Internet Marketing Blog

Incoming Links from RELATED, CREDIBLE web sites are Essential to Top FREE Search Engine Rankings. Especially to Google!

Once upon a time, the content of your site was the only thing that mattered for search engine listings. I remember when the most important thing the search engines considered were your Meta Tags.

Meta Tags are simply instructions in the web page heading that told the search engines how to list your site. Times have changed, now many engines don’t even pay attention to them. Site content, also known as “on site factors” is still King but now there is a Queen, known as “off site factors” and it’s the combination of the two that is REQUIRED for better FREE listings in the Search Engines. Off site factors simply refer to incoming links from other sites.

Incoming links are an indication of how popular your site is in the Internet community at large. However, BEWARE not all links are created equally. In fact some can actually do you more harm than good. In this article I will discuss the types of links you want, and present a few options on how to get them.

Not All Links Are Created Equally

Links can be classified under two broad categories:

1. Reciprocal or “link trades”
2. Incoming or “one way links”

Another couple things to consider are:

a. The quality and reputation of the sites that are linking into yours. Are the sites linking to you recognized in the internet community as “spam” sites, link farms or respected, content based “authority” sites?
b. The actual link text of the links that are linking to your site.
Reciprocal Links or “Link Trading”

Reciprocal Links are also known as link exchanges or trades. You basically contact a site owner and offer to exchange links with him or her. The idea is that the trade is a mutually beneficial maneuver that will get both of you recognition for having incoming links to your site.

Reciprocal link exchanges are only moderately beneficial and that is assuming you ONLY link up with other SIMILAR CONTENT related sites that have a good, established, online reputation. A good reputation online means they are well positioned in the search engines and have a Google PR ranking of at least as high as yours and preferably higher. It also means the site has real content and isn’t just a Spam marketing site with tons of links. You also want to make sure the site you are considering linking up with isn’t blacklisted or banned from the search engines. You are known by the company you keep.

Another thing that is very important if you are considering a reciprocal link trade system is the ability to TRACK your link partners to make sure they continue linking to you. Quite often webmasters and site owners change their sites and drop some or all of the links. If you don’t keep track of the sites you are linked to in order to make sure they are linking back to you, you could end up with plenty of outgoing links and few or no incoming links, which will do you no good.

There are software programs on the market that you can run on your server, PC or even 3rd party, hosted solutions to this problem. Just do a search for, “reciprocal link software” or “reciprocal link systems” etc. Make sure you do your due diligence because there are many to choose from and some are good, while others aren’t worth the time it takes to set them up. However link trades are becoming less effective and some engines actually check to see if the link to your site is reciprocated. If it is, they deduct points from the value of that link because they know that the site isn’t necessarily recommending you but just trading with you for mutual benefit in the engines.

Managing a reciprocal link exchange is very time consuming and unfortunately many of the people who apply for links on your site will be out for themselves and offer little value in return. In order to find descent link partners you have to research and hunt them down and then many if not most will not link with you or reply to your emails. This can be a beneficial project but it take alot of time, effort and patience. It is a long term way to improve incoming links.
One Way Incoming Links

These are the best type of links and the Search Engines (especially Google) take them into consideration when considering your listings.

All things considered if you have two similar sites with similar content, the one that will get higher listings will be the one with the most or best incoming links.

A one way incoming link is like a vote from another “unrelated” person or business regarding the content value of your site. Your content is like a vote for your site by YOU regarding the content value of your site. Think of one way incoming links like third party credibility. Recently, the search engines have started to assign a lot of value to incoming links as a sign of content value. Especially if the link comes from a related content “authority” site that is highly ranked in the engines. The problem is these are some of the hardest links to acquire.

Search engines now realize we are trading links with each other for higher link popularity, and they also realize that some of these link exchanges are legit so they have a ranking system related to the value of different types of links.

If you have a good quality site that provides value to the public, you will naturally attract links from other quality sites over time. However if your site offers nothing more than a sales message, don’t expect other sites to line up to link to you. Nobody like to be sold to. No matter how good the product or service may be. There are still many people who detest the commercialization of the Internet. So if you are using the net for sales purposes only, I recommend you add some valuable content to your site. If your site message is limited to “buy this or go away”, many people with simply… go away. Informative or helpful articles are one possibility. Free software giveaways are another. There are many different possibilities depending on your site content and topic.
How And Where To Get Links

Here are some of the methods I use for myself and some of my clients..

Reciprocal Links

a. Install an automated link exchange software program on your hosting server and notify the link directories that you are looking for link partners. This can be time consuming however and you want to be very particular when choosing link partners. I turn down more than I accept which makes this a slow and somewhat limited results process. Used to work well but the net has changed.

Examples

Duncan Carvers Link Management Assistant - Freeware http://www.onlinemarketingtoday.com/software/link-management/

Reciprocal Links Manager – Commercial Software - http://reciprocalmanager.com/

There are many others but these will give you an idea of what your looking for. They do take server configuration and ongoing management but much of it is automated once the system is setup (like checking for back links and emailing link partners). Unless you are Internet “savvy” these programs are best installed by a webmaster.

b. Join an automated online link exchange service. This will not take as much time to manage but it has it also gives you somewhat less control over who you link with. Some services give you the flexibility and customization you need and others don’t. Some charge a monthly fee and others don’t. Do your research.

Examples

IndexGuy Text Links Management System - Both Free and Paid Options

Got Links – Monthly Fee
http://www.gotlinks.com/

These guys were free then suddenly started charging. The only reason I didn’t start paying is because link trades are losing their effectiveness.

c. How To Get One Way Incoming Links – The BEST Kind to have.

1. Wait and hope over time you attract them (slow)

2. Buy Them (Fast and often costly)
http://www.buy-text-links.biz/
http://www.linkadage.com/

3. Tag and Ping to get listings on social book marking sites. This is the latest craze as of this writing. Social bookmarking sites are places where people share links to sites they recommend. There are many to choose from but one popular example is: http://www.technorati.com

4. Submit your site to numerous quality link directories.
http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php

These only represent a few of the many services and programs available. One thing is for sure…
Quality incoming links can make a big difference in your rankings

Acquiring the right kind of links can actually get you listed in the engines FASTER than submitting your site. In fact many SEO specialists don’t submit at all. They get high PR incoming links and let the engines spider the sites. However there are many things that have to be considered in order to get the most benefit from links for the least amount of cost and effort. If you aren’t sure I recommend consulting with an experienced professional regarding your particular site needs and the most effective strategy.

About the Author:
Mark Hamilton has been a Webmaster and SEO specialist since 1997. You can visit his site at www.internetoutfitter.com. You are free to post this article on your site as long as you leave ALL the author related information and links to the authors web site intact.