Building Link Love

One way Google and other search engines rank search results is by counting how many links point to a particular website. The ranking system also considers the relative popularity and content of the pages linking to you. These factors help sort the results of a search, putting the most visited (and linked to) sites first. The reason for this is the logical assumption that sites with lots of inbound links have useful content. How does it work?

Search engines reference links much the same way a librarian assesses the value of a reference book by looking at the works it cites in the bibliography. A book on relativity citing research and publications by Einstein and Hawking is considered more useful than one basing its information on the science of Star Wars and for good reason. Similarly, when popular and/or reputable websites link to you, search engines consider that a vote of confidence in your content. So, how do you take advantage of this?

Identify popular web pages that attract the kind of visitors you want looking at your site and request reciprocal links. Suppliers, business associates, and professional associations to which you belong are great places to build traffic for your website. For example, if you offer fishing charters, it makes sense to have reciprocal links with tourism associations, local hotels, and fishing equipment suppliers. Alumni associations, your local chamber of commerce, and any non-profit or charitable causes you work with can also provide cost-effective exposure.

In addition to helping your Google PageRank, you’ll benefit from the added traffic the exposure brings. Additionally, the higher the rank of the pages hosting links to your site, the greater the impact on your website’s rankings. You can also consider sites which may not necessarily relate to your product or service, but do attract a similar demographic. If you sell knitting supplies, a link from a popular arts and crafts site is probably more useful than one from a company specializing in the production of equipment for the aerospace industry. (Please don’t bombard us with examples of aerospace engineers who love to knit! We know you’re out there and we salute you!)

It’s important to understand link-building is definitely not an overnight process. Identifying link partners can take time. The benefits however, are worth the investment. Unlike a pay per click campaign, which is over as soon as the money runs out, once the link is established, it’s essentially an ongoing free advertisement and recommendation for your website. A link from a website that gets thousands of visitors a day is practically a guarantee of increased traffic. In addition to reciprocal links, you can also use blogs, social media sites, and online forums to improve your rankings and traffic. This approach is somewhat more involved, but also can generate good results at a low cost. We can explain that process (and other link-building strategies) to you in more detail, as part of Mastermynde’s SEO services.