In the search engine marketing industry, the buzzwords for 2002 are
definitely link popularity, link analysis and PageRank™. In my
opinion, link popularity is overrated. Is it important? Yes, but link
popularity is only one factor among many factors that make up search
engines' ranking algorithms. External links can improve link popularity
scores; therefore improving search engine rankings. More importantly,
external links are important sources for web site traffic, sales and
profits.
I've reviewed a fantastic program,
Zeus, that's designed to help you find sites like yours to which
to link and request reciprocal links. I'll be reviewing a similar program,
ARELIS, in November 2002. If you are interested in reciprocal linking,
I highly recommend that you read the Zeus review, and come back in early
November to read the ARELIS review. However, traditional reciprocal
linking is not the focus of this article. Instead, I'll take a look
at some alternative strategies that you can use to build traffic, sales
and profits. These strategies may also help improve your site's link
popularity.
Strategy #1
Host your own affiliate program on your own server. Sure it takes more
work: you have to set it up, administer it and pay out the affiliate
checks. Let affiliates send traffic and increase sale for you. Of course
you could use an affiliate service, such as Commission Junction, and
save yourself all of the time to set up and administer the program and
pay out commissions. However, the links point to the affiliate service
and get redirected to your site. If you are simply looking to build
traffic and sales, then this may be the way to go, but remember, not
only do you pay commissions on each sale, but you also pay a fee or
percentage to the affiliate service. If you host your own affiliate
program, you save the service fee, and all those affiliate links point
directly to you. You can find affiliate programs, some of which may
be free, at The
CGI Resource Index.
Strategy #2
Build a stand alone search engine or directory. Add your own sites,
your clients’ sites, your affiliate sites, your own sites that are affiliates
for others, etc. It's a great way to legitimately build link popularity
for all your sites, even if they are unrelated. Some programs will even
allow you to supplement your results with ODP. You can find search engine
and directory programs at The
CGI Resource Index and The
PHP Resource Index. You can set it up to automatically include every
site that signs up, or you can manually review every site that applies.
You can also build a stand-alone themed search engine or directory,
with a link to your own site. Then invite similar sites to join. You
may be able to supplement the results with ODP, but filter out everything
that is not related to your theme.
Of course, once everything is all set up, you might want to submit
it to the major search engines.
Strategy #3
Host a Top Site. Top Sites can work for almost any topic. A Top Site
is run by a cgi program. There are several ways to configure the program,
but most rank by the amount of incoming traffic a site sends. Here's
how it works. A site signs up for a Top Site. They add your link or
button with their top site ID in the link on their site. The link points
to your Top Site via the cgi program. The referring site gets credit
for the visitor. The more visitors that site sends, the better it ranks.
An added benefit is that all the outgoing links from your Top Site go
through your cgi-bin and are redirected to the site. So if you are worried
about sharing too much PageRank (which I don't worry about myself),
you won't be sharing it by using a Top Site. You can find Top Site programs,
some of which may be free, at The
PHP Resource Index and The
CGI Resource Index. You can also use the Top Site to generate some
advertising revenue by placing banner and button ads on your top sites
pages. Peruse other categories at the above sites to find advertising
programs.
Strategy #4
Host your own Web Ring. All the links on every Web ring banner point
to your site and redirect to member sites, your site if you host it.
Yes, most of those links go through the cgi-bin, but there is at least
one main link back to your Web Ring page, depending upon how you set
up your Web Ring banner. Web Rings are fairly popular with both webmasters,
as a source of traffic, and with surfers. You can find Web Ring programs
at The
PHP Resource Index and The
CGI Resource Index. However, don't join a Web ring for link popularity
purposes as all the links point to the ring server and redirect to member
site, but they can be useful for building traffic.
Strategy #5
If you give away something on your site, don't forget to try and get
a listing from the sites that list sites that give stuff away, such
as The Free Site. If you don't
give away something for free, take a look at your business and see if
there isn't something you can give away for free. To keep your work
to a minimum, make it something that visitors can easily download, such
as e-books, software, etc.
Strategy #6
If an established and respected writer asks you for a contribution for
an article he or she is writing, always say yes (if you have the knowledge)!
Established writers get published in a lot of places that you can't.
The writers will always give you credit and may give you a link in the
article as well. If nothing else, you can gain credibility from being
mentioned in the article.
Strategy #7
If you belong to professional organizations, your local Chamber of Commerce,
etc., see if they will give you a link. People may look at sites for
Chambers of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, or professional organizations
when looking for items or services to buy. It will also help improve
your credibility and increase consumer confidence in your business.
Conclusion
Don't just think in terms of building "link popularity." What
you are really doing is building traffic by exchanging links with similar
sites and sites that offer products and services that are complimentary
to yours. Link popularity is an added benefit. If you are focused on
"link popularity," you may miss some great opportunities to
build traffic. Remember that link popularity is only one factor among
many that search engines use to rank sites. It's far better to find
sites and develop strategies that produce traffic, sales and profit.
For more link building ideas, download this free e-book: 131
(Legitimate) Link Building Strategies.
Written by search engine marketing authors:
- Robin Nobles, The Academy of Web Specialists and Search Engine Workshops
- John Alexander, Beyond-SEO and Search Engine Workshops
- Eric Ward, NetPOST and URLwire
- With contributions from 34 top search engine marketing experts
For more information about Look Sharp Designs' alternative traffic
building services, please fill out and send our search
engine marketing request form.
***About Bill Gentry:
Bill Gentry has been a professional Web designer since 1999 and a Search
Engine Optimization and Online Marketing specialist with Look Sharp
Designs since February 2000.
Article may not be reprinted without permission of Look Sharp Designs.
To request permission for reprinting rights, please contact Look Sharp Designs.
