Links and More SEO Tips for Beginners - Link Tips: Some Details
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Now that I've given you a general overview of the importance of links and how they work in combination with key words used as anchor text to bump up your site's relevance, it's time to focus on the details. Most of these are simply useful points to keep in mind as you're building links to your web site. Here's one to write at the top of your list: go for quality, not quantity. As Richard Burckhardt, writing for Search Engine Journal, notes, “One single, good, authoritative link can do a lot more for you than a dozen poor quality links, which can actually hurt you.”
Now let's talk about some of the ways links can help you, aside from the obvious. If you're in a hurry to get a new web site indexed by Google, the quickest route may not be the submission form. Instead, get a link to your site through another quality web site (one in the same field would be ideal). Google will see the link to your site when it indexes the other site, and the spider will visit you in good time.
Web sites aren't the only places that links to your site might appear, and they're not necessarily the most valuable either. If you send out e-mail communications, such as newsletters and zines, you're sending links to your site to qualified leads (your subscriptions all require an opt-in, right?). Every time you send out this communication you're reminding interested visitors of your existence and encouraging them to stop by. Don't abuse the attention, but be mindful of the links.
Other valuable links back to your site can be gained from .edu domains. A one-way link from a .edu domain to your site could give you a boost in the SERPs. But how do you get such a link? The May 2, 2008 issue of the SEO Chat newsletter featured some suggestions in its Spotlight. One possibility not mentioned: find a not-for-profit .edu site that is looking for sponsors.
A third valuable source of links comes from sites with high PageRank. The high PR means that Google strongly trusts the site. By extension, any links from the site to other sites carry some of that trust with them. A deep link, which is a link to a specific page on a site rather than the home page, from a high PR site is especially good to have.
What other kinds of sites should you try to obtain links from? Look for influential bloggers, especially in your field. And don't neglect authority sites. They may be interested in your images, video, podcasts, or even ask to reprint your content. Here at the Shed, if anyone wants to reprint our content, we expect them to ask permission first; if we grant permission, we'll usually allow a reprint of the first paragraph and a link back to the original article. You will want to have your own policy in place.
What kinds of links should you NOT pursue? Besides links from sites that are not relevant to yours, do not pay for links. As Burckhardt explains, “You get NOTHING from paid links except a few clicks unless the links are embedded in body text and NOT obvious sponsored links.”
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