Link Building – Link your Website to SEO Success

In the Online marketing domain, success is highly dependant on your search engine optimization campaign. As more and more users get hooked to popular search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc for the smallest of queries, high rankings on these websites will amount to increase in your traffic influx, and consequently, sales.

The process of optimization comprises two basic techniques – paid and unpaid optimization. The latter is a natural or organic method of optimization, which involves working on a website's content, Meta Tags and link building programme so as to get higher listings on SERPs. Whereas, the former involves a process of bidding for placement on search engines. Here, the advertisers pay search engines for every click generated on ads placed on their result pages.

Link popularity is one of the most influential factors in the world of organic optimization. A tedious and long-term strategy, it is a process wherein you have to get your links placed on other websites so as to get traffic diverted from them to you. Experts insist that if your site has no incoming links from other websites, you have no chance of being even indexed by search engines.

Link for PageRank

Link exchange is also important for websites looking to attain higher PageRank (PR), especially in relation to Google's algorithm. PR is determined by the quantity and strength of links that point to your website. Therefore, a well-strategised link exchange programme can do wonders for your business.

Quality Linking

A number of online surveys on the success of optimization programmes have proved that the inability of getting sufficient quality links has doomed many a web business. Therefore, your objective should be to conjure as many high-quality links as possible. Even though every individual link might not ring in huge volumes of traffic; all your links put together will, in due course, get you increased traffic influx.

The quality of a link is primarily determined by what other sites 'say' about your website on their pages. Even if you have a huge quantity of links pointing to your site, they will all be useless if their texts do not contain keywords relevant to your business. Or more so, if the content of their linking page is not related to the content on your site.

If the meta tags (esp title), content and anchor text of a linked page are somewhere related to your website, it can be described as a quality link. Thus, link quality is mainly derived by link relevancy (to your online business).

Linking Dos and Don'ts

Even though you might be tempted to go and out and build links with every possible website, you need to exercise caution. There are a number of sites and link farms that, when linked to, can harm your business by earning you a bad reputation in the eyes of search engines.

Listed below are a few linking tips by search engine optimization experts for the betterment of your campaign:

1) Do exchange links with sites that offer similar services as yours. This will ensure that you get quality links that can boost your popularity.

2) Do link up with industry associations and important directories like Open Directory Project (ODP or DMOZ). These directories provide links to thousands of directories and being listed with them will help you get noticed easily.

3) Link to all pages on your site from your homepage and sitemap page. This will boost the PR of your website.

4) When you contribute to blogs, social networks or newsgroups, make sure that you include a link to your website whilst signing off.

5) Keep a constant check on who all are linking to your website. By doing so, you can get into a constructive link exchange programme that'll stand your campaign in good stead.

6) Avoid the use of 'Click Here' as the anchor text of your links. Search engines might not be too interested in scanning a page that has such a text for a link. Instead, try and incorporate a few of your important keywords.

7) When doing SEO, do not exchange links with link farms or banned websites. You might eventually end up getting your own site blacklisted on search engines.

8) Do not link to sites that are not related to your business. Because they will not have your prospective buyers as visitors, there is simply no point in associating with them.

Keeping these simple points, but crucial points in mind will ensure that your campaign stays on the right track. Stick to search engine guidelines without being too ambitious and impulsive with regard to your link exchange programmes. It is definitely better to bide your time and be patient than go about establishing links with websites that can put your online business in doldrums.