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| Link Strategy FAQ |
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What are links?
Links are pathways that lead from one website to another or from one website page to another and they usually appear both underlined and in blue. The internet was initially constructed by this series of interconnections between websites and they continue to be the fundamental building blocks of the ever expanding internet. Links will be encountered on almost every page on the internet, waiting to be "clicked" on. The result of this will be to send the visitor to another page, either on the same website or on a completely different website.
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Are there different types of links?
Yes, there are three types of links:
- outbound links which send the visitor to another website.
- inbound links which bring visitors from other websites.
- internal links which send visitors to different pages within the same website.
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Should I target my link campaign?
Very much so, as we have seen above the overriding requirement should be to get the greatest number possible of strong, (in the case of Google that would be high Page Rank), incoming links from websites or website pages which have high relevance to your website.
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Do all links have equal value to the search engines?
No, as we have already seen on the benefits page, quantity, relevance and strength of links are important, as are the following:
- Links that originate within content pages rather than from the ubiquitous 'links pages'.
- There is evidence that linking outwards to other website pages can provide benefits to the link sending page.
- Links that are labeled with more keyword rich link anchor text.
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What is link anchor text?
Link anchor text is the wording that is found on the clickable link. It is often the website URL (the address) but may also be the site title or business name. Less frequently it could be one of the most important keywords on the receiving page.
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Why is link anchor text important?
Link anchor text attracts significant importance in search engines although recently there have been attempts to reduce the value of it in the Google algorithm. Link anchor text is specifically designed to be highly theme relevant to the website page and will boost that page very highly in the search rankings. Anchor text should reflect the content the link is linking to and ideally help the page it is linked from as well.
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Are there any links that should be avoided?
Yes there are. Whilst not all links carry equal weight or generate comparable benefit, search engines evaluate websites by the "company" they keep. Website owners have no control over links to their website so links from websites under penalty, or even banned websites, are not held against the receiving page. However links sent out to websites deemed to be "bad neighborhoods" will almost certainly incur some form of penalty. Website owners have control over which websites will receive links and consequently linking to websites under penalty or ban may well effect the ranking of the linking page quite dramatically.
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What are 'bad neighborhoods'?
Bad neighborhoods are 'linking schemes' which have been specifically developed to try and trick search engines, consequently they may be subject to penalties and possible banning. The commonest bad neighborhoods are the so called 'link farms.' A link farm is a form of directory that claims to send traffic, Page Rank and link popularity to its member sites. Creating links using these sort of methods will lead to your site being penalised or possibly a total ban for the linking site.
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Can some linking activities cause a search engine penalty?
Yes, as we have already seen. Being involved in any dubious linking scheme which has been exclusively designed to try and trick the search engines into providing higher rankings could result in a penalty, or possibly an outright ban, consequently these schemes should be avoided at all costs.
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Can any incoming links do harm to the website's ranking?
No, but some links will carry more weigh than others. Incoming links are generally helpful to the receiving website and whilst no incoming link will be harmful some are more helpful than others. Websites will not be penalised for incoming links because businesses have no control over who links to their website, however it is thought that Google has placed a filter on new incoming links, lowering their original passed along Page Rank and link popularity. Links can be purchased but they will not provide as much value as was once thought whilst some incoming links, including those from guest books, provide no real benefit in the rankings because they are likely to be ignored by search engines.
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What are the alleged new link filters in Google?
It is considered by many industry experts that Google has placed a controlling filter on all new incoming links in order to discourage the purchase of large numbers of incoming links. At the point of a new link being added it will not pass along full Google Page Rank or link popularity value to the receiving page. As time progresses and the link ages it will pass along increasingly more linking power, until finally reaching its full transfer potential.
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Do the new link filters affect Page Rank transfer?
Yes, these link dampening filters would appear to withhold transfer of available Google Page Rank and then gradually increase the Page Rank transfer over time, as the link ages.
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Do incoming links affect Google Page Rank?
Yes, very much so. If incoming links are clean HTML links they will usually pass along Google Page Rank. It has been suggested that Javascript links now pass along Page Rank but, at present, it seems to be "case not proven". The tried and tested method for adding Page Rank to a website page is to attract more incoming links, bearing in mind that theme relevant links will pass a higher percentage of the available Page Rank than non theme relevant links. Natural, one way, theme relevant links are the best links for Page Rank transfer.
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Are internal links within a site helpful?
Yes they are, internal linking is an important part of any linking program. Internal links assist a page's ranking in three ways:
- Internal links add value if the link contains keyword rich link anchor text relevant to the receiving page.
- The internal linking also distributes Google Page Rank to the various pages where it might be required to assist in ranking.
- Internal linking should aid site navigation which will improve the service to visitors and potentially increase sales.
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Are reciprocal links bad?
No, but some people think they may be. If reciprocating links are between websites sharing similar themes and topics the exchange should be beneficial to both websites. The time that problems may arise are when websites are unrelated and the exchange was only designed to gain link popularity and Page Rank transfer. There should be no problems in finding link partners who share similar themes.
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Who are the best link exchange partners for a site?
Other websites which share a similar or complementary theme and topics to your own website. Websites that display no theme or topic relevance to your own website should be avoided because are unlikely to improve link popularity or increase inbound traffic.
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Will link exchanges from lower Page Rank pages hurt my Page Rank or ranking?
No and it is important to remember that link exchanges should not be made with Page Rank in mind. Links exchanged with websites which share similar themes will benefit one another irrespective of whether the exchange is with higher or lower Page Rank websites. Based on available Page Rank each page will send to the other the amount available for transfer. Lower Page Rank pages do not lower the receiving page's Page Rank, on the contrary they enhance it but to a lesser extent. It is also worth bearing in mind that the amount of green shown on the Google toolbar is not an accurate level of a page's real Page Rank, the actual amount could be totally different.
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What is a natural link?
It is an incoming, non reciprocal link, placed voluntarily from another website to the content of a website page. Natural links tend to be very theme relevant and are therefore given the most importance by the various search engines. They can be attracted to your website by providing excellent website content.
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Should all incoming links be pointed to the website home page?
No, incoming links should be pointed to the most relevant page or pages. In natural linking the incoming linking page will link to one or more pages of its own choosing. Receiving incoming links to internal pages helps those pages to rank higher and often they are more relevant to the search terms than the home page. In such cases linking to the home page would be less powerful.
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Are links from blogs helpful?
Very much so as incoming links from blogs can be very powerful. Blog writers, (called bloggers), tend to be very generous linkers and there is every chance that they will link naturally to content which they find both interesting and informative. The blog is very likely to be extremely theme relevant to your website because bloggers will tend to concentrate on their main areas of interest. If the link is placed within a blog post or article then powerful link anchor text may well be included. Blogs also usually contain a links list, (called a blogroll), and those links are usually placed on the blog's high Page Rank home page.
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| Related links: |
| Keyword analysis |
| Search Engine Positioning |
| Online Marketing Strategy Audit |
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