Google's Maile Ohye writes the following about inbound links in his article:
"Inbound links are links from pages on external sites linking back to your site. Inbound links can bring new users to your site, and when the links are merit-based and freely-volunteered as an editorial choice, they're also one of the positive signals to Google about your site's importance."
Nothing new here. If many related websites link to your site, and if these links look natural, this will help you rankings on Google a lot.
However, links are not the most important ranking factor. Maile Ohye gives a concrete example:
"Let's say I have a site, example.com, that offers users a variety of unique website templates and design tips. One of the strongest ranking factors is my site's content. Additionally, perhaps my site is also linked from three sources -- however, one inbound link is from a spammy site.
As far as Google is concerned, we want only the two quality inbound links to contribute to the PageRank signal in our ranking. "
The website's content is mentioned as one of the strongest ranking factors. The inbound links are additional. That makes sense. The content of your website tells Google what your website is about.
If you want to get a high ranking for the keyword "used cars in dallas" but your web pages are about microwave ovens then you won't get high rankings for that keyword.
For that reason, it is very important that you optimize your web pages for the keywords for which you want to get high rankings before you try to get links from other sites.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Five internal linking tips that will improve your search engine rankings
Most search engine spiders do not type into your search boxes and they do not use pull down menus. The following tips will help you to make sure that search engine spiders will index your web pages correctly:
1. Use simple text links to link to your web pages
Most search engines cannot index fancy Flash or JavaScript menus. Some even have difficulty with image links. If possible, use simple text links to link to your web pages. You can make text links prettier by styling them with CSS.
2. Your most important pages should not be more than one click away from the index page
Web pages that can be accessed with a few clicks from your home page are considered more important than web pages that are buried deep inside your website. It's easier to get high rankings for these easy to access pages.
3. Use descriptive link texts
The text that you use to link to your web pages helps search engines to better understand your content. If you sell shoes on your website, do not use links such as but descriptive link texts such as business shoes
That makes it easier for search engines to put the page into a context and it will be more likely that the page gets high rankings for the keyword "business shoes".
4. Create a sitemap
A sitemap is a simple web page that contains link to all important pages of your website. You could add a link to your sitemap in the footer of every web page. By doing this, search engines can find all important pages with two clicks.
5. Check the validity of your HTML code
Errors in the HTML code of your web pages can prevent search engines from indexing your web pages correctly. For example, an HTML error might indicate the end of a web page before the actual content begins. That would mean that search engines would skip the content and any links of that page. You can access the official W3C HTML validator in the Tools menu in IBP.
1. Use simple text links to link to your web pages
Most search engines cannot index fancy Flash or JavaScript menus. Some even have difficulty with image links. If possible, use simple text links to link to your web pages. You can make text links prettier by styling them with CSS.
2. Your most important pages should not be more than one click away from the index page
Web pages that can be accessed with a few clicks from your home page are considered more important than web pages that are buried deep inside your website. It's easier to get high rankings for these easy to access pages.
3. Use descriptive link texts
The text that you use to link to your web pages helps search engines to better understand your content. If you sell shoes on your website, do not use links such as but descriptive link texts such as business shoes
That makes it easier for search engines to put the page into a context and it will be more likely that the page gets high rankings for the keyword "business shoes".
4. Create a sitemap
A sitemap is a simple web page that contains link to all important pages of your website. You could add a link to your sitemap in the footer of every web page. By doing this, search engines can find all important pages with two clicks.
5. Check the validity of your HTML code
Errors in the HTML code of your web pages can prevent search engines from indexing your web pages correctly. For example, an HTML error might indicate the end of a web page before the actual content begins. That would mean that search engines would skip the content and any links of that page. You can access the official W3C HTML validator in the Tools menu in IBP.
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