Astounding Language

Webmasters understand that quality and relevant inbound links can increase site visibility; your search engine rating; and with any luck increase your traffic and revenue.

While working to locate relevant links for our site, we discovered a disturbing practice apparently being used to increase link popularity and search engine ranking. The following are the sorted details of our journey and discovery.

1) Most webmasters understand the hunt for quality relevant sites is, like most things of value in life, a time consuming and difficult task. Being limited on time, we first tried to hire a leading SEO expert to locate relevant links. When the SEO expert did not return emails, we tried a few link exchange sites. While a few good quality links were unearthed, the link exchange sites simply did not offer a large quantity of good relevant sites. After all, our competitors had hundreds of thousands of inbound links and we had less than 900. While tempting, we skipped over the advertisements for traffic as our desire was for prospective customers not traffic.

2) We finally decided on the DIY approach. First step, check current reciprocal links page to insure all was well. A few sites no longer linked to us, so our webmaster links page required a few updates.

3) Next we chose to use Link Popularity Check to locate links that our competitors have, that we perhaps missed. The first thing we noticed was hundreds of inbound links a competitor had, all coming from a few specific sites. Upon visiting the sites, we noticed that one was a “directory” and several others were normal sites that contained very little content. In short, the directory and other sites were nothing a competent webmaster could not create in a day or two.

4) We found it odd the inbound sites all have the same visual look, color scheme, and navigation. Our competitor’s site was also listed in the “Related Resources” area on each and every page. The light bulb suddenly switched on! The inbound sites appeared to have been created for the sole purpose of increasing link popularity and therefore the competitor’s search engine ranking!

5) Ping the four sites to locate the IP addresses. Four different addresses, not in consecutive order. Perhaps we were mistaken.

6) A few mouse clicks to see who owned the domain names of the four sites. All the sites are owned by the same company, are housed at the same ISP, and have the same email address listed for the administrative and technical contact names.

7) A few mouse clicks at Alexa.com to review traffic patterns show the sites have very little traffic, yet all have a PageRank score of 6 or higher. Site traffic is increasing for each.

Nope, it does not appear we were mistaken. It appears a competitor actually created web sites for the sole purchase of increasing his/her link popularity and search engine ranking for their primary business site. To recreate such a process:

* Register a domain name that is tied to your primary sites keyword list. For example, if your primary site sells widgets and has a domain name of Widgets.com, something like “Widget- Directory.com” would be ideal;

* Setup a new hosting account with your ISP, using a different IP address, for Widget-Directory.com;

* Create a few pages that use the keyword list from Widgets.com, then setup a link system that invites webmasters to exchange links. Remember, no need to get carried away with content as the purpose of Widget-Directory is really keyword tie-in and link exchanges;

* Now, code every page of Widget-Directory with a link back to Widget.com;

* Sit back and watch. As webmasters enter their sites and subcategories into Widget-Directory, the results will increase the link quantity and apparently your search engine ranking of Widget-Directory AND Widgets.com.

We were curious to see if this was an isolated incident or a rampant practice. While not rampant, it did not take us long to find others companies utilizing this technique. Is this ethical? I am sure some would argue this is a savvy internet marketing practice, while others will view the practice as repulsive. Ethical or not, this technique is simple, cost effective, and apparently will increase your search engine ranking. One thing is clear, I will never look at directory sites or link exchange pages the same.

Hopefully, the search engine will adjust their algorithms and nullify this practice. In the interim, for those that take a negative PR and/or link exchange hit, remember that honesty builds longevity and lasting relationships. Remember the SEO expert we previously tried to hire? We went back and checked his site, and yes he utilizes the same technique. Odd thing however, his sites no longer enjoys top ratings on the major search engines. Perhaps, the search engines are starting to figure this one out.

© 2004, John Calder http://www.TheEzine.net

Let’s face it, getting one-way, non-reciprocal links in to your site is the way to go these days, at least as far as SEO purposes go. Reciprocal links can send you traffic, and may count for something in the search engine ranking algorithms, but not nearly as much as they used to. To help you in the search results, you have to get the inbound links, preferably a text link with relevant text, from a site related to yours. Here are a few tips on getting those all-important inbounds.

It’s doubtful, for new sites in particular, that you’ll get another webmaster to link to you just for the asking. Many won’t even exchange links with low PR sites anymore, so your polite email request for a one-way link to your new PR 0 site may well be met with laughter.

But there are other ways to get the links you need. For example, you can post on relevant forums and newsgroups that themselves have some decent ranking. Remember though, that unless you’re selling to other marketers, there are a lot more forums than just marketing related ones. In fact, it’s much better, if you sell ski equipment for example, to post on ski vacation forums, local forums centered around various ski resorts, and so on. These are more on-topic to your site, and will carry more clout than a link from a marketing site.

You can also submit articles to the various article directories. Other webmasters typically have the right to use these articles on their sites, provided they leave your resource box intact. Again, these need to be relevant to the theme of your site for best results. It makes no sense to write about your favorite pet when you’re promoting the before-mentioned ski equipment site.

Finally, don’t overlook the use of RSS. With this technology, you are able to syndicate your content to other sites, through the use of a blog as one example. If other webmasters add your syndicated feed to their sites, you will get inbound links, most likely from sites that are relevant to yours.

On-page content and optimization by itself is no longer enough. Unfortunately, link popularity has become a dominant factor in deciding who ranks the highest within the major search engines, especially within Google. If a competitor of yours is both optimized for the same target search terms and has a higher quantity and/or higher quality of back links, they are going to outrank you: period. Even if your website is perfectly optimized for an extremely niche search term and no other site in the world even mentions your exact phrase, you may still have trouble finding your website if you do not have at least a few back links to “validate” your website.

If it came down to a contest between on-page optimization efforts against link building efforts, links would win hands down. You may find it shocking to hear a President of an optimization firm saying such a thing, but its true. I would challenge anyone to outrank a website that has a massive number of quality back links by using on-page optimization efforts alone with zero link building efforts. Whereas, you can easily outrank a website that is extremely well optimized by focusing heavily on link building efforts. An interesting example is Apple.com. One of the most important elements of optimization is to place the target key phrase within the meta title tag. However, search for the word “computers” on Google and you will find Apple.com on the first page of results. Apple does not even mention the word computers in their meta title tag. How is this possible when there are literally millions of competing websites that are aggressively trying to show up for this term by applying various optimization efforts? The answer is that Apple.com has a superior volume of back links (over 70,000 in Google alone). And a large percentage of these links include the word computers within the anchor text (i.e. Apple Computers, Mac Computers, etc.).

Does this mean Optimization is dead? The answer of course, is no. Search engines still love websites that have tons of fresh and relevant content. It is the basis of what search engine results are all about. Copywriting fees are worth every penny when it comes to adding well written descriptions of your products and services onto your website. Professional optimization companies still flourish because of the success they bring to their clients through increased rankings and traffic. For optimum results, you need both optimization and links to succeed today.

It’s not just the quantity of incoming links, but the quality and relevance of the websites from which they come, as well as what words are used within the visible text portion of the hyperlinks, i.e. “anchor text.” Reciprocated links have less value than they use to and can potentially hurt your rankings if you are exchanging with too many unrelated websites, i.e. bad neighborhoods. One-way links are the best links.

During the last few Search Engine Strategies conferences, I could not help but notice an increasing number of link-related workshops, including a class dedicated to purchasing text links. Matt Cutts, official spokesman and software engineer for Google shared how he personally believes that buying links is like a politician buying votes and that incoming links should only grow naturally. He shared that the best way to receive incoming text links was to offer something truly helpful and/or unique and interesting to the public and that this would generate free unsolicited, incoming links without even asking. He offered some extreme examples of very creative websites, which caused a national media stir. Within minutes frustrated attendees spoke up about how the search engines started this whole thing by giving too much criteria to links in the first place, and that buying links on other sites (be it through banners or text links) has been a conventional form of advertising well before Google even existed. Some commented that if Google was considering penalization for sites that buy or sell links, they should start with Yahoo, since Yahoo earns a good portion of their income from selling paid text links (i.e. $299/year directory listings). Interesting enough, Google actually recommends on their website that you submit to directories such as Yahoo.

I am sure that a majority of website owners today would love to come up with creative ideas that would generate a ton of unsolicited media attention. The truth is that coming up with something exciting to say about reverse vacuum pumps, or single-mode fiber optic tool kits, or Batesville real estate is easier said than done. Most of the clients we work with offer clear and simple information about their products and services. Waiting around for other websites to give them free, one-way text links may very well result in additional years of continual poor search engine rankings and a lack of sales.

So how do you build back links? Below is a short list of some of the most common ways to increase your back links: - Offer something truly helpful that may inspire others to link to you without even asking. - Hire a website positioning firm to help you write and distribute press releases and articles to thousands of sites. - Ask business partners, vendors, distributors, family members, golf partners, etc. to link to you. - Ask non-profit organizations if they would post a “contributor” link to you in exchange for a small donation. - Offer quotes and testimonials to sites you are comfortable with in exchange for a direct link to your site. - Exchange links with websites (but stay within your industry and away from automated programs). - Purchase text link ads (costly, typically $20/month each and up - but may be worth it for the right industry). - Submit to quality directories whose listings are known to show up as valid back links (excellent value).

Do you need thousands of links? Not necessarily. You may not even need hundreds. Everyday, we perform competitive back-link research and people are often shocked at how little it would take to rise above their competitors. Even if you are in a fairly competitive industry, there are often select search terms that may be far less competitive than others. This is why it is helpful to partner with an experienced search engine positioning company who can aid you in strategic decisions.

High ranking on Google and other such search engines is largely based on the number of sites that links to your page. Due to this factor, the SE conscious web master is eternally engaged in a quest for links. In this article I shall reveal some of the does and don’ts, and perhaps even a few tips and tricks to help you along your quest.

Links exchanges can be extremely productive, but here are a few things to consider. Set up a separate page where you will put your reciprocal links, however, do not name this page links.html or links.htm, call it associates.html. This will make other webmasters more attracted to having a link on your page, also it seems a lot more professional to have ‘associates’ rather than; ‘random people I decided to exchange links with to gain/maintain a high SE ranking’.

Furthermore, when first starting out on your quest for links, always be the one to make the first move, by placing a link to someone’s page in anticipation of them reciprocating. You can always remove it if they don’t, and it is likely to encourage them to add a link to your site. Do not be afraid to approach the ‘Big Boys’, do a search in Google for your keyword, and contact the people that rank highest. This makes perfect sense, but many people simply do not bother contacting the webmasters at the top - thinking they would never agree to exchange links with them. But remember; they too have to maintain their high position and getting new links is the easiest way to do this. Moreover, exchanging links with high ranking sites is far more productive, Google is after all based on weighted voting.

To make the most of the links to you, submit the pages that link to your site to the search engines, this will ensure that their ‘votes’ are counted, and if you let people know that you are submitting their pages for free, just because they linked to you, then people are far more likely to link to you in the future. The easiest way to get loads of links from a high ranking site to your own is through forums. Becoming very active on popular forums is a great way to increase search engine ranking.

Another good tip is to submit the pages of the forum that have your link on, to the search engines. Now people are going to be sitting there reading this and thinking, ‘there is no need to do that, Google crawls every link on a page and they will eventually get to the link to your site’. However, EVENTUALLY, is the key word (if you pardon the pun), submitting directly to the search engines will make the process quicker. Also, there is evidence to suggest that pages submitted directly to the search engines and linked to in other pages gain higher ranking.

Furthermore, Google does not penalise for over submission, so where’s the harm? Always ensure that you exchange links with sites relevant to yours, but not too relevant, the last thing you want to do is promote your competition. For example, if you run a web design company, exchange links with web design resource sites, SEOs, graphic designers, but not other web design companies - unless you have formed a good relationship with that company and work collaboratively on projects or work in different markets.

Good luck on your quest for links!

Links are much like referrals in the real world. When you hang out with people smarter than you then this in turn will eventually make you smarter because of your company which in turn will provide you more perceived value. Referrals or links have 3 very important things in common: more people you know the better, the more quality people you know the better, and not knowing everybody the better.

For example, starting out in business you probably did not know alot people. But as you got more customers, your sphere of influence becomes broader. Thus giving you the capability to recommend them to others. With links, it is the same way. Link popularity is dependent upon the number of incoming links you have, therefore giving your web site more exposure and higher rankings.

On the internet, links operate the same way. A link ( referral ) from an .gov is considered more credible because of the source, therefore giving you a great referral. Be real choosy of the type of links that you accept.Therefore if you commence linking with disreputable people then your webpages rankings will go lower.

Furthermore be conscious to the fact that if you get a plethora of friends over night, then bells and whistles start going off and your website usually gets punished by the Google.

At Magnetiks, a Houston search engine optimization company should help you build your interconnections consistently over time therefore ensuring continued web presence on the internet.