Why link popularity is the top factor in top search engine rankings
Why link popularity is the top factor in top search engine rankings
It used to be said that content is king. And while content is an important ingredient in developing a commercially successful website, link popularity is proving to be the deciding factor on what will or will not rank well, especially on Google. Off page criteria has grown into the primary ranking factor in the major search engines.
Link popularity analysis makes Google famous
The biggest feature that sets Google apart from their search engine competition was PageRank. Most search engines at the time looked at on-page factors to analyze what a web page was about. On-page factors are essentially how a website reads and the words contained therein. There was no verification from other parties.
What Google did was analyze what other websites were saying about a particular
web page by analyzing incoming links to a website. Google’s algorithm ranks websites primarily on:
1. The volume of incoming links to a webpage.
2. The quality of the incoming links to a webpage.
3. The anchor text (link text) of the incoming link to your webpage.
Volume of Links
The more links pointing to a website, the more important it is assumed to be. This is part of what goes into the mix of calculating PageRank.
A website like Yahoo is judged to be important because thousands of websites around the web are pointing to it. And if an important website links to your website, then your website is also judged to be important, which brings us to the aspect of quality.
Quality of Links
All incoming links are not the same. A link from Yahoo is judged to be more authoritative than a link from a poorly linked website. A link from a website that has a high number of naturally occurring inbound links and is themed the same as your website is a high quality link.
The web is divided by “neighborhoods” relative to their theme as well as quality. Google makes reference to “bad neighborhoods” and it’s important to stay out of them. Free for all (FFA) link exchanges are an example of a low quality link neighborhood.
Anchor Text
Since people naturally use descriptive text when linking to other websites, Google analyzes anchor text. It used to be enough to attain a handful of high PageRank links with relevant anchor text in order to rank well, but now it is important to achieve links from a wide variety of websites with descriptive anchor text. As search engine space becomes more competitive it will be imperative to secure a high volume of high quality incoming links.
How Links Help Your Website
The citation analysis model allows the web community to, in essence, vote for the top results. The problem is that if the web community cannot see your website (it currently does not rank well on the search engines), it’s never going to vote on it.
Another flaw is that while a natural growth of links is possible with a website that is creating ideas, such as a blog, this does not happen naturally with most commercial websites. Commercial websites are obligated to create content that inspires linking and take a proactive stance toward developing inbound links.
With the right content, tools, and resources, more sites will provide one-way links. The result is higher search engine placements and increased traffic to your site.
Why link popularity is the top factor in top search engine rankings - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Fleischner's Website.
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The Value of Links versus Content
It used to be said that content is king. And while content is an important ingredient in developing a commercially successful website, link popularity is proving to be the deciding factor on what will or will not rank well, especially on Google. Off page criteria has grown into the primary ranking factor in the major search engines.
Link popularity analysis makes Google famous
The biggest feature that sets Google apart from their search engine competition was PageRank. Most search engines at the time looked at on-page factors to analyze what a web page was about. On-page factors are essentially how a website reads and the words contained therein. There was no verification from other parties.
What Google did was analyze what other websites were saying about a particular
web page by analyzing incoming links to a website. Google’s algorithm ranks websites primarily on:
1. The volume of incoming links to a webpage.
2. The quality of the incoming links to a webpage.
3. The anchor text (link text) of the incoming link to your webpage.
Volume of Links
The more links pointing to a website, the more important it is assumed to be. This is part of what goes into the mix of calculating PageRank.
A website like Yahoo is judged to be important because thousands of websites around the web are pointing to it. And if an important website links to your website, then your website is also judged to be important, which brings us to the aspect of quality.
Quality of Links
All incoming links are not the same. A link from Yahoo is judged to be more authoritative than a link from a poorly linked website. A link from a website that has a high number of naturally occurring inbound links and is themed the same as your website is a high quality link.
The web is divided by “neighborhoods” relative to their theme as well as quality. Google makes reference to “bad neighborhoods” and it’s important to stay out of them. Free for all (FFA) link exchanges are an example of a low quality link neighborhood.
Anchor Text
Since people naturally use descriptive text when linking to other websites, Google analyzes anchor text. It used to be enough to attain a handful of high PageRank links with relevant anchor text in order to rank well, but now it is important to achieve links from a wide variety of websites with descriptive anchor text. As search engine space becomes more competitive it will be imperative to secure a high volume of high quality incoming links.
How Links Help Your Website
The citation analysis model allows the web community to, in essence, vote for the top results. The problem is that if the web community cannot see your website (it currently does not rank well on the search engines), it’s never going to vote on it.
Another flaw is that while a natural growth of links is possible with a website that is creating ideas, such as a blog, this does not happen naturally with most commercial websites. Commercial websites are obligated to create content that inspires linking and take a proactive stance toward developing inbound links.
With the right content, tools, and resources, more sites will provide one-way links. The result is higher search engine placements and increased traffic to your site.
Why link popularity is the top factor in top search engine rankings - To learn more about this author, visit Michael Fleischner's Website.
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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