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Popularity --- Its Role and Importance In Getting Top Search Engine
Rankings
by: Vudatala Meena
Introduction
“Link Popularity” – these
words may have caught your attention several times while you have been
searching the Internet for tips on optimizing your website for top
search engine rankings. Link popularity means popularizing a particular
link of a website by increasing the number of websites that link to that
site. Nowadays link popularity is being considered to be the most
important step of the search engine optimization process. You cannot
imagine getting good ranks in the top search engines especially Google
without following an effective link popularity plan.
Link Popularity Basics
Google gives a lot of
importance to the number of websites that link to a website. In order to
get the number of websites that link to a site, just type in a domain
name in this manner link:www.your-domain.com in the search box and the
number that returns is the number of incoming links to your site. On the
basis of the number of incoming links to a website along with various
other factors, Google provides points within 1-10 to that website. These
points or PageRank in the language of Google is like a measuring tool
that helps the Internet surfers to know about the online popularity of
that website. The PageRank of a website can be obtained from the
PageRank Toolbar of Google which can be easily downloaded from the
Google website. (http://toolbar.google.com/)
Link Popularity Methods
Link Popularity can be done
through different methods like
-
Reciprocal Link Exchange
Programs among websites
-
Posting messages of your
websites on various message boards and guest books
-
Publishing articles about
your website or company in other websites.
1. Reciprocal Link Exchange
Program
Definition -
Reciprocal Link Exchange
Program is the most popular and commonly followed method for
implementing the link popularity plan of a website and getting the
desired results.
Reciprocal Link Exchange
Program Steps -
A reciprocal link exchange
program deals in exchanging of links with several websites. This program
involves several steps that need to be followed which have been
described below:
Step 1 –
Link exchange for a website
is usually done with websites of the same industry as well as with the
websites of other industries. For example, if your website is all about
finance, you should be on the lookout for websites that deal in finance
along with other websites that are not related to finance. So the first
and foremost step is to find prospective link partners/websites that
offer reciprocal link exchange programs. You can do this easily by
typing in the industry related keywords (e.g. “personal finance”,
“financial expert”) in the Google search box. And you can find out the
websites offering link exchange out of the search results thus
generated.
Step 2 -
Always try to exchange
links with websites having Google PR (PageRank) of 4 or more. Here the
PR 4 criteria is applicable for both index page as well as the links
page of a website.
Step 3 –
You have to look for the
link exchange details of each of the websites. The link exchange details
lets you know how the website wants to its link to appear in your links
page, where to send your link exchange details, etc. The details
generally include the website’s link code, email address to send your
information. Sometimes you may have to submit your link information
through a form provided in the website.
Step 4 –
Now, create an html page
containing the list of link partners that you have searched and saved so
far. Name this html page as Resources/Partners/Links/Interesting
Websites, etc. and provide a link to this links page in the index page
of your website. Make sure that your links page is either 1 click or
maximum of two clicks away from the index page otherwise prospective
link partners may not be interested in reciprocating your link.
Step 5 –
Prepare the link code for
your website that you would send or submit through a form to the
prospective link partners. A sample link code is given below:
Search Engine Optimization
- Offering search engine optimization services.
Always try to include
potential keywords for your website in the link text that is the text
between the anchor tag () as well as in the description provided against
the link text. Always go for text links instead of banner ads because
Google gives a lot of importance to the anchor text of the incoming
links.
Step 6 –
Target to get maximum of
the incoming links towards the home page of your website as it is the
most significant page of your website that leads to the other pages of
your website. This means you have to request the link partners to link
to your index page. Ensure that a good navigation exists within your
website so that all the pages are accessible from one particular page of
your website. And that all the link texts/anchor texts in your website
contain the most important keywords related to your business. This helps
in improving the link popularity of your website.
Step 7 –
After preparing the link
code for your website, you have to approach the prospective link
partners through email requesting them to accept your link exchange
offer and place a link to your website in their links page.
Step 8 -
Lastly you have to submit
these links pages to the search engines especially Google where your
link has been placed by your link partners. (http://www.google.com/addurl.html)
2. Message Board Link
Popularity Program –
Link popularity can also be
pursued by posting your website link message to the message boards and
guest books. In this method you have pay more attention towards the
selection of message boards and guest books. Always select message
boards and guest books that have a PageRank of 4 or more and have
already been indexed by Google. It is also necessary to submit the URLS
generated after posting messages to the search engines. For example, say
www.online-message-board.com is one of the popular message boards where
you want to post your website link. After posting your website link at
www.online-message-board.com, the message board will generate a
particular URL say www.online-message-board.com/your-website-link.html
which contains the particular information about your site. Submit this
URL in various search engines so as to boost the link popularity of your
site.
3. Other Methods of
Increasing Link Popularity -
You can also improve the
link popularity of your site by publishing articles or write-ups
regarding your company or website in other websites. And make sure you
do not forget to include a link to your website in these articles or
write-ups. In this way your link becomes visible to the search engine
robots. Paid ads also help in your link popularity plan.
Conclusion
In this paper, we have
tried to explain the link popularity basics along with various methods
for pursuing the link popularity campaigns for your website. Being a
vital parameter of your search engine optimization plan, you need to
make a link popularity plan and follow it strictly so that your website
finds place within the top 10 results of all the important search
engines, especially Google.
About The Author
Vudatala Meena is the Co-Founder & Managing Director of Search Engine
Optimization Guru Pvt. Ltd. (),
a premiere Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO/SEM)
consultancy firm, catering to clients which range from Fortune 500
to small home business start-ups. Our services include Top 10 SE
rankings, Pay Per Click (PPC) targeted traffic campaign, Paid
Listing Management, Keyword Advertizing. She can be contacted at
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