Marketing Linking Tips
Most of us aren't in school anymore. However, this doesn't mean we can't learn more every day. Whatever you learn in this industry will be obsolete in 6 months so it is always good to coninue to learn. Also,there are ideas and skills that don't change. Continuing to learn also makes sure that we do not forget the old tricks of the trade.
Link Marketing Tips
Advanced Links.
We all know the importance of links to increase Page Ranking (PR). However, did you know there are two kindsof links? Search engines classify links into two types: Natural and Artificial. This applies to inbound as well as outbound links. Of course you definitely want to have more inbound links.
Natural Links.
This is pretty much a new term. I googled "Natural Links" and found only one URL that was about website links. Natural links are text based links and have some or all of these characteristics:
The Url and visible text are not the same.
When the visible or "anchor" text is different from the URL in the link, it appears that this is important information and not just a reciprocal link. Getting people to use your keywords in your links is a big help too.
Link only to "relevant" or "Authoritative" sites.
The sites you choose for your outbound links should help your readers. Linking to sites that have nothing to do with gambling will actually hurt your PR.
"Authoritative" sites are sites that have page ranks of 9. They don't need to be as relevant to casinos, yet an inbound link will work wonders. These sites include trusted directories (DMOZ or Yahoo) and highly ranked sites like ZCnet, CNN, or National Geographic.
Links are not reciprocal.
There can be exceptions to this. For instance an inbound link from an "Authority" site can be reciprocal, but for the most part reciprocal linking is not a good idea unless the links are relevant to other copy on your page and the site you are linking back to is a good reference.
Gradual increase in links.
This is not easy. One of the best ways to get good natural inbound links is to write an article that others like and use. This could mean a lot of inbound linking quickly, but is not nearly as blatant as setting up your links with an exchange or link service. That has reciprocating links written all over it.
Artificial Links.
Artificial links are the opposite of Natural links. They tell the Search Engines that your site has nothing to say and links to anyone. Here are the main points to look for:
1. Links and "Anchor" text is the same
Use keywords instead of your URL repeated in the text part of your link; even if you are doing reciprocal links. Make the sites that link to you use a different anchor text.
2. Inbound Links jump dramatically.
A sudden jump in the number of inbound links usually means you have joined a webring or a linking service. Webrings can be good if the sites are going to help in page rank and can help each other in reaching more visitors. However, they should only be used where there are no link pages or farms on your or the other sites in the ring.
3. Site links in or out of a link farm.
Linking to a bad page will affect your ranking. This is one of the reasons why links to and from link farms are not good. Inbound links from a page with 100 other links will do little for you because all 100 links share in the PR of the page.
This page rank isn't going to be very high if it is just a link page.
4. High percentage of Reciprocal links.
Search Engines map and access all aspects of your page to determine page rank and the quality of links. If your pages have a high percentage of reciprocal links then the other good links you have will be canceled out. This also applies to the pages you are linking to. It does you no good to link to a page with tons of reciprocal links.
How to get good inbound links:
You want to control the flavour of your outbound links. Unfortunately most articles you read about linking do not tell you how to make your inbound links "All Natural". Some ways to get inbound links are:
1. Write copy or articles for your site that others will want to link to because it will help their pages seem "smarter".
2. Write articles for others (hint hint) with links to your good copy on your site as reference.
3. Listing your site in directories.
With the last one, being listed in every directory isn't going to help you. The largest "Authoritative" directories are important but you also get more bang for your buck by listing in industry (ie casino and gambling) specific directories.
Sometimes even paying for listings is going to pay off with increase visitors but also great page rank.
There are many more facets to linking and any or all of these can be covered in coming issues of your RichWebmaster Newsletters. Send us your opinions, questions, and tips and if we can use them you will earn a good natural link with no artificial colours or flavourings.
This article is provided by Rick Parks, at RichWebmaster
