March 2004

Get linking - why link building is still an important part of your search engine marketing campaign

Despite all the changes going on with the search engines, link building (getting relevant sites to link to yours) remains a key element of website promotion. Search engines rank web pages not just according to their relevancy to the search terms typed into a query, but also by the number and quality of incoming links to the website.

The internet is built on links, so gaining links is a natural process. Over time, websites will link to your website if it is seen to be a good resource. However, just waiting for this to happen is not enough. You need to be proactive about gaining quality links, and the following points will help you to get started.

1. Get listed in the appropriate directories
Directories are the first place to start when building up links to your website. There are hundreds of directories out there, all attempting to classify the millions of websites in various ways. Start with the general directories, then carry on to the niche ones. Free directories include DMOZ.org (Open Directory), SearchUno.co.uk, Great-British-Pages.co.uk and Splut.com. Paid directories include Yahoo!, GoGuides.org, Britishbusinesses.com & Joeant.com.

It's also worth researching 'niche' directories - those which are relevant to your industry sector. For example, if your business is involved in manufacturing, get a listing in Kellysearch. There are plenty of directories specialising in sectors such as travel/tourism, computing, etc and should be relatively easy to find in the search engines.

2. Find out who links to your competitors
Identifying the sources of your competitors' incoming links can save you a great deal of time. Not only can it show you the best places to request links, it can also shed light on their promotional tactics. To do this, type the following into the search engine query box on, for example, Google, AltaVista, AlltheWeb and Lycos: 'link:www.yourcompetitor.co.uk' The results should show up all the websites with indexed links to them.

It's worth carrying out this exercise on several search engines, since some show or have indexed more links than others. For example, if you wanted to know who was linking to lastminute.com, type the above into a search engine query box. Google shows 2310 links, Alltheweb shows 95,244 and AltaVista shows 13,573. There are enormous differences in the results. Google often shows the smallest number of incoming links - possibly because it ranks some link sources as insignificant.

If directory-type websites show in the results, it's worth requesting a link from them. If you find a website that's a particularly useful resource, or which targets the audience you would like to reach, consider researching their incoming links too.

3. Ask for links
Simply asking other relevant websites for links will also play a part in your link building activities. It's important not to spam indiscriminately, but if you come across a site which lists websites relevant to yours and you feel it would enhance their resource listings, then ask. You don't have to offer a reciprocal link either - this used to be part of the etiquette, but search engines will not boost your link popularity if you have a link back to every website that carries a link to yours.

4. Make the most of online PR
One of the objectives of online PR is to get links back to your site. It goes without saying that all press releases, particularly those posted on the web, should carry a link to your site. Penned articles, as well as postings in industry forums, should all carry links back - and remember, many of these are permanently published on the web. It all helps to raise the profile of your business as well as the link popularity of your website.

5. Make it easy for other websites to link to you
Finally, when requesting links, make it easy for the other sites to do so by providing them with either a text link and description. You could also offer a small image/logo together with a description. By providing the link, you make it a quick and easy process for the webmaster to copy and paste your link into their web page. Just as importantly, it puts you in control of how your site is described/presented (although some sites will have editorial style guidelines and may not display your link as you would like). As a last point, let the webmaster know which page on his or her site you would like your link to appear, particularly if it’s very large.

The importance of gaining links should not be underestimated, however, it's often overlooked as it does take time and effort. A good idea is to treat it as an ongoing activity, putting aside an hour or so per week, every week, to do link-building.


Further resources on link popularity:

Link Popularity: - http://www.linkpopularity.com/

MarketLeap Link Popularity Check: - http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/