Search engines are the first tool that potential customers use to find the products and services they need. This is why link popularity is so important. If the customers can’t find your website, you won’t make sales.

You might be wondering, “What is popular about a link!” Plenty! Link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines, and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine. So, how do I make my link popular?

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It’s a simple recipe, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more popular tour keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on the search engines. But don’t be discouraged; there are ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than “link farms” – pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have any problem about your visitors seeing. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve high link popularity and improve your rankings on all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year, it will be money well spent. If your site is non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of appropriate category, and this just takes some common sense. For example, if your company sells Goats Milk from a farm located in the middle of Whoop Whoop, do NOT submit your listing to “Retailers from Nowhere.” BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is look a little deeper – and submit your listing to the “Goat Product” category. You will not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a national category.

The next step after you have acquired directory listings is to locate other quality related sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Goats Milk site example. Linking up to a site that sells Goats Milk recipes would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of this site wanting to link up to your site are also greater. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects – and both of your sites’ link popularity.

Not all sites want to link to other sites, so do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on.

Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you admire their website. Make sure you stress that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website.

Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just remember to keep all your communications complimentary and cordial.

Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This will not happen over night. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labour-intensive nature of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance.

B.T.W – make sure you have a tidy, professional looking site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity success!

The major factor for success on the Internet is link popularity. If you have good link popularity it can increase traffic to your web site by bringing high ranking on search engines. It is quite difficult task for a new site to build link popularity which has just born here we will discuss what strategy a new site should adopt to boost link popularity. First of all let’s understand the meaning of link, link popularity and link exchange.

What is Link and Link Popularity?

The link (hyperlink, or Web link) is a connection from one web resource to another. Internet begins with the hyperlink and a person go from one page to another page by clicking link. Links are the buttons and underlined text on web pages that take you to other pages on click.

What is Link Popularity?

Link Popularity means how much you are known on the internet which can be measured how many sites or web pages linked to you. Link popularity is a measure of both the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site. Link Popularity is the number of quality hyperlinks pointed to your website.

What is Link Exchange?

In Link Exchange basically, we exchange links – you add my link to your website and I will add your link to mine. It is a barter system give link and in return get link .By exchanging links, with theme based sites or authority sites you can increase your websites link popularity and which will results into increase of your website search engine rankings.

What are new site link exchange problems?

For new sites it is quite difficult to get linked with other sites. Even the google takes the site for indexing if it has got few inbound links from other websites. Google says “The best way to ensure Google finds your site is for your page to be linked from lots of pages on other sites…”

In one of the reason for site not listed Google has explained: “If we have not picked up your site and it has been several months, then it is likely that our spiders are not able to find your site. If you increase the links pointing to the page, Google will likely find your site in the future. “

It is clear that your site will not be listed on Google quickly. Search Engines usually takes news sites very fast if you are linked by other popular related web sites. New site will also not get reciprocal link from other sites because of non popularity or 0 PR (Google Page Rank).

Link building strategy for new site owners

Now what strategy should new sites adopt to get started on the Web? Here are the few one, which will work.

1. Get Listed on Free Top Web directory Try to get listed on open directory project DMOZ ( www.dmoz.org.) and also submit your site to Yahoo! by visiting http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/. Be sure to follow their guidelines for listing. The important free directories in addition to dmoz are:

http://www.dmoz.orghttp://dir.yahoo.com

2. Get Links for Your Associates Try to get link from your associated or friends web sites. If you are in business you can get link from your dealers or business associates. It will also help you in getting theme bases links. In initial stage you can take link from your friends and relative web pages or site although they may not be theme based but at least search engine like Google will find your link and index you.

3. Free Site Submission Tools There are lot free site submit tool are available on the Internet. Use them to get listing as for the new site owner it is difficult to find the important search engines. Be careful and do not submit many time to same search engines as they may consider repetive submission it Spam. Further try to keep away from FFA pages as they are treated as ‘link farms” by search engines and listing is penalized.

4. Join Discussion Forum The Discussion form is another media to get inbound links. Join the Message Board which is related to the theme of your site and if you are expert in your field you can reply the many threads. Be sure to include your URL in your signature and also anchor text to be linked with URL should be your site Keyword. If the message board allows it, you can even include a short promotional blurb about your site at the end of your posts. Even if you do not post try to add your url in profile and it is also an inbound link and is important if from your theme based Forum. Try to add your details i.e city, country name, interest and occupation in profile as it will make your theme based pages where all contents are related to you.

5. Email based discussion Email based discussion lists, which are archived on the web in static HTML pages can also be used to boost the link popularity of your site in a similar manner. In this case, the signature file that you use with your email program should contain the URL for your web site.

6. Reciprocal links request low page rank sites The New site faces difficulty in exchanging link with high Page Rank Sites. It is better to start exchanging link with sites which are related to your topic or theme of your site even they may have low Page Rank. You will see that there page rank will increase with the time and you will gain.

7. Link Popularity through Awards Try to join the award sites. There are many sites which open contest or award of good site design or good content site you can apply for it. If you get a chance to which your brief site content will be published on Award site, which will increase your link popularity.

8. Major Industry Associations There are many industrial association sites which publish free listing of there sites. Just find the association site relating to your products or theme of site and get listed.

9. Signing of Testimonial Lot of website ask to write testimonial and also add your URL. Just study the site and write brief genuine testimonials about the website. If you will be able to write good, genuine testimonial you are sure to get listed there with your comment. Do not sign guest books with vague comment just to get link.

10. Discount Offer You can offer a discount or concession on your good, products and services to anyone who put a small banner or text link back to your site.

11. Affiliate program Set up an affiliate program, which is an excellent way to boost link popularity. Your affiliate members will put there affiliate code on there sites which will contain your URL and your will get theme based inbound link.

12. Free Netcard Try to make free netcard available on the Internet and your complete detail to make your full information page and inbound link is also important as it is your business card on net.

It is always said better beginning is half done. So if new site adopt the above method to increase link popularity they are sure to build good page rank in the beginning and latter on all higher page rank web sites will be ready to exchange link with you and will result into building of solid link popularity for your site. You should not expect results (Increase in search engine ranking) so fast. Wait for at least 3 month till search engines index you all full site pages.

For most web surfers Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are the first tool your potential customers are likely to use to find the products and services they need. So part of your internet marketing strategy must be improving your search rankings. Increasingly search engines are looking at Link Popularity to measure the worth of your site. This is why link popularity is so crucial to climbing up the search engine results.

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It’s a simple formula, but a very important one. More links to your site from ‘authority sites’ = greater link popularity = higher position in search engine results. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on any search engine. But don’t be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than ‘link farms’ – pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year, it will be money well spent. If your site is non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of appropriate category, and this just takes some common sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny State, do NOT submit your listing to ‘Retailers from Nowhere, Tiny State.’ BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is look a little deeper and submit your listing to the ‘Fine Alpaca Wool’ category. You will not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a national category.

The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Alpaca Wool site example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are also greater. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects and both of your sites’ link popularity.

Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have to do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your own site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on.

Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website.

Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just remember to keep all your communications complimentary and cordial.

Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance.

By the way, make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!

Link Popularity, the make or break element for Search Engine Rankings

Link popularity is the single most influential factor for determining how well a web site will perform in search engine rankings. A web site’s link popularity is computed from the number and more importantly, the quality of links pointing to a web site.

Link Popularity history:

To gain a better understanding of link popularity it is useful to know why it became so crucial for search engine rankings. In the past a web page’s ranking was determined, amongst other factors, by the number of keyword occurences within ‘on-page’ elements i.e. in page text, META tags, title tag. When web developers learned that they could trick a search engine to return their web pages by cramming keywords into their pages the search engines had to get a bit smarter. They were using ‘on-page’ elements to determine relevance so it was only natural that they would look to elements out of direct control of the web page creator i.e. ‘off-page’ elements. Search engines made the assumption that the greater the number of links from other sites pointing to a web site, the more popular the web site is and therefore a more quality resource. This worked nicely in theory but in practice it was also to be abused.

Web site owners figured out many ways to get links pointing to their web sites one example of which was through the use of link farms, pages the contained nothing more than a collection of links, Quantity of links was being abused so the search engines made use of the old saying “quality not quantity” and began to assign a quality factor to each of the links pointing to a web site. Now web sites that had a higher number of high quality links were looked upon favourably by the search engines. Building link popularity became a science in itself and today is still the most time-consuming and frustrating activity for a search engine optimizer.

Main classes of links:

Note: In the following examples SiteA is our web site and SiteB is an outside site (i.e. a web site under a different domain name than SiteA).

Inbound links:

Inbound links to a web site are links that originate from an outside web site . An example would be a link on SiteB pointing into a page on SiteA.

SiteA SiteB

There are two further classifications of links:

Reciprocal links:

An example of a reciprocal link is when SiteA links to SiteB AND SiteB links to SiteA, the link is reciprocated by both parties.

SiteA —–> SiteB

AND

SiteA

One-way links:

An example of a one-way link is when either SiteA links to SiteB OR SiteB links to SiteA, it is one-way only.

SiteA SiteB

To achieve a high link popularity the type of links to build are inbound one-way links. This simulates how natural links are created i.e. links that people create to point to your site because they found it worth linking to.

For outbound links it is natural to assume that they might decrease link popularity of a web site but this is not true. You do not give away your link popularity when you link to another site. They do not add to your link popularity though.

Reciprocal links can add to your link popularity if the web site that you exchange links with has a higher link popularity than your site. However they are not as powerful as inbound, one-way links as they are quite artificial in nature i.e. most probably created by communication between the owners of both sites.

How to build link popularity:

So it is quite obvious that to help build up a nice link popularity many inbound, one-way links need to be created. This can be achieved in a number of different (and most importantly, legal) ways:

Directories:

Directories are categorized listings of links from around the web. Many, many directories exist and vary in their methods of getting your link posted on them. They provide a great source of quality inbound, one-way links. Getting listed in quality directories such as DMOZ or Yahoo can be more beneficial for your link popularity than a lot of links from smaller, newer directories. Directories are discussed in my Directories article

Great site content:

The most powerful way to get inbound, one-way links is to have great site content that other web sites will want to link to. This allows you to get links from sites other than directories, which can definitely be better. The best thing about this is that it requires no communication on your part, it just happens naturally. If your site has poor content then others sites may not link, including the directories. Most of the top ranking web sites today got to the top because of great content. Writing interesting and informative articles for your web site is a good way of getting these kind of links.

Emailing web site owners:

If you come across a listing of links on a web site other than a directory e.g. a links page on a somebody’s personal web site, it can do no harm to write the web site owner a polite email requesting a link to your site from their page. They may request a reciprocal link in return but sometimes they do not and you can get a quality inbound, one-way link for your efforts. I have got many links in the past using this method. In my email I always ask them to visit my site first before making a decision to link and I personalise each email with a comment or two about their site.

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Summary:

The best and most effective way of increasing your search engine rankings is working to improve your web site’s link popularity. This can be achieved by getting as many inbound, one-way links as you can from quality sites such as directories. Other ways to get these links are having great content on your site and requesting a link to your site from other web sites.

Increasing link popularity is a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process but is definitely worth the time and effort when you see a dramatic increase in traffic.

You’re probably wondering what the blazes is popular about

a link! Well, in a word – plenty! Link popularity refers to

the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines,

and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords

are entered into a search engine. So, you’re probably

wondering, how do I make my link popular?

Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are

the first tool that potential customers use to find the

products and services they need. This is why link

popularity is so imperative. If the customers do not find

your website, you have no possibilities of making any

sales.

Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking

to sites that have links to their pages from related,

quality sites. It’s a simple formula, but a very important

one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the

most popular search engines employ it to rank your web

pages in their indexes.

The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will

be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this

step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly

on any search engine. But don’t be discouraged; there are

tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the

most competitive keywords.

There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is

that just linking up with a large number of other websites

will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have

quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when

pertaining to websites that are nothing more than “link

farms” – pages containing line after line of indiscriminate

links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against

your website if you are associated with a link farm, so

steer clear of them!

The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site

you are linking to. Never link to a page you have

reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you

want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap.

Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link

popularity, if not completely destroy it.

So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link

popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on

all the popular search engines.

The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the

door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as

Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is

business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and

despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year,

it will be money well spent. If your site is

non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take

time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open

Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are

business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make

a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site

listed.

You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of

appropriate category, and this just takes some common

sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from

an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny

State, do NOT submit your listing to “Retailers from

Nowhere, Tiny State.” BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is

look a little deeper – and submit your listing to the “Fine

Alpaca Wool” category. You will not only associate yourself

with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a

national category.

The next step after you have attained directory listings is

to locate other quality sites that will increase your link

popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related

to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase,

but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to

avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful

to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Alpaca Wool site

example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies

would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the

knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are

also greater. By linking to a related site that will be

relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both

of your site’s business prospects – and both of your sites’

link popularity.

Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have

to do some research when you are looking for possible

linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for

your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think

quality customers will also enter to find your own site.

Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked,

non-competing websites that have a links or resources page.

Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the

quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use.

Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and

determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must

set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link

on your own links page to their site. This is an essential

first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances

significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added

their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site.

Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make

sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk

mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat

that you have added a link to their page on your site. A

hook like this almost always insures the reader will read

on.

Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much

you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that

you have actually visited their site, and that their site

is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your

links page, and ask them to check out the link for

themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not

only benefit from the increased traffic your website will

direct their way, but you will also increase their link

popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so

essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t

sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would

greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on

their own links page to your website.

Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as

you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and

non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant

sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if

they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month,

and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then

give it another month, and if your site is still absent

from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from

your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a

link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial

to your link popularity and your business needs. Just

remember to keep all your communications complimentary and

cordial.

Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search

engines frequently to see if your link popularity has

improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It

will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no

way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your

link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with

such importance.

By the way – make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined

site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you.

Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long

as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!