 Here’s
the magic question. What is the single most important thing I can do to benefit
the visibility of my web site?
Without question the answer is to
build links. Reason?
The first would be that every
time you successfully get a link to your site added on another web site you are
increasing the exposure of your web site to Internet users.
 Each
of these links is now acting as a sales and marketing person for your web site.
The value of that link is determined by the reputation of that web site and the
amount of traffic that it generates to your site.
The second, and the most often
sought after reason to establish links on other site is to build link reputation
for your site. Every link to your site is counted towards your site’s total
score in link reputation. The configuration of those links and how they refer to
you will determine their value to your site. Links accomplish two major
challenges in terms of link reputation:
- Build credibility: The
credibility of your web site is often in direct proportion to the number and
quality of links to your site. The more links you have from sites that the
search engines already value as credible help give you a better ‘reputation’.
- Establish relevance: The newer
factor that links have is in determining what your web site should be relevant
for. The words that other sites use to link to you and the content of the site
with the link will go a long way towards how the search engines see your web
site.
The reality is that the way other
sites link to you has a greater influence on how you rank on a search engine
like Google then any other factor.
For details on how other
sites are linking to you and how this is affecting your visibility complete our
web site analysis.
Unfortunately, Google has
continued to add new layers to their link analysis and it is not quite as clear
cut as when they first began evaluating this factor. At first the number of
links was the critical factor. Now the text used in the link, the code of the
linking page and the url all come into play along with numerous other factors.
In fact, Google can actually penalize sites if every link to them is configured
using the same text. That means that it pays to use multiple descriptions of
your site when generating links.
To learn how more about
the effectiveness of your keyword targets and the ways in which other sites link
to you complete our web site analysis.
The best strategy for building
links is to look for companies that you know are targeting the type of traffic
that you would like to drive to your web site. Do this by starting at a search
engine like Google and searching for keywords that might be collaborative to
your business. The sites that rank in the top 30 are probably getting some level
of traffic from prospects that you would value as well. It is then a matter of
contacting that company, by phone or e-mail, and building a relationship.
Remember that the easiest way to gain a link is to bring value to their site.
Reciprocal links are not the first value that you should approach the site owner
with. Be creative. Consider affiliate programs, referral fees or just value
added user experience. Link building is really about building quality
relationships to drive traffic to your site and not just about adding to your
link reputation. To
determine your current link reputation request our web site analysis.
About ebasedEVOLUTION
ebasedEVOLUTION is the leading search engine
marketing and web development firm practicing only ethical search engine
optimization and email services. As a total solution Internet marketing company,
they focus on providing every aspect of an effective online marketing campaign.
At their base they are problem solvers that utilize a richly skilled staff of
consultants, marketers, developers and programmers to honestly approach clients'
goals for the purposes of achieving results on a local and global scale.
Examples of companies currently using their technology include Jiffy Lube,
Donald Haack Diamonds, Hamilton Beach, Broyhill Furniture,
National Gypsum, Crosland Properties, PGA and
Ozburn-Hessey Logistics. For additional information, see
www.ebasedevolution.com. |
