Once upon a time, it was thought that when a business launched its website, the orders would simply come flooding in. But, with literally billions of websites on the net, sites need more than a catchy domain name and some pretty solid content to be a success. The best way to succeed online is to build a site presence, and links makes all the difference, particular high quality links.
When a web user wants to find a website, he or she will usually enter a relevant phrase or topic name into a search engine and search for specific information, not a particular site. Links play a key role in establishing the prominence that a particular site has within a topic, and therefore a higher rank within the search engine.
Through search engine optimisation, which is more commonly referred to as SEO, the search engine will best be able to find what the user is looking for. This makes the dual areas of site linking and key word searching equally important. But, in terms of linking, there are aspects that affect the actual quality of the link, one of which is relevance.
For many people, the whole world of website linking is a bit like backwards Greek. Completely confusing. However, it is perfectly clear when one breaks the matter down into its simplest form and keeps in mind the key theme word on which the whole matter is based. That theme word is sharing.
A link is basically a percentage of a single value, lets say the number 1. And the value of 1 is divided equally between all of the websites on the internet, ensuring that all existing sites have an equal rank. Through links, websites can donate their value to others, thereby building the significance of the website they links to.
To make it simpler, think of the internet as an apartment building, with 100 apartments. The building has a value of 100, with each apartment a value of 1. The popularity, and therefore rank of apartments, can be measured by the number of residents that like to visit, or link to, it. So, if three residents visit apartment 5B, they donate their respective values, meaning 5B is worth 3. And since every other apartment is worth just 1, that means that 5B is the most popular or the most prominent, and is duly ranked top of the list.
It gets a little more complicated when the resident in apartment 3F likes to visit three apartments regularly, say 7D and 2H, as well as 5B. In that case, 3F simply divides its value into 3, thereby donating 0.33 to each of 7D, 2H and 5B. However, as an intricate visiting pattern develops, the values can become extremely varied and result in a table of preferences, clearly ranking the apartments according to their popularity.
Quality is also important, and search engines have developed to such a level of sophistication that they can identify which links are most relevant, and which ones are less so. In the past, owners of websites and blogs simply built a multitude of links on other sites to into a position of significance. The problem was that not all links were on relevant sites, or even sites that could be considered genuine.
So, an owner of a pet store might link sites relating to gardening, sport and archeology to his own business website, as well as those relating to pet matters. The result is a huge number of links, but only a small percentage of which are relevant.
Now, search engines evaluate the quality of the particular links, that if a site is linked to a site within the same topic or industry, the relevance is high and the link is a high quality link. Once this status has been achieved, and a search engine places a site higher on the ranking system, it will take less time for a web user to find a relevant site.
With the right key words, and a truly effective search engine optimisation strategy, more traffic can be directed to a site, bringing more potential customers, creating more business and increasing sales. With the right link building and SEO techniques, any business can thrive on the world wide web.
While SEO ranking, keywords and links are all valuable methods for a website to build its online presence, there are specific techniques that make them so efficient. One of the most popular is the provision of link bait, which is designed to entice visitors to add links to websites and specific content. In doing so, it builds popularity, relevance and ranking status on a search engine.
There is no getting away from the fact that internet marketing is essential. The problem is that the marketing techniques used in past decades are completely ineffective online, and the techniques used online are very specific. It means that, even for the most experienced business people, it is necessary to avail of professional marketing and seo services to ensure the best possible results.
Article marketing is one marketing strategy popularly utilised by such service providers. An article is posted with the distinct intention of referring readers to a specific site through links contained within the article content. Effectively, the content is the bait to which the site is linked. There are several effective kinds of content to which the links can be added, but here are just five.
Informative Content
The most logical way to keep site visitors coming back, and sharing articles with their respective networks, is to provide content that is informative and valuable. This content does not have to be news, but can be detailed or simplified explanations of complex matters, overviews of significant events, or simply well structured opinions that leave the reader more enlightened on a subject. Quick guides, lists of tips or revelations about neat tricks to make life easier, are all gold content in this respect. Ideally, the visitor should feel inspired to share what they have learned by linking to the site.
Unique Content
There is a huge value given to unique content on the web, mainly because reproduced content tends to indicate a laziness, a lack of genuineness and, by association, a dishonesty on the part of the site owner. Understandably, visitors are turned off by this and, as a result, search engines have clamped down on the use of reproduced content, making it necessary for site owners and bloggers to find fresh material from somewhere. However, by producing unique content, it is possible to strategically structure it so that the reader will feel compelled to use the links, and thereafter link back to the site, thereby effectively marketing the business site.
Cited Content
This refers to content that references its information, by linking out to source sites and articles through citations. This builds relevance, and provides a valuable bait to those cited sites to link back. So, for example, if content on bamboo furniture cites an article published on a furniture blog, the blog owner is likely to advertise the fact his site was cited, and link to the particular article. It adds significance to his own content, and as a consequence, his readers will share the link in their own networks.
News Content
In every sphere, there is a hunger for fresh information. Web designers want to know the new tools in the pipeline, motor enthusiasts want to know about new models, and film buffs want to know what projects are in production. To satisfy this hunger, web users will gravitate towards a news source. It is a principle that is allowing some blogs to enjoy unexpected levels of prominence, as visitors link to the news source, spread the news amongst their respective networks, and thereby increasing awareness, traffic and attaining a higher seo ranking.
Videos, Illustrations and Humour
It is impossible to over estimate the value of entertainment on the internet. After all, everyone is drawn quite naturally towards entertaining content, whether it is a photograph, a cartoon, a painting, a video or a written joke. Images that are emotional, curious, strange or just inspiring can attract interest and prompt people to link to it. Similarly, videos such as those available on YouTube, attract viewers and can then be linked to. And while, in internet marketing terms, this strategy is a success, those linking will only see it as sharing something that is entertaining.
With businesses turning to providers of professional seo services, the campaign efficiencies are high, which in turn increases competition. However, because the link bait technique appeals to the specific interests of web users, its success rate is high. A reader, after all, is always happy to read more, and go to a site that provides as much.
When a new website or blog is created, it’s very important to have people visit. One may have the best product or content, but if no one can find the website, then only a limited number of people will be able to benefit.
There are several ways that one can get people to a site. A company can advertise on different websites to get awareness out, but over time, it may be a little costly, especially if a company has a limited budget to work with.
Building links is one great way to improve a website’s ranking. This is a popular SEO strategy. Links can often be compared to the number of roads or highways that lead to a town. The more roads that lead back to a town, the more likely it will get visitors. Search engines work on the same premise, if it sees a bunch of quality links from different high ranking, quality sites, it will see that the site as an authority site and give it a good ranking in the search engines. Though this is a good method for improving page rank, one must realize that there are strategies that will also get a site penalized and should be avoided at all costs.
Link Spam
This search engine optimisation strategy is used when a company or individual goes to forums, blogs and random sites to submit content and a link back to their site. A good example of this is when an individual leaves a comment with a link back to their site. This is not the best strategy to use, especially if the site where the comment left wasn’t related in any way to the target site, has poor ranking or is a link farm.
Purchasing Links
When a company employs a tactic like this, it purchases links. The ranking and the number of outbound links of the linking site will determine the cost that should be paid. One has the option of purchasing links that have a desired link text. Using this strategy could be dangerous because some search engines, like Google, don’t support this tactic. Google actually looks for sites that sell links and will ban them. Any companies that had purchased links from the banned site will lose all the links that were purchased.
Connecting to Link Farms
A link farm is a site that has a bunch of outbound links. Google frowns on link farms. Avoid creating sections on a page that link out to a bunch of different sites. This is a strategy that is used to trade links with another site. Sites that link to low quality sites, like link farms will lose credibility very quickly and page rankings will suffer.
Building Links Too Fast
One strategy that will put a website on the radar is using strategies that build links too fast. It’s normal for many sites to link to a site, but if it is done too quickly, it will not seem natural to the search engines. Make sure that when using link strategies, to build it at a consistent pace. If a strategy has been set to build 100 links for one week; do not build a thousand links the next. This will not seem natural and will get a site penalized.
Search Engine Optimisation or SEO strategies should be a part of every company’s strategy. When a company has optimised its pages such that it comes out ranking number one for specific highly search keywords, it will almost guarantee that a lot of visitors will be taking a look at the site. For a company to rank on the first page in many search engines, it should employ link building strategies to quickly improve a site’s rankings. But, before a company sets out to build links, it should review the strategies above carefully. These should be avoided at all costs because many of them will not improve page ranking and a site’s rankings will usually suffer.