Using link popularity in SEO

November 19, 2003

We keep hearing of using link popularity in SEO quite a bit and many SEO articles and related SEO resources talk about it at one time or another. What does it all mean really and what can it do for the average website? Is it really all worth the time and effort to participate in a reciprocal link exchange program in the first place?

And finally, what can be done to increase one’s visibility on the Web without going on an all-out “link fishing expedition” as they are called sometimes?

How to get popular without even “fishing” for links
We will attempt to answer the last question first for a change. When a website is well structured, provides good quality content that is of good use to its users, and really delivers the targeted information that its visitors are looking for, you may not even have to go out “fishing” for links in the first place!

In such a scenario, you probably will have a lot of other similar sites that will link to yours on their own will. If the content of your site is that useful, it will be as useful for their visitors too. We have seen this take place on a good number of sites and in just about any industry you can think of.

You will find that, over time, if your site is very relevant to a specific subject, as it should be, many other highly relevant sites will have added your site to their list of interesting and useful links. We often go to Google and sometimes to other search engines and check the number and note the URL’s of some of the back links to many of the sites Rank for $ales has optimized in the past.

We are always pleased to find that, on most occasions, the number and quality of these back links increase most of the time. This all means of course that these sites regularly increase the number of new pages uploaded to their sites and it means the overall quality of their sites is fairly good.

However, and as can be expected, to reach that level of visibility takes a lot of work, a lot of determination and a certain doze of patience. As with most things in life, if you do it right consistently, you should succeed in this case too. When done correctly, even the largest websites of some of the biggest companies will benefit from this consistent program of writing quality content that is relevant and useful to your users.

When a website has content that is truly unique and valuable, other websites will want to link to it on their own, without asking for a link or agreeing on a reciprocal link exchange.

All you need is to be creative and in somehow build a site that will stand out, not just in the way it looks and feels, but especially in the quality content it has to offer its users, which, invariably should convert into buying customers sooner or later. For example, the webmaster at “Fair Lady Beauty Salon” could add newer pages to its site explaining the newest fall fashions in hair styles and the sort.

Also, he or she could write articles on the things that are “in” this season and what’s “passé”, etc. If “Fair Lady Beauty Salon” can deliver this kind of great and fresh information on its website, written in a way that pleases its audience and makes sure it is updated regularly, other similar sites might want to add a link to the “Fair Lady Beauty Salon” website, simply because it will add value to their own site.

These are just some of the important elements one needs to think about when it comes to a website’s link popularity. The goal here is to build a site so good that others want and need to link to it out of their own will. If you can achieve that feat, you won't have to worry about “going out fishing for links” ever.

Also, remember that “one-way” inbound links are always more valuable and that most search engines will give you much higher points than a site that has a 50-50 ratio of inbound to outbound links. Also, you might want to read on how to build a great and powerful homepage by clicking here.

The definition of link popularity
We can attempt to define link popularity as this: if other websites are willing to link to your site, it must have something that is of interest and therefore, it should get an increase in its rankings, as long as all the rest remains equal of course. The whole idea is logical too, since most people will want to link to websites that offer valuable information that their own users can benefit from.

Today, most major search engines have developed some complex algorithms that place a certain importance on link popularity in their ranking formula. There are some people that will tell you that the number of websites pointing to your site is indicative of your link popularity, and the more inbound links that you have, the higher your ranking will be. Well, in a way, part of that is true. However, there is more to it than just that.

Today, all of the major search engines rely on very complex and sophisticated algorithms and specialized technology that are also used to detect what they call: “SpamDexers”, ie: people trying to spam their way into search engines in an attempt to (illegally) increase their rankings, often at the expense of honest and legitimate sites.

For all these reasons, search engines today don’t just count the number of links that are pointing to a site, but will give a lot more attention to the relative quality of those links. In SEO, we always say it’s not the quantity that counts, but the quality. There are really two types of links that get accounted for into any serious linking program. They are inbound links from other sites that narrow on the same keywords and key phrases your own site focuses on, and hence these links happen to be in the same industry as you are.

The second type of inbound links would be constituted mostly of links from other relevant categories in major search directories such as Yahoo and DMOZ (the Open Directory Project), and/or specialized, industry-specific portals.

One word of caution is to stay away from those so-called “link farms” that offer no real value and certainly do not equate to quality links in any way. Also, do not throw your money in the sewer or waste your time trying to “submit to thousands” of engines. They are just not worth it. There are no “thousands of engines” to begin with, least not that are worth submitting to.

Also, always try to link to sites that are on-topic with your site. If you are in the steel products manufacturing business, linking to a site that offers travel rebates and discount coupons won’t help you much in your rankings, but linking to a major steel distributor will.

Should a site owner or webmaster worry about link popularity?
Generally speaking, there should be no need for the average site owner or webmaster to loose sleep over link popularity. This might in fact surprise some of you: contrary to what many people think, link popularity today constitutes a very small percentage of all the many important elements that are being calculated and accounted for by today’s modern search engines!

And, we might even add that, to a certain extent, the link popularity “factor” might even decrease in time, since, in our view, it’s not always done how it should be, ie: there are too many link farms out there and also sites that are willing to reciprocate a link to you just for the sake of linking.

Having said that, just how much reciprocal links actually increase a website's ranking is totally open for debate. In our experience, we will say that, in most cases, simply having a serious representation in the major search directories such as the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) and Yahoo will probably give you better mileage towards your link popularity.

One last word of advice: for websites that would like to rank high with very competitive keywords or key phrases, it could actually be helpful to gather links from other relevant sites. You could try to look for sites that use similar keywords and key phrases that your website generally uses. You might also want to look if they have a “partners” or links page that they could somehow put your link on.

Also, from experience, we will tell you that industry-specific information directories or portals are usually a good place to look for links, as some of them can be pretty busy sites and most people that visit those portals are usually in the same industry you are in.

Article written by Serge Thibodeau,
President & CEO,
Rank for $ales
Copyright (c) Serge Thibodeau 2003

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You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.