The Popularity Contest

How to build and attract high-quality links that boost your web site's search engine rankings.

October 24, 2007
Found in: Articles : Editorial : Web Site Marketing & Strategy : Search Engine Marketing : Search Engine Optimization :

Nobody knows exactly how Google ranks web pages, but all of the most educated guesses suggest that link popularity is a critical element.

Link popularity refers to the links to your site from other sites. The assumption is that if a lot of blogs, web sites, online articles and other web pages link to your site, you must have a lot of important and valuable content.

Link popularity and quality: Not all links are created equal

But quantity is only the beginning. Google wants relevant search results, so the best strategy to optimize your web pages emphasizes the quality of your links.

For example, if your relatives all link to your site from their MySpace pages, Google won't give your site a high rating for these links. (Although in a moment we'll tell you how to successfully use social networks to build your link popularity.)

But if you're a bank and you get links from mortgage brokers and financial advisors, these are high quality links. They would have a stronger bearing on your search engine ranking.

We'll give you a few good tactics to build link popularity for your campaigns, but first you should give your web site this quick test.

Go to Google or Yahoo, and enter the following in the search field: link:http://yourdomainname/pagename.html

The results will show all the existing links to your web page from other sites. Don't just do this with your home page-test anything that a user would theoretically want to see more than once: blog, newsroom, resources, and maybe even the pages that describe your products and services.

If you're disappointed with the results of this test, don't give up hope. There's a lot you can do to beef up your link-building campaign.

Sponsorship

If you're supporting an organization, they may have a sponsor page for your company logo. Often these pages can include links back to your website.

If you're supporting a group that's relevant to your business, such as a trade association, this is an excellent high-quality link for your website. Better still, consider sponsoring the organizations that your best clients belong to. The high quality links might just be the beginning of an avalanche of new clients and business.

On Being Social

Social Networks have become the latest buzzword. In September 2007, FaceBook attracted 18.1 million unique visitors, and MySpace drew in a stunning 58.6 million, according to Neilsen/Net Ratings. Yet many business owners and marketers still aren't using these networks to their full potential.

We mentioned that getting a link from a family member's MySpace web page isn't going to help you very much. But there are tactics that will make a difference.

The secret is to attract other colleagues and potential clients, who will become part of your friends list. If you make a point of starting discussions and posting information that are important to other people in your field, an army of fans will begin to take notice. Eventually you can create a highly relevant network within MySpace or FaceBook.

Once you do this, the links back to the pages on your web site will be high quality in the eyes of Google.


If you don't have a blog, start one today.

When you incorporate a blog into your web site, the regular addition of new pages alone will help your search engine rankings. When other users discover and link to your blog, you'll get a wealth of new links.

This is probably the single most powerful tool at your command.

Even if your blog is hosted on another site, you're still creating a set of relevant web pages. Then all you have to do is include links back to your website from the blog, and you've got the high quality links you need.

There are two steps to this. First, add your own web site to your blogroll. But don't stop there. Within your regular posts, you should refer to pages from your web site, and include the links.

If you like fame, use your blog to take a stand. Become a vocal advocate for your clients or your industry. If you're willing to be controversial, eventually you'll be heard.

If you're intimidated by all the writing you'll have to do, remember that you can get by with just a few paragraphs a week. Check in, mention your take on a recent news item, offer a useful tip or even chat about your weekend. Even humble beginnings will give you results.

When you invest in building a strong web presence for your company, high quality links to your web site will follow as a natural dividend. A blog is one of the most powerful tools to reach this goal.

Making an SEO wave with message boards

If there is a message board or forum where people in your industry talk shop, you should do everything you can to become a part of the dialogue.
Also, if your clients belong to a category or special interest group with its own forums, be sure you post there regularly (and just as importantly, read what your prospective clients are saying).

When you do this, include your web site address in the signature of all your posts. This will create the links you need back to your web site.

Partnerships

No matter what industry you are in, there are companies that serve the same client base without competing against you. A few examples: IT services and web designers, realtors and mortgage brokers, or sporting goods retailers and coaches/instructors.

When you work with the businesses that are your natural allies, you'll constantly think up fresh ways to help each other. One way is by sharing links.

It's easy to start a link-sharing program. You create a link to your partner's web site, and your partner includes a link to your site. When you do this with several partners, it can quickly become a significant factor in your search engine rankings.

Link from within

As you start to build more links to your web site, make sure that the links aren't all directed to your home page. If your internal pages don't have a lot of links, Google may place them in the dreaded Supplemental Index.

The supplemental index is Google's penalty box that virtually insures your pages won't show up in search results. You can learn more about the Supplemental Index here. What you really need to keep in mind, though, is that every page on your web site should have some links. Share the wealth.

There's a reverse chicken-and-egg phenomenon at work in the world of link popularity. The stronger your web presence, the more links your site will have. The more links your site has, the stronger your web presence.

Don't wait for one before you tackle the other. This is a dynamic, ongoing process. Jump in! Create excellent content for your web site, and build high quality links to that content.