Who is Linking to Your Web Site – and What Does that Say about You to Google?

Published 3/24/2009

Linking is the mechanism that connects all the pages on the Internet. You’ve got links throughout your alpaca web site to let people navigate their way around. You may have links going out to other web sites that you think will be useful for your visitors. And hopefully you have links coming into your web site from independent sources.

All types of links can play an important role when it comes to helping your web site show up online. Though the hardest to control, inbound links pointing to your site can make the biggest impact.

The concept is that if several high-quality sites are linking to your web site, then Google and other search engines figure your site must be a popular, valuable resource – and they will be more likely to show it higher in their search results. In effect, your site receives “link juice” from other web pages that link to it.

However, it’s not enough to secure a couple links and then sit still. The Google PageRank algorithm looks at the pattern of links to your site as they build over time.

Building the right kind of links can bring a major payoff, while a wrong turn could get you penalized – and the Google Sandbox is not easy to dig out of.

Armed with a bit of knowledge and some creativity, you can build up valuable incoming links naturally and powerfully, avoiding the traps that plague amateurs.

Spice up your links with some variety

There are all kinds of link farming schemes to grow links, and you need to run the other way from these. This is also called reciprocal linking, where you exchange links with other web sites that will then link to you on a mass scale. Warning: Google is onto this.

While it’s perfectly advantageous to link to high-quality sites that also link to you, the key here is to cultivate a natural mix of links over time.

Is it natural to suddenly have 100 links pointing to your site, all with the same text? Of course not. When people link to you naturally, they might use your farm name (Alma Park Alpacas) or some variation on a descriptive phrase (NJ huacaya alpaca farm). If too many similar links exist, it can signal that those links were generated artificially and potentially result in penalties.

Also consider which pages on your site inbound links point to. Your home page is probably going to get the most, but it’s natural to have links pointing to specific pages inside your web site, too. Cultivate links to your blog, your news pages, your articles, your alpacas for sale, etc.

Some links also carry a title tag, which is indicated in the source code. This is a little too technical to go into detail here, but if you can influence this you’ll want both the link text and title to vary a bit among the links pointing to your site. Once again, the key is to grow your links in a natural pattern.

Not every link carries the same value

Links from popular, established web sites usually carry the greatest value. That’s because they have high PageRank from plenty of other people already linking to them. A link from http://www.ideal-alpaca.com/, for example, will carry much more weight than a link from a new alpaca site that few people know of. Likewise, a link from www.seoalpaca.org will offer greater impact than a link from a directory that uses no-follow tags. (See how you can get a link from seoalpaca.org.)

No-follow tags are the bane of naive link builders. It’s tempting to think you can just link to pages on your site from your Twitter tweets, Facebook and other social media applications. However, many of these sites as well as online ads and also some directories employ “no follow” tags that prevent the search engines from following a link to your site. In this case, it’s as if the link doesn’t exist in the eyes of the search engines. (That doesn’t mean the links aren’t valuable to people who find you and follow the link, it’s just not helping your web site show up in Google.)

So, how can an alpaca rancher breed incoming links naturally?

The mix of links created out on the web pointing back at your web site should avoid skewing toward any particular type. A good mix that you can influence includes:

• Directories – Professional organizations, online communities and forums, business directories, etc. can all potentially provide good links to your site.

• Press releases – Writing and submitting press releases online can help you get your news in front of more people and build links to your site.

• Blogs – Link to relevant pages on your own site from your blog. Build relationships online with other bloggers, too, and they may want to link back to you! Active blogs with high visibility and large followings are going to be your best bet, but you can mix it up over time targeting lesser known bloggers, too. Keep in mind that as other sites grow in PageRank, the value passed to your site will also grow.

• Create some link bait – Make sure your content is so fascinating or funny that people will want to tell others about it. This is the ultimate for building naturally growing incoming links.

For example, every month you could list your site in two good directories, link to interior site pages from a couple relevant posts in your own blog, distribute one press release to news sites, and write one great article that other people may want to link to and then let them know about it. Assessing outlets to target for valuable links can be time-consuming but worth it when your site’s PageRank starts to climb. (Find some information on how to evaluate outlets in this article on press release optimization.)

See who’s linking to your alpaca web site

You can see all the links pointing to your site via a couple handy tools online. Go to Google.com to see who Google is crediting with a link to you. Enter in the search box [link:www.yourwebaddress.com] without the brackets.

Not all your links are going to show here, though, but you can use Google’s free webmaster tools for more in-depth research if you’re inclined. You can also use the free Yahoo! Site Explorer to see what links Yahoo! shows pointing at your site.

Every month, make it a part of your link-building strategy to check for any new links and build relationships with more web properties. After all, a link is a compliment and a great way to network in addition to an important way to build value for your web site.

©2012
About SEO Alpaca: SEO Alpaca was created by SEO Advantage, an SEO firm serving the alpaca community with online marketing, web design, and SEO services since 2000. Learn more about custom alpaca website design and search engine optimization today at www.seoalpaca.com.

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