Content, Optimization, Links – Oh My! - Link Placement
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I will not restate the how and why of link placement since there are a gazillion articles about it (half of them on SEOchat.com). However, it is important to mention “link placement,” a.k.a. “reciprocal linking,” when discussing the big picture. The reality for website owners in this day and age is that great content and superb optimization just isn’t enough for optimal positioning in Google, which is the #1 search site in the U.S. You need people to link back to you, and these links must be meaningful. I mention Google specifically because Yahoo and MSN (the other major search players) still seem to favor on-page optimization more than link placement. This, however, is changing.
Contrary to popular belief (and practice), link placement does not exist in a vacuum. You want sites that have a high PR and/or many backlinks to link to your website. The best sites contain quality content and are leaders in their particular vertical. They are updated regularly and have a generous amount of dedicated customers and industry partners linking to them. So why should they link to you?
It all comes back to content. If you are providing meaningful, relevant content which is updated regularly, you are more likely to get great sites to link to you. As a website owner, I would rather link to industry thought leaders and valuable resources than five-page sites that contain nothing but online forms or 100-page sites that contain nothing but product thumbnails and “Buy Now” buttons. You have to give a lot to get a little in this business.
Next: It’s not smoke and mirrors, I swear >>
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