Web Site Design Specialists

Building Link Popularity is a great way to help your site gain competitive PageRank (PR). Links from other sites also send direct visitors to your site. A little care in developing links will go a long way in getting your site ranked high in Search Engines.

In this article:

PageRank of the linking page.
Total number of links on the linking page.
Industry relevance.
Page relevance.
Anchor-Text.
Dynamic link pages.
JavaScript link pages.
Redirected links.
Framed sites.
PageRank of the linking page
PageRank of the linking page, one of the most important factors, determines how much valuable importance is passed on to your page. The higher the PageRank of the page linking to you, the higher the value you get.

Each link to your Web site is considered a vote. If your neighbour states in public that you are very trustworthy, or that you are his best friend (Google PageRank 2), this is of course a less important vote than when the President of your country says the same (Google PageRank 9).
Number of links on the linking page
The value your web page gets from a linking page is equal to the total PageRank value of that page divided by the total number of outgoing links on that page. Getting a link from a PR4 page that has only 20 outgoing links is much better than getting a link from a PR4 page that has 60 outgoing links.

With the same philosophy, it is better to get a link from a PR2 link page that has only 10 outgoing links than getting a link from a PR4 page that has over 100 outgoing links. It is therefore as important to evaluate the total number of outgoing links on a links page, as it is, to evaluate the PR of the linking page. This is where many people often falter, as they usually insist on getting a link from a high PR page, but if that page has 100 outgoing links, your page would only get 1/100th of that value.

Industry relevance
Search engines give higher importance to links pointing to your site from your own industry segment as opposed to those from unrelated industries. A link on a site about motor sports will do very little good for a restaurant site, however a link in a food services directory will likely have high relevance.

Searching industry relevance pages:
Search for similar pages once you have found a really good page. Look for “similar pages”, “related pages” or “more like this” next to entries in any search engine’s results list. Alternatively use the Page Specific Search on the Google Advanced Search screen.
Page relevance
Most sites offering links have several categories listed on their sites. Try to get a link from a category that closely matches your own industry. For instance, if you have a site related to hotels, then, on your partner site, a tickets site for example, try to identify a resource directory pertaining to hotels, resorts, reservations, vacation packages, travel, tourism, food and beverages, etc.

An algorithm called “Applied Semantics” determines the industry relevance of a page within a site. The Applied Semantics algorithm studies various keywords on a Web page and tries to determine the industry or business segment of each page. Applied Semantics estimates the industry segments that are relevant to a particular page.
Anchor-Text
Anchor Text is the visible hyperlinked text on a Web page. Since anchor text is very important, make sure that your most important keywords appear in the anchor text from the link pointing to your site. It tells search engines what the page is about. Used wisely, it boosts your rankings in search engines, especially in Google.

If you use “click here” as the words people are going to click on, you’re telling people the page is about the subject “click here”. If you use “Part 2″ as the anchor text, your telling the search engines the page is discussing “part 2″.
You wouldn’t want to rank highly for “click here” or “Part 2″.

However, if your site is all about purple widgets, you don’t want only “purple widgets” to be used as the phrase in every link to your site. Over-optimizing like that would create an unnatural pattern.

You can use anchor text in:

External links from other sites.
Internal links on your pages.
Navigation maps.
Links on your main page. A very important spot.
Remember that real live humans will read your links as well as search engines, so the words in your anchor text need to make sense!

Dynamic link pages
You should also watch out for any link pages that are generated dynamically. Chances are that such pages would not get indexed soon enough, which means that a link from such a page would not benefit you. Some dynamic link pages are intentionally generated in such a way so as to prevent them from getting indexed. Some unscrupulous webmasters do this to trick you to prevent any PageRank leaking from their site to yours.
Links from such pages therefore do not give you any benefit.
Javascript link pages
It is also important to identify pages that are generated through Flash or a JavaScript, as Search Engines cannot read Flash pages nor can they read the links embedded within Flash. These are some of the tricks unethical webmasters use. While such a site may claim to have placed a link to your Web page, in effect they are not giving you any benefit.
Redirected links
A link that is first redirected to another page within your partner site before pointing to your site is a redirected link. You should watch out for such links, as search engines do not give weight to redirected links. It is very unlikely that your site would draw any benefit from a redirected link.
Framed sites
Avoid getting links from framed sites as Search Engines cannot read texts within frames.
A link placed on a framed site would not give your site any benefit, as Search Engines would not be able to recognize such a link.

By Sage Lewis, Search Engine Watch

There’s no doubt link building is a win-win. The only way to acquire relevant and meaningful links is to provide some value to the Internet community.

The value may come in the form of information and entertainment. Visitors may find value in unique positioning that makes a Web site stand out from the crowd.

The longer I ponder the world of link building, the more I love it. It’s the ultimate social approval process. To attract attention, you must resonate with an online community.

The question is not, “How do I get links?” The right question is, “How do I become interesting and valuable to an online community?” or, “How do I differentiate myself in a sea of sameness?”

One Idea In Action

Social and ecological sustainability, or long-lasting, low-impact business ecosystems, will be a major factor for successful growth in the next 50 years. People are realizing resources aren’t endless, and they have options — where they work and who they buy from, for example.

While clearly a challenge, it’s also a great opportunity for the global business community to align business values with online communities. The opportunity to stand out and resonate with key demographics may be the best-kept secret of link building.

Which companies have found the secret of sustainability and link building? Here are a few great examples.

AISO.net: A Natural Internet Success

Check out AISO.net: Affordable Internet Services Online Inc. Their tag line is: “Web Hosting As Nature Intended.” They’re touting an environmentally-friendly way to host Web sites.

Server farms are notorious for sucking down extreme amounts of energy. Here’s what the company has to say about protecting the environment:

“AISO.net is a reliable and responsible green Web hosting company. We have made a strong commitment to help fight pollution and preserving our natural resources. Solar panels run our data center and office, not energy credits. Solar tubes bring in natural light from the outside providing light during the day. AMD Opteron powered servers use 60 percent less energy and generate 50 percent less heat.”

AISO.net has taken an otherwise extremely saturated industry and instantly changed the conversation. Hosting has always been about speed, reliability, and cost. These folks have stood out in a highly creative way that adds value to the entire Web community.

Plus, they have a Google PageRank of 6/10 and 4,821 links according to Yahoo. Many of the links and clients come from companies that want to be associated with a socially responsible company. Plus, AISO.net attracts the interest of journalists from great sites such as PC World and Wired.

Crown Jewels: Brilliant Earth

Jewelry is another intensely competitive arena. Brilliant Earth has come up with a way to stand out from the crowd. Their motto is: “Conflict Free Canadian Diamond Jewelry.” They promote “Fine Jewelry from Ethical Sources.”

They have a Google PageRank of 5/10 and 721 links according to Yahoo. Not bad for a domain purchased in April 2005.

If you were troubled by the bloodshed of the mainstream diamond trade, wouldn’t you rather do business with Brilliant Earth?

Clorox and Burt’s Bees

Nobody’s saying bleach is the bee’s knees. Yet, Clorox just bought Burt’s Bees for $925 million in cash. “[Clorox] says it’s looking to green its image and plans to acquire companies aligned with consumer ‘megatrends’ in health and wellness, sustainability, convenience and a more multicultural marketplace.”

From the Clorox values page: “Helping Ensure The Greater Good for All – To us, achieving The Greater Good means creating a world where people have the information and tools they need to make the highest ethical choices and do the best for themselves, their family and the environment.”

A nice-sized company like Burt’s Bees ought to have a considerable number of links. The company does: 7,879 according to Yahoo.

What’s unique? Many of the links come from like-minded people and companies such as Victoria E.; Deep Ellum Arts Festival; Transform The Earth Foundation; and Sustainable is Good.

This is why I love link building. If you want to succeed, you simply must love and care for something. When you do, others who love and care for the same thing will happily share recognition with you by giving you a link.