Increase Link Popularity: Planning a Link Building Strategy

Updated April 2004
By Alice Seba

Link Popularity Basics

Whatever method you use to generate hyperlinks to increase your link popularity, keep the following in mind:

1. Use your keywords in your links

For example:

Good link: Work at Home Mom - Free Internet Based Business Tips & Ideas
InternetBasedMoms.com has tips for choosing an online business, building a web page, search engines and promoting your business online.
 

Not such a good link: http://www.internetbasedmoms.com ~ Work at home mom free Internet based business tips & ideas. Tips for choosing an online business, building a web page, search engines and promoting your business online.

Search engine spiders read the text in your link and this may help your rankings for those keywords. The idea is if people are linking to you with those words in their link, then they must be relevant to your site. This helps increase your link reputation ~ Link reputation is an indicator of what keyword phrases your page is relevant for.

2. Make sure your links have a good description

Your incoming links can bring you traffic, as well as increase your link popularity, so keep marketing in mind!

3. Avoid Free for All (FFA) Links Pages & Link Farms

These are pages that exist solely to increase the link popularity of those who post their links. Listing on these sites may cause you to be penalized in the search engines.

4. Use your Google Toolbar to guide you in your link efforts.

It will show you if people are listed on Google, will allow you to easily see backward links a site has and will show a page's Google PageRank. Don't let PageRank guide all your linking decisions. PageRank can be developed over time. It is better to find quality links to your site from related pages than to worry about a page with a good PageRank.

5. The best links come from sites that are complimentary to yours.

Check your favorite search engine to see who comes out on top for the keywords you are targeting. Check the Open Directory Project and Yahoo Directory for sites in categories appropriate to your site. Check your link partners links pages and check your competition's links pages.

7. Don't forget to make links open in a new window.

You don't want to lose visitors to your site.

8. Check your link popularity and compare yourself to your competition at Market Leap.

A Few Words on "Traditional" Link Exchanges

Make it as easy for people to link to you as possible. Here are a few tips:

1. Create a page where people can get the information about linking to you. In other words, make a "Link to Us" page. Make it easy by providing with them the HTML that they can easily pasted into their web page editor.

2. Make sure your link partner's link page is on her own domain. There are free links managers (ex. Bravenet) that create links pages for users, but they are not on the users' domains. By exchanging with these people, you are actually exchanging links with Bravenet (for example), rather than your link partner.

3. When you find suitable link partners, put their link up on your site before contacting them. Write a personal email requesting an exchange. Let them know why you think your exchange is a good one and provide them with the HTML code to put up your link. Don't send a mass email to everyone...it's too impersonal and your message is likely to be ignored.

Arelis Review

4. Try using a links manager program to find quality link partners and to build your links pages. Arelis is one such tool that does more than quickly generate HTML links pages for you. It helps you find suitable link partners based on the keywords you are targeting and checks that people are still linking back to you. You can download a free trial.

Building Quality Links Outside of Link Exchanges

There are more ways to generate links to your pages than just exchanging them. Create quality links by doing the following:

1. Get your site listed on large directories like Open Directory Project and Yahoo Directory. Google uses Open Directory Project listings in these directories to formulate its own directory and listings in either or both directories can help boost your "importance" or PageRank on Google.

Listings in the Open Directory Project are free. Click here to read tips on getting listed on the Open Directory Project.

You will have to pay to be considered for inclusion to Yahoo! It's a whopping $299 just to be considered with absolutely no guarantee of listing. Given the Yahoo's search results are currently provided by Google, I don't believe it's necessary. If you still want to proceed, click here for tips on getting listed on Yahoo.

You cannot request a listing in Google's Directory. You need to submit your site for free submission at the Open Directory Project.

2. Write a press release about your website. Submit it to online newswires like PRWeb or Click2NewSites.com. You can also submit to newspapers that run their stories on their websites. Click here for tips on writing a press release.

3. Join associations related to your business or field of specialty. Many of these associations will link to their members.

4. Have your articles with your byline published on other websites. Submit your articles to sites that host free content. Consult our list of free content sites to get started.

5. Get links from other big, "important sites". Do you have an eBay About Me Page, a Ryze Page or even a Yahoo Groups page? Did you know these have link popularity? It makes business sense to link to these pages and then have them link back to you.

6. Link the various pages of your website together. Your most important links should be on all your pages for easy navigation and to increase your link popularity. You should also link to relevant information on your other pages when appropriate.

7. Create a few websites with similar themes and create a few links between them. For example, if you sell children's books on one site, you can also make a site on children's literacy and so forth. One is your sales site and the other is purely informational, but be careful of cross-linking to heavily...as this can be penalized by search engines.

8. Purchase ads on various inexpensive (or expensive, if you really want) directories that have a relevant theme to yours. If you are a wedding planner, get your site listed in Wedding-related directories.

9. Create an informative and useful site. If your website is good, people will WANT to link to you. You won't need to ask them.

10. Offer testimonials for products and services related to your industry. Many websites will give links in return for testimonials. For example, if you are a bookkeeper, provide testimonials for various bookkeeping-related software and tools.

11. If someone asks you for an interview for their website or to contribute to an article, do it. They should (and you should insist they do) give you links back to your site in return.