Welcome to Link Building 101

Excellent online content distribution and prominent repeating key phrases can only take your website so far. In the quest for search engine optimization, you also need to pay special attention to off-the-page factors, namely link building. Two fundamental branches of link building are link popularity and link quality. Together, these three factors represent the supreme vehicle for SEO and experts suggest that enhancing them is guaranteed to increase your website’s rank in top search engines.

What is link building? Link building is the act of integrating inbound links to your website. This can be done in a variety of ways. For example, a free link opportunity could result from politely submitting a request to be linked by a relevant website; other methods include purchasing a spot in a popular directory, such as Yahoo, for a monthly fee. Link popularity is determined by the overall amount of external sites that link to your website. Link quality involves an examination of these external sites to verify the nature of their— what else—quality. Quality is based upon professionalism, reputation, and rank in top search engines.

What’s can link building do for my e-Business? The whole point of link building is to optimize your e-Business website’s rank in top search engines. When reputable sites link to your own site, you show browsers and search engines that you are worth linking and therefore, worth visiting. One article confirms that “link popularity and link quality are very important because every major search engine now considers them as a part of their ranking algorithms.” Once a search engine recognizes your e-Business as a useful site, your rank will increase— generating more visibility, publicity and sales.

How do I successfully approach link building? There are myriad tips to follow for successful link building. Here are a few of the most significant ones:

• Give sites a reason to link you. Make sure your website is optimized by including content-rich pages and useful, prevalent key phrases. Also, work out any bugs that might pose a problem.

• Target relevant, reputable sites. Aim for non-competitor websites that would have an audience similar to your own e-Business. One article explains that “links from sites within your industry are strong endorsements for your site.” It’s also important to choose a reputable site. Do your homework! Research the site before you submit a request. Remember: quality over quantity. One link from a major directory is much more important than a dozen links from personal, unrelated websites. The goal is to have a top ranking site link to you so your rank increases as well.

• Good manners go a long way. When approaching an e-Business to link to your site, it’s best to extend your interest over the phone as opposed to e-mail. Be polite but confident. Explain your services, your intentions, and what the benefits are for linking to your site. Show that you’re professional and responsible— include the exact URL you want to have linked, the URL of the page where it would fit best, and any suggestions for appropriate text to accompany the link. Offer to link them back in return; establishing a friendly relationship with the sites that links you provides benefits for all parties and opens new doorways for alliances.

• Know your competitors. Don’t waste time asking a competitor to link to your site. Instead, check out which sites link to your competitors; see if you can offer these sites better services or a more beneficial mutual relationship.

• DO NOT abuse your resources. There are a lot of legitimate strategies for successful link building. If you utilize these strategies in any way other than indicated by the instructions, you risk getting kicked out of a search engine altogether. Link farms are highly discouraged as avenues for link popularity. Also, don’t spam websites with requests to have them link your site. You’re likely to aggravate them and extinguish the possibility of future relationships.

• Get listed in directories. Charges apply, but this is typically a guaranteed chance for link building. Popular directories include Yahoo, DMOZ, Business.com, and JoeAnt.com. Check them out!

For more information and advice on link building, I recommend reading through The Art of Advanced Link Building and 131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies, two articles posted on Searchenginewatch.com. Remember— good content is only half the battle; proper link building is a worth-while and rewarding endeavor.