality sites that will
increase your link popularity. Try
to find sites that are in some way
related to yours, so not only will
your link popularity increase, but
your customer base may also be
expanded. You want to avoid your
competitors and look for sites that
are useful to your site's visitors.
Let's look at the Alpaca Wool site
example.
Linking up
to a site that sells knitting
supplies would be helpful to your
visitors, and the chances of the
knitting supply site wanting to link
up to your site are also greater. By
linking to a related site that will
be relevant to your website's
traffic, you are increasing both
of your site's business prospects -
and both of your sites' link
popularity.
Not all sites want to link to other
sites, so you will have to do some
research when you are looking for
possible linking partners. Google is
an excellent starting place for your
search. Make sure you enter keywords
that you think quality customers
will also enter to find your own
site.
Remember, your criteria are quality,
highly ranked, non-competing
websites that have a links or
resources page. Go to these
sites and objectively assess them.
Look at the quality of the product,
the graphics, and the ease of use.
Then check out the other sites they
are linked to, and determine if your
own site would fit in with the
crowd.
When you decide you have found a
good prospect, you must set out to
woo them. The first thing to do is
to add a link on your own links page
to their site. This is an essential
first step; it shows good faith, and
ups your chances significantly of
their reciprocity. After you have
added their link, you must contact
the webmaster of their site.
Since this is almost always done by
email, you want to make sure it is
immediately clear that your message
is not junk mail. This requires that
you tell them right off the bat that
you have added a link to their page
on your site. A hook like this
almost always insures the reader
will read on.
Next, be sure to be flattering and
let them know how much you
appreciate their website. Make sure
you emphasize that you have actually
visited their site, and that their
site is not just a random pick. Give
them the address of your links page,
and ask them to check out the link
for themselves.
It's a good idea
to mention that they will not only
benefit from the increased traffic
your website will direct their way,
but you will also increase their
link popularity. Briefly, explain
why link popularity is so essential,
but do this in a sentence or two so
you don't sound like a professor!
Finally, tell them you would greatly
appreciate if they would
reciprocally add a link on their own
links page to your website.
Go through this process with as many
appropriate sites as you can find,
bearing in mind the criteria of
quality and non-competitiveness.
After you have emailed all relevant
sites, be sure to check these
website frequently to see if they
have added a link to your page. Give
it about a month, and if no link
appears, try another charming email.
Then give it another month, and if
your site is still absent from their
links page, it's time to remove
their link from your own links page.
The only time you
want to pursue a link further than
this is if you believe a site is
crucial to your link popularity and
your business needs. Just remember
to keep all your communications
complimentary and cordial.
Then set up a schedule to check your
ranking in search engines frequently
to see if your link popularity has
improved. This is not achievable in
the blink of an eye. It will take
some time and a good deal of work.
There is no way around the
labor-intensive quality of improving
your link popularity, which is why
search engines regard it with such
importance.
By the way - make sure you have a
beautiful, streamlined site or you
will never persuade anyone to link
up to you. Be prepared to keep
plugging away at this process, as
long as it takes, until you achieve
link popularity stardom!
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