5
Linking Strategies that Work
by:
Jinger Jarrett
One
of the most effective ways to promote
your business online, especially
if you use search engine optimization
to build traffic, is linking.
However, as a certified Web CEO
professional, and someone who also
uses only "white hat" optimization
strategies, I see people make a
lot of mistakes when using this
technique.
Below are some of the strategies
that I use to make linking more
effective, as well as raise my rankings
in the search engines.
1. Do your homework first.
You're probably wondering what "white
hat" techniques are.
"White hat" techniques are techniques
that will always work with the search
engines, like writing articles,
blogs, and press releases, and optimizing
individual pages for the search
engines.
These are the primary techniques
I use in addition to linking because
they work.
Just ask Tinu Abayomi-Paul, the
owner of http://www.freetraffictip.com.
Tinu is an expert when it comes
to using search engines to build
traffic to her sites.
She wrote me the other day to thank
me for "inspiring her". I'm not
sure exactly what that means, but
I do know that she uses a lot of
the same techniques I do to promote
my sites. She now has over 90,000
relevant entries in Google, more
than a lot of the top "gurus" on
the internet.
The fact is, the more pages you
have listed in the search engines,
and the more links you have pointing
back to your site, the more likely
you are to be found.
Although writing articles, blogs,
press releases, and optimizing pages
definitely works, you still have
to do your homework. This means
actually doing a search in the search
engines to find out how sites get
to the top, i.e. what keywords they
use, how their pages are optimized,
etc.
I use Alexa, http://www.alexa.com,
for this because it allows me to
look at traffic stats, as well as
see what sites are linked to eachother.
To get started, search for the keywords
you are targeting. Take a good look
at the sites at the top. This includes
studying the keywords, titles, and
descriptions they use in their headers.
Also, read the text of the pages.
It's not that hard to optimize your
page(s). Just write search engine
friendly content that repeats your
keywords. Make your content easy
for your readers to read and understand
though.
Now this may sound juvenile, but
again, it works. Tools like Keyword
Density Analyzer, http://www.keyworddensityanalzyzer.com,
and Web CEO, http://www.smallbusinesshowto.com/ht/search.html,
can tell you if you are on the right
track.
You can also read Linking Matters,
http://www.linkingmatters.com. This
short, and free ebook in PDF, will
give you more tips on linking.
2. Link to complementary sites.
I get link requests all the time,
and I have to reject about half
of them. The reason why is that
I won't link to sites that have
nothing to do with mine.
I offer small business, internet
marketing, and search engine optimization
and submission products and services.
Links to quote sites, joke sites,
and shoe sites don't fit with this.
The key here is to understand that
not only does Google, the most important
of all the search engines, look
at how many links are pointing back
to your site, but they also look
at the relevance of the links.
Sites that are similar, or complementary
to yours, give you more credibility
and higher page rank than having
tons of sites pointing back to you
that have nothing to do with your
site.
Make the links pointing back to
your site relevant.
3. Choose relevant, highly searched
for, low competition keywords for
your anchor text.
This tip relates to tip four. Before
you start sending out link requests
to other webmasters, make sure that
you're targeting the right keywords.
Not only are a lot of relevant links
important, but your keywords should
be keywords that will get you traffic.
4. Change your anchor text.
Recently Google decided that links
with the same text between your
{{a href=""}} and {{/a}} text should
be different. Too many links pointing
back to your site that had the same
text "looks" like spam. This doesn't
mean it is spam, and sometimes,
you don't have control over how
others link back to your site.
However, if you decide to exchange
links with others, vary your anchor
text.
5. Try other alternatives to software.
Although there are many software
programs out there you can use to
help you automate this process,
I caution you to be careful when
using this kind of software. Although
it may speed things up for you,
you may also end up with a lot of
links pointing back to you that
have no relevance. Also, these programs
really won't help you as much as
you think if you don't change your
anchor text once in awhile.
If you do choose to use software
to automate the process, make sure
that you personalize your emails.
Again, do your homework and make
sure that you are actually sending
out email to sites that complement
yours. No one likes to receive emails
that say "Dear Webmaster".
Using a directory script on your
site can help you because others
can visit your site and add their
links. Just make sure that you check
your directory once in awhile to
see who is linking to you. Also,
make sure that you set up your script
in such a way that others have to
have a link pointing back to you
first before your script will accept
their site.
Link Management Assistant - http://www.dirfile.com/link_management_assistant.htm
You can also find reciprocal link
exchange sites like Link Metro,
http://www.linkmetro.com. Sites
like this will allow you to choose
your partners, search for new partners,
and exchange links without being
bombarded with email or generic
requests.
Regardless of how you develop a
linking strategy for your site,
you need to develop one if you want
high rankings in the search engines.
About the author:
Jinger Jarrett is a writer and internet
marketer living in Alpharetta, Georgia.
She teaches search engine optimization
strategies "for the rest of us".
Get her best strategies, as well
as a copy of her "Search Engine
Secrets" ebook for free, when you
visit her site at http://www.jingerjarrett.com
