Optimizing for top Google rankings includes a number of factors. In SEO on Page we discussed on site optimization. In this we will touch on incoming links as well as using Google Webmaster Tools.
LINKS
Links are very important in todays Google rankings, but just how many links you need will depend on both the competitiveness of your target phrases, and the quality of the incoming links themselves.
Essentially the number one rule of links is to keep it relevant! Topical relevance is very important in order for inbound links to give your site the most value. If the page that links to you is relevant that is good, if the entire site linking to you is relevant, that is better.
First to get an idea of how many links you may need, take a look at the top 10 ranking sites in Google and record how many links Yahoo is noting for each site. (This is because Google does not display anywhere near all the links they have noted). The average of this count is often a good indication of how many links your site may need.
There are many different ways to get links to your site including the age old reciprocal link trade, directory links, article based links, and links from press releases.
Reciprocal Links
What are Reciprocal Links ?Reciprocal linking has seen its value drop considerably over the past few years, however, if the site you are trading with is relevant you can still receive value from these links.
Reciprocal links (also referred to as link exchange) are links from site A to site B and then site B linking back to site A. Reciprocal links indicate a mutual effort from both sites to increase their link popularity and prominence to the search engines. Because a reciprocal link does not occur naturally and takes corporation between the two websites the value of the link is somewhat diminished.
Paid Links
Google frowns on paid links, however that is not to say that they dont work. Often you can find highly reputable and relevant websites which are offering paid advertising spots. If these links are coded to link directly to your website without passing through any tracking redirects, you will in many cases see value in the form of both direct traffic and increased link densities and rankings.
Articles
Writing and distributing industry specific articles is a great way to help increase both your link counts and site traffic . Consider writing articles on a regular basis and submitting them to some of the more popular services such as Ezine Articles ( find more at Dofollow – Social and Link Building Sites ) . Be sure to include a link to your site from somewhere within the article, or at the very lest within your bio. Try to use a target phrase as part of the anchor text for additional value. Also, you can submit your link or your article to our directory at FedEx’s Blog Directory .
Press Releases
If something of importance has happened to your company such as a new product launch, or other notable achievement – essentially anything news worthy, put out a press release. Submit this press release through services such as PRWeb or PRNewsWire. Again, be sure to include a target phrase as part of the anchor text.
There are also a number of places you can get links that have basically turned south, and are not generally recommended. These include signatures in form posts, guest books, and other typically free links.
Forum Posts
Forum posts can help to marginally increase your link counts; however, with this one you must be careful. Only add a link to your site in your signature if both the forum allows it, and you are a respected member of the forum. If you are a solid contributor and your posts have depth and meaning, and the forum is highly relevant to your site, then having a link in your signature may give your site some juice. Posting wildly to random forms will in most cases get yourself banned, and will be both a waste of time and potentially make you and your site look bad.
Read Up to 100 DoFollow Forum to Build Backlink to help you get full list of dofollow forum to build your backlink .
Guest Books
In nearly all cases, do not post your link to guest books. If you happen to stumble upon a guestbook that is highly relevant to your site, the other comments are relevant to your site, and you have something useful (and again relevant) to say, then perhaps consider it, but typically focusing on links from guest books is considered SPAM and is best avoided all together.
Blog Comments
Having a link from your blog comments is not necessarily a bad thing. If you find a relevant blog post of use, and have something relevant and constructive to say, dont be afraid to enter your link into the URL field of the form, but dont try stuffing links into the comment itself.
Quality of your Incoming Link
Today, it is generally accepted that .edu backlinks carry a larger weight for search engine algorithms. Despite the fact that search engine giant Google has never admitted it, most SEO and online marketing analysts confirm that .edu outperform other extensions in terms of search ranking and leverage.
How Would I Be Able To Get A .edu Backlink?
The first step in acquiring a .edu backlink that points to your website, is to locate websites related to your topic ending with those extensions. One way would be to use the Google and Search as: site:.edu combined with the keywords of your blog.
For example: site:.edu Make Money Online
This should make you to search an extensive list of such .EDU sites. Once you have a list of sites, try exploring through them and select the ones you think would have a higher probability of sharing some external links with your blog.
Once youre in, do your best to participate in the forums and discussions if they have. And its important for you that you dont SPAM, since this would be highly unethical. Then after, you may leave your link there.
I have a great news for you. I have collected a list of almost 200+ .EDU forums which you can have a look and try exploring them for your benefits.
Link Farms & Bad Neighborhoods
These are sites that allow you to simply post your link no strings attached. They are mostly long scrolling pages with countless links. Stay away from them. If you see one, run in the other direction. These links are bad, will not help with your rankings, and in some cases can actually damage your rankings.
Stay away from sites that cross link with obvious spammers. These networks of SPAM sites are not ones you would want your site associated with, and if you achieve links from enough of these sites it can adversely impact your rankings. Even more important, NEVER link to any of these sites – as that will certainly tie in your connection to them and give Google reason to discount your rankings.
DMOZ, Yahoo and Other Directories
Directory based links can be of significant help, especially if they are from highly reputable directories, the two biggest being DMOZ.org and the Yahoo Directory. Also, you can read Five Social Bookmarking Tips Release
Getting a site into DMOZ is like Gold. Google loves links from DMOZ and your site will reap the benefits. The big catch however is actually getting your site into the directory in the first place. Find the perfect category for your site and check to see if it has an editor. If you see a link Volunteer to edit this category try and find another relevant location. Pages without active editors take much longer to get listed into. Once you find the perfect directory submit your site every 4-6 months until listed. If you are lucky you will get in eventually.
Yahoo Directory is seen as an authority in the eyes of Google, and getting your site in will help your link reputation. This link does come at a price of $299 per year, but will play a role in helping your website achieve top rankings.
There are a number of other valuable directories out there that can help you with your search rankings. Before submitting to any directory the key is a combination of relevance and authority. If the directory is relevant and active it may be worth considering.
GOOGLE WEBMASTER TOOLS
Google Webmaster Tools can be very useful for your optimization efforts. It may not directly help you obtain higher rankings, but can help you trouble shoot if you are experiencing problems. It will also allow you to remove URLs that you dont want indexed and set various preferences such as your domain, crawl rate, and geographic target.
XML Sitemaps
This is the most common reason people use Google Webmaster Tools – the submission of their XML sitemap. While you can use your robots.txt to have Google find your XML sitemap, by submitting it directly to Google you can check up on the spidering status.
Error checking
Webmaster Tools is also quite useful for checking on various error URLs that Google may know about. Under the Diagnostics > Web Crawl you can view any errors that Google has to report on your site. By cleaning up any errors you can help increase your chances of rankings.
Links
From inside Google Webmaster Tools you can get a much clearer look at what sites Google is noting as having links to you, and give you a better indication of the need, if any, to increase your link counts.
WWW Preference
Be sure to select your domain preference under Tools > Set Preferred Domain. In nearly all cases you will want to select the version including the www
SUMMARY
Inbound links play a significant role in successful Google rankings. By focusing on relevant links, as well as by diversifying where you get those links from, you can build a solid foundation for your search rankings today and into the future.
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