Increasing Link Popularity

Search engines are the first place a person looks when they need something online, unless they already know where to find it  and is the reason why link popularity is so important. If customers can not find your website, you have no chance of getting prospective customers or making some sales.

You're probably wondering what is popular about a link! Link popularity refers to the rank assigned to your website by various search engines, and it determines the rank your web pages will gets when specific keywords are entered into a search engine i.e if you were a plumber in London and your keyword was London Plumber, each time someone puts that keyword/phrase in depending on how popular your site was depends on how close to the top of a search engine you will be placed. I can hear you all saying Ahhh, so, now your thinking, how do I make my websites links popular?

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that hit links to their pages from related, calibre sites. It's a simple formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity for that word (it is not impossible though, just tough, with patience however it is obtainable. If you do not take the time or effort required you are never liable to reach the rank link popularity you require on some search engines. But don't be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of and if you do not know what i am saying find a professional. The first is that i nking up with a large number of other websites or using link farms will not help you achieve your goal generally it has the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than "link farms" which are just pages and pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links to everyone from anywhere. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with  link farming, so steer well clear of them!

The second is to think about where you place the link the  calibre if you will of the place you are linking to. Never just link to a page you personally have issues with, chances are your clients will feel the same, worse of all if your perceived as a cowboy - that's it for you and a potential business customer, best option, " think before you link" ;-)

The final one is a follow on from "think before you link"  ask yourself do you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of low calibre lessens the value of your product or service are you a Harrods or or a car boot sale this is what your links tell potential clients and can increase your popularity or completely destroy it.

So what do you require to get great link popularity and improve your rankings to a high status on all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory like Yahoo or Google. If your website is business-related, you need to be listed in Yahoo Directory, this option is not free costing around £230 a year, however it is money well spent. If your place is non-commercial, then your listing is totally free, however like all site linking work; it take time and follow-up to actually get it listed.

If your aim is to be listed in the highest then this needs you to be sensible. If you sell cakes in London, in Battersea then you do not want to submit to a place people will not look or could make you one of thousands in that category i.e. like retailers, London, Battersea instead opt for 'Fine' or 'Event cakes' in London category. You link not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but also mean you may well be listed in a national category instead.

Once you have managed to get listed you need to locate other high calibre sites that will enhance your links popularity. Try to find web sites that are in the same arena that is related to yours, this shows you have expanded your understanding of your area of expertise and also your knowledge of other companies in your field this will help to increase your popularity, but your customer base may also be expanded.

You want to avoid your competitors sites, you really do not want links to or from them, instead look for sites that are useful to your site's visitors. Let's look at the cakes example I gave earlier. Linking up to a place that sells cake supplies which could be helpful to your visitors and the chances of the cake supply web site wanting to link up to your web site are also greater. By linking to a related site relevant to your website's traffic, you are increasing both of your site's potential clients and both of your sites'link popularity.

Not all site owners wish to link to other sites and you must respect this in the same way you may not wish to link to other sites basically make sure you take the time to looking in other sites and into the possibilities of linking partners. Google is a fantastic starting place for your search. Make sure you start with keywords that you think high quality potential customers would use in a search engine to find your site.

Remember, the criteria is quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Check out these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the calibre of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then decide if you want to link to them, also check who is linked to them remember the process is a chain so if they are linked to undesirable sites so will your site be.

When you have decide you have a site you would like to link to you must set out to win them over the easiest way is first to set up a link from your site to theirs it shows them you have faith in their product or service and this helps with your chance of getting a link back to your site. After you add them contact their webmaster and let him know what you have done, make sure the message subject reads something like 'we have added a link to your site', this will stop it getting trashed as spam or junk, next be complimentary about their site, the value of their site to your customers and tell them how a link from their site to your could benefit their customers.

Make sure you emphasise that you have visited their site, pick a specific feature if necessary to discuss - be careful though not to overdo it or not know what you are saying otherwise you will be caught out. Give them the address of your link pages so they can see the types of people linking to you (don't worry if there are only one or two, it is better to have less of high quality than more of low quality), mention the increase of traffic that linking to each other could potentially bring directly to their product or service and how it will also increase both parties site popularity.

Briefly, state why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence so you don't sound condescending! Finally, state once again that you would appreciate a link from them to your site.

Do this with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria, calibre and non-competitiveness necessary for this to work well for your web site. Once you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website often to see if they have added a link to your site, give it about four weeks or so if you do not see a link send another nice email and wait the same time period again after which if your site is still absent from their links page, it's time to remove their link from your own links page. Remember to keep all your emails complimentary and cordial.

Finally in this process you need to set up a schedule to analyse your ranking in search engines to see if your link popularity has

improved. This is not achievable quickly so do not expect miracles, it will take time and patience but it will happen.

Keyword, site popularity is without doubt time consuming which is why professionals cost so much (sometimes, but a good person will be able to gage this cost for you before they start, see our other articles on finding a good SEO company)and why search engines regard it with extremely high importance.

A finally word again 'Think before you link' and you will be fine, if you need help please see our SEO section under web development.