Increasing Your Website's Link Popularity

Search engines are the doorway to the Internet; they are the first tool that potential customers use to locate the products and services they need. This is why link popularity is so important. If the customers do not locate your website, you have no possibilities of making any sales.

You're probably wondering what in the world is popular about a link! Well, in a word - lots! 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 likely wondering, how do I make my link popular?

Search engines are open, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from connected, quality sites. It's a fundamental formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now practically all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more widely used your keyword is, the harder it will be to attain link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is practically 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 some things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not attain link popularity. In fact, it may have just 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 connected with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The next thing to remember is the worth of the site you are linking to. Don't link to a page you have worries about your visitors viewing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of inferior quality will only mitigate your link popularity, if not completely destroy it. So let's get to what you need to do to get 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 started, 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 of no cost, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory gives you a complimentary listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be ready to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

You are trying to get listed in the highest level of the proper category, and this just takes some common sense. For instance, 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 more - and submit your listing to the "Fine Alpaca Wool" category. You will not only connect 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 augment your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way connected to yours, so not only will your link popularity raise, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to steer cleer of 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 advantageous to your visitors, and the chances of the knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are also better. By linking to a related site that will be pertinant 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 searching for possible linking partners. Google is an outstanding starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your site. Keep in mind, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively appraise them. Look at the worth of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and decide if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you determine you have found a good prospect, you must set out to persuade them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is a crucial first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is practically 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 virtually always ensures 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 truly 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 guide their way, but you will also augment their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so important, but do this in a sentence or two so you don't sound like a preacher! 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 suitable sites as you can find, keeping in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all applicable sites, be sure to check these website regularly 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 important 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 regularly 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 enhancing your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such significance.

By the way - make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never convince anyone to link up to you. Be set to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you attain link popularity stardom!



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Schwartz, is the founder of Promotions Unlimited,an Internet legal directory (CA, TX & Las Vegas ) publisher and search engine placement technology analyst.  You can contact Bob via e-mail at  seo711@gmail.com or visit his San Diego legal directory at:  http://www.sandiegolawyerforyou.com/special.htm