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Google, Yahoo! & MSN: Backlinks Explained
Accumulating Backlinks
In Bob's first article titled 'Google PageRank & How to Get It.' He answered
answered the "how to get it" how many backlinks, or inbound links (IBL),
are needed from various PageRank (PR) level sites to achieve a desired PR. For
instance the chart indicated that you can achieve a PR6 with either 101 links from
PR5 pages or one link from a PR8 page. However, several readers wrote him and said
that he had not answered the "how to get it" question. What they wanted was
an explanation, or tutorial, on how to accumulate the necessary number of backlinks.
In this article he will explain the various techniques that can be used to
accumulate backlinks.
Internal Backlinks and Navigation.
Backlinks are normally thought of as links from outside or external sites.
However it must be remembered that Google also counts internal links or
navigational links within the site as part of the PR calculation. So let's take
a minute and deal with that first.
Google uses a program known as the googlebot to crawl, or read, web page
content. The most important thing to remember about internal navigation is that
the googlebot must be able to read and follow the links. The googlebot cannot do
this if the links are exclusively javascript or some other non html scripting or
programming language.. The best links for the googlebot are straightforward text
links. Images can be used as links, but alt tags should always be used in
conjunction with these image links. If you are simply in love with the mouse
over, drop down navigation that you can program with javascript then you must
also supply the googlebot with text link that it can read.
This is normally done by placing simple text links across the bottom of the each
page, or on large sites with many interior pages or sections, by the use of a
site map.
Assuming that the googlebot can find and follow a link to every internal page
how do we maximize the PageRank that is generated by these pages? Normally our
initial concern is to transfer as much PR as possible to our home page. The way
that this is done is to make sure that there is a Google readable link on every
page pointing back to the home page. If you use a site map there should also be
a text link on every page pointing to the site map.
There is no space to go into all the other nuances of internal linking,
but rather than try to link to every page from the home page, it is best to link
only to the major category pages. The category pages will then link to all of
the individual pages in their category and these third level pages will all link
back to their category page as well as the home page and site map as mentioned
above. This general hierarchical structure will transfer the highest PR possible
to the home page and site map, and the next highest level of PR to the category
pages.
How to Get External Backlinks
Finally we arrive at the part of the article the readers were really asking for.
There are an unlimited number of ways to accumulate IBL or backlinks. Here are
the four most common ways:
List your site in as many Directories as possible
Engage in a reciprocal linking campaign
Buy backlinks
Write newsletters or articles and get them published on other sites or in your
own blog.
Some purists advocate a fifth way of accumulating links. They maintain that if
your page has enough outstanding content that people will put up links as a
service to their viewers without asking for, or demanding, a link back in
return. That is certainly possible for some types of sites, but is not generally
a viable method for competitive commercial web sites.
Submit to Directories.
There are many directories, both paid submission and free, where you can submit
your site. The most famous is probably the DMOZ directory, however be prepared
for a long wait to get into this directory. Many of the other directories like
GoGuides, Joeant, Gimpsy and the brand new Bluefind will charge you about $40 as
a submission fee. Then of course there is Yahoo who will charge you $300 just to
review your site with no guarantee of inclusion.
Depending on your market place and demographics there may be many regional,
local or industry specific directories available. Some are free and others have
a nominal inclusion fee.
Reciprocal Links
Let's deal with the objection that some people have to reciprocal links. Some
"experts" claim that Google devalues reciprocal links. I don't believe this, but
rather than attempt to tell you why I would rather refer you to this article
written by a leading link building expert.
So how can you find people who are willing to exchange links with you? One of
the simplest ways is to search in Google for your prime keywords. Then do a
"search within results" for all the pages that contain "add your URL" or "add
your link". The other variation on this is to do a link: search on the top 10 or
20 pages. This will show you all the pages that link to these sites. You can
then contact the webmasters of these sites and ask them to exchange links with
you.
If you are really serious about reciprocal linking you may want to use some
software that will help you organize and monitor your links. As part of managing
a reciprocal linking program you need constantly to be checking for dead links
from your site, and to verify that all the reciprocal links from other sites are
up and running. The software I use for this purpose is LinksManager.
Buy Backlinks.
There are a number of sites that will sell you links. Some people are hottified
at this thought, but I see no difference between buying links and online
advertising. If you pay to have a banner displayed on a busy web site you are
also buying a link.
It is possible to buy individual links, or to buy what are known as "run of the
site" links. These are normally text links from every page on the site. An
entire industry has grown up around link buying. There is an auction site
dedicated exclusively to buy and selling links and there are several link
brokers and re sellers on the Internet.
Anchor Text
To get the maximum return for your investment make sure that you use your prime
keyword phrases as anchor text in all your IBL. This practice should even be
employed with internal links. Try and exchange link with sites that are related
in content and theme to your own site. This may mean that you will have to link
to your competitors upon some occasions.
Articles, Newsletters etc.
If you want to have links from relevant and related pages without linking to a
competitor the easiest way to accomplish this is to write an article, or a
series of articles, about your industry or market niche, and link to your site
from these. There are many people who are looking for, and will publish, good
articles. SitePro News is one example of this. I also publish a collection of
articles in my InfoPool, and am always looking for new articles and good
content.
Link Building is Hard Work
There is no free lunch when it comes to link building. With the possible
exception of purchasing links, accumulating and managing an aggressive linking
campaign is continuous hard work. However, experience has shown that if you want
to place well in the SERPs for competitive search terms you really have no other
choice.
About the Author
Author: Bob Wakfer
Bob Wakfer is the owner of Computer Partners and a long time student and
practitioner of SEO. Computer Partners offers web site design, hosting and
search engine optimization for its clients. If you would like to discuss any of
these services with Bob you can email him at bob[@]compar.com.
The Original Article can be found here:
http://www.compar.com/infopool/articles/PR-How-To.html
GoYa-Rank.com is not
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