Looking Differently at Links
We’ve all followed links from one website to another, but did you know these links are an important part of search engine rankings?
Over the past couple of years, links – especially inbound links pointing toward your website from other sites, have come to be a sign of relevance and authority. The more people who point others to your website the higher value that Google places on your pages and the higher your site will score on a search results page.
Some people take this knowledge and start putting up links everywhere they can, thinking that any link is a good link. Some less reputable SEO consultants create websites with no content except a massive list of links, so the page resembles a spreadsheet. This is how some consultants can honestly claim that they will place a website link on hundreds of pages. They are just tossing pages and links around the internet with no rhyme or reason. So yes they will do what they say, but it won’t get the benefits you expect from your investment.
Google and other search engines really do pay attention to the sources of your inbound links. It looks at the linking pages to see if those cover similar information. Links coming in from websites within the same framework are weighted more heavily than websites that have nothing in common with your site.
For example, if you sell shoes it will do you more good to have a link coming in from “Shoe fans” than from “Hat fans”. This is not to say that you should tell “Hat fans” that you don’t want their link. If it’s a link from a legitimate page it’s still good. The only links you don’t want are the ones from places that will charge you to sit on their database.
So since links are important what should you do to get good links — and get a better ranking at Google?
What I suggest may sound a bit radical and not in line with what other SEO consultants have written about. but I say forget about Google! I say that when you are looking to build up your inbound links start by thinking about how to connect with your customers instead.
Question: “What is the most powerful form of advertising?”
Answer: “Word of mouth!”
Think of links as the ‘word of mouth’ of the web. Every time someone links to your website, it’s the same as praising you to a friend. In a way, a page link can be just as good as or even better than a word of mouth comment since a link can stick around for years.
The key to creating a successful linking strategy in this word-of-mouth method is to focus on getting as many links in front of real customers as possible. This is the whole point behind a successful pay-per-click campaign. With pay-per-click it’s easier – and faster – to get your links in the right place, but the downside is that those link ads only last as long as you are willing to spend the money. Pay-per-click links can be very effective in a short term but word-of-mouth links last for years.
Taking the time to find people, groups and companies who will link to your site (and use your services) is a long term solution for your business. Most people want to think of SEO as a problem to be solved once, rather than what it is: a process that needs to be done on a regular basis.
Think about this, what would you prefer? Driving more real people to your website or having a hundred links which may or may not raise your Google ranking? The normal response to this question is both, but given a choice most people would always prefer customers.
How to build this word of mouth campaign? That answer will be in the next article.
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