Use Linking to Increase Traffic

 

You've optimized your web site, you have great content, but you're still not getting a lot of traffic? No site is an island on the web -- and if it is, the search engines assume it's not important, and place it accordingly. Here are some ways to make sure you're connected to the rest of the world.
 
The Question

What's in a link? Why is it considered so important in search engine optimization? Linking is not considered the most important technique in search engine optimization, but it very well could be. What makes Google's PageRank search algorithm unique is the position of importance it accords to sites that have a large number of links pointing to them. But it is not only Google which considers links important; all other search engine spiders travel along links to search and index web pages, so we could term links important to search engines in general and essential to Google rankings.

The Needs

I believe honest and effective linking could very well be the single most important thing to search engine optimization techniques for Google, perhaps more important than keyword density and position. Effective linking strategies take time to develop, however, but the time spent developing links to your site could very well be the most profitable time you could spend on SEO. Effective linking could be your insurance against losing your ranking when Google tinkers with its search criteria, and could make your position consistent month in, month out. In these perilous times when businesses are built or destroyed according to their positioning on Google, this could very well be the Holy Grail of SEO techniques.

No matter what changes in Google's search criteria, one thing has remained constant thus far, and that is the importance it attaches to incoming links (and even outgoing links). Google ranks individual URLs by the number of other URLs which have links to it, and also to the URLs that particular URL links to. One link pointing to a site gives the site one positive vote in the algorithm; two gives it two votes, and so on. Linking is important to positioning; nobody knows the exact criteria by which a site achieves number one status on Google, but I can bet my horse and his grandma that the top ranked site on Google for any category is the one that has the largest number of links pointing to it.

Not only is the number of links important, also important is the caliber (or quality) of sites which have links to your site. Your site is given a higher ranking if the site that links to yours is also a highly ranked site which offers rich and relevant content. But keep in mind, just linking for the sake of SEO can lead to a site being penalized by the major search engines. The sites that link to yours must be related sites. This shows the search engine that you are not only concerned about ranking, but that you want to provide the online public more information, and that you are really offering value. This makes the practice of contracting linking to companies that guarantee you links dangerous, as you are not aware of their linking methods (perhaps they just link all comers together) and a mistake could cause you to be banned from a search engine.

So how do you go about the business of getting links pointing to your site from others? There are a variety of ways to do this; as a writer by calling, all my favorite are related to writing. And apart from being my favorites, they have been found to work.

Writing Articles

This is the favorite of a lot of web sites (especially those on Search Engine Optimization), however it should be used by every conceivable type of site. Articles relating to the content of your site should be written clearly and concisely. You should focus on providing information that is relevant to someone who is interested in getting information on that field. It could be in the form of current news about that sector, for example, a tattoo site that writes articles about new tattooing techniques, or an article that answers FAQs.
The more different your articles are from the norm, and the fresher they are, the more likely they are to be picked up by recognized sites. At the end of the article you include a brief footer talking about the writer (yourself) and your site, which you then include a link to; you should also be encouraged to put links to pages on your site liberally throughout the page, as the need arises. And how do you get these articles out? You submit them to article directories. These are large directories containing articles, and webmasters come to pick up content for their sites from these directories. Examples include www.ezine.com and www.articledashboard.com as well as others. You will not be paid for your labor, but for every site that picks up your article, that is one positive vote on the Google PageRank algorithm.

By submitting to a large number of directories, you increase your odds of being picked up, and note: you increase the number of links to your site, since the article directories are pointing to your site. This also increases your PR, as your name becomes associated with expertise on such matters, and it helps your site branding. It is a foolproof way of getting links to your site, and thereby increasing your page rankings.
This is an excellent and risk free way of getting links to your site. It requires a modicum of creativity and discipline. If you are personally unable to churn out one or two articles a month, consider hiring someone to write them, or selling your website (that may or may not be a joke).
 

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