These days, age and content presently play the most important roles in effective search engine optimization. Gone are the day one could simply stuff META tags with relevant keywords and hope for the best. As search engines have become more savvy in collecting fresh data around the Internet, it is no longer necessary to continually submit sites to search engines, so what else is left for the SEO to do to insure high rankings?

Search engines like a site with age – the longer a site is establish, the more trusted the content is deemed to be. Sites with relevant, fresh content are well-liked – the more a site has to contribute, the more attention it will receive. Yet, with these two factors is a third procedure that has always existed and has never gone out of style. A site’s link popularity is equally important.

Link popularity refers not only to the number of outbound links connected to your website, but to the number of related websites that link back to yours as an important resource. The more relevant sites linking back to yours, naturally, increases your site’s popularity in that particular subject in the eyes of search engines. Search engines give precedence to such websites, deeming them as authoritative sources. Therefore, it is important when building your website that you seek out relevant sources that may be interesting in linking back. The owner of a website about a particular baseball team, for example, may seek sites related to the baseball team, individual players on that team, the town where the team is based, and sites related to baseball or sports in general.

Building Link Popularity

In the matter of finding websites for potential linking relationships, sometimes it is as simple as an Internet search. However, one must be careful not to go overboard in achieving inbound linkage. Be selective of sites to contact, and establish a friendly relationship with the webmaster that does not appear overtly demanding or intrusive. If you are able to assist other sites by linking back to them, make an offer to do so. As you look for quality websites for linking, be sure that the outbound links on your website are also quality, as the quality of an outside site that links to yours also may determine your site’s value in search.

Link Farms and Lists

Oftentimes in your search for potential link partners you will find websites with special “link directories” through which anybody can submit a site for inclusion. Look closely and you may find such sites have adopted a special code from a webmaster’s resource site to build this directory. You may find hundreds, even thousands, of sites linked, but how many are actually relevant to the parent site?

Such directories are known as “link farms,” and are often the target of spam and/or adult websites seeking to boost their own link popularity. To have a quality site associated with such a directory can be detrimental to your site’s value in search, therefore it is strongly recommended to avoid these directories. It is better to have ten links from quality, trusted websites than 1000 links from spam sites, regardless of the page ranks bestowed upon them by Google or other search engines.

As thousands of new websites are launched daily, learn to sift the wheat from the chaff as you build your online relationship, and find relevant quality sites with whom you can building linking relationships. Link building is an ongoing process in SEO, and ultimately a beneficial one for all parties involved.

Kathryn A. Lively is a freelance writer specializing in search engine optimization and social media optimization. She also assists with Virginia Beach website design.

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As you build your website to attract readers and potential buyers, you will want to consider the content that goes into each page. For an author selling a book, naturally there should be material designed to entice readers to purchase: an excerpt of the book, glowing reviews, and the necessary call to action in a means to make an online purchase.

Oftentimes, to enhance a site’s relevancy on a particular topic, outbound links are included for visitors to sample after they have browsed the site. “Outbound” here refers to links leading the visitor off the website. While it may helpful to provide outside information to visitors, it is a combination of the quantity and quality of inbound links that better determines your site’s ranking in relevant search. Note, in the case of website seeking attention from Google, Yahoo, and other major engines, that quality is the key word.

Is it better to have a website linked from a thousand mediocre, irrelevant websites, or from fifty strong, relevant sources? Search engine optimizaton methods have long been debated since SEO became a legitimate industry, but the fact remains, regardless of what is effective, that link popularity is one of the most important elements of site optimization. More so than proper META data implementation and URL submission, strong link popularity lets search engines know which websites are the most reputable and relevant to various searches.

That said, for an author or musician, or online retailer seeking to build quality inbound links, it is necessary to research and sift the wheat from the chaff. Building good link relationships can be simple or challenging, depending upon the nature of your website. As you look into this type of site promotion, take care to consider a few things:

1) Organic links always trump reciprocal links

It is said that you know a site is truly relevant to a particular subject when many websites link directly to it without being asked. These are known as “organic” links. Websites for major news sources and companies like CNN, Yahoo, and ESPN may enjoy high popularity through constant linking via news sites, weblogs, and sports sites. Amazon.com may benefit from association with many sites relevant to books and music, while social sites like MySpace and YouTube offer cultural relevancy to weblogs and entertainment sites.

Unfortunately, not every site can be an Amazon or MySpace. However, if your website offers a niche it is still possible to attract other site owners for a link relationship. An author I knew who wrote Christian fiction, for example, managed to establish linking relationships with various Christian organizations and ministries. By sending a few complimentary copies of her book, not only was she able to have the sites link to theirs, but she also procured favorable endorsements for the work.

Take advantage of the niche your book brings to the community. If you write about sports, seek out websites related to your topic. If you write romance, find those websites. Connect with webmasters and readers, and offer samples of your work if necessary.

2) Link farms and FFF sites may hurt more than help

Used to be (and to some extent you still see it) there were a number of services that offered to submit websites to thousands of search engines. To the novice webmaster, that may sound like a promising venture into search engine optimization, but at the end of the day the only search engines that make a difference are the ones used most by Internet users – Google, Yahoo, MSN, and other minor engines like AOL Search and Ask. The majority of these so called “engines” may turn out to be nothing more than pages using “parked” domain names (that is, a purchased URL not officially in use) to support coding full of search mechanisms drawn from other engines. Other sites may actually be link farms or FFA (free for all) sites, where anybody in the world can submit a site to attempt good link popularity.

A closer inspection of some sites reveals they can do more to harm a site’s relevance in Google than help. FFA sites in particular are a haven for pornography portals and sites of dubious interest, while link farms might require a reciprocal link in order to be included. If the link in question is not relevant to your site, it wouldn’t make sense to engage in such a relationship. Tempting as it may be, it is recommended to avoid such sites.

3) Webrings may not always be the answer.

Many authors I know tend to sign up for webrings – which are strings of HTML code designed to link together sites of a given theme. Authors of romance, mystery, science fiction and other topics may join a webring, place the code on their website, and allow visitors to jump from site to site in the “ring” by clicking on this code.

While the concept of the webring offers good intentions – the increased opportunity of visitors, for one – there are also disadvantages. Webrings are usually maintained by a single person, who must approve of each new member. A lax “ringmaster” may tend to neglect the ring, particularly if sites involved become defunct. Ring links leading to dead sites may also discourage visitors from using webrings – this often poses a problem for webrings that include hundreds of members.

If you are considering adding your site to a webring, take care to explore the ring in question first. Check for dead sites and the quality of the sites involved. Some webrings, too, require bulky logo images with their code and placement on a particular page. If you are concerned about your page’s design, you may wish to look to other methods of link popularity.

So how does one build effective link relationships for popularity? It is as simple as 1-2-3:

1) Build a fresh site of relevant content – information about your books/products, with content relevant to the topics

2) Research of quality websites with linking potential

3) Establishing a good relationship with webmasters of relevant content.

As an author, your site need not be limited to information about the books you write. Expand the topics to include supplemental articles of interest to would-be readers. For fiction authors, offer free stories furthering the adventures of your characters.

When approaching site owners for link consideration, be polite and detailed. Offer incentives wherever possible. If you write sports biographies, why not approach a collector or memoribilia retailer, and offer gift certificates to the shop in a monthly drawing for readers? Take every advantage you can think of to market your work, and if there is a possibility another site owner can benefit, make sure you emphasize that.

As you meet other people on the Internet, you may find more avenues open to website promotion. Make your approaches armed with courtesy and knowledge, and you just may find your traffic and sales grow.

Kathryn A. Lively is a freelance writer specializing in search engine optimization and social media optimization. She also assists with Virginia Beach website design.

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