Link
Building - Questions and Answers About Off Page Factors
By John Alexander
Question:
I know that having a continual plan to get new links to my
site is very important to help my Web site be found. What is
the ideal number of new links I should be trying to achieve on
a monthly basis or is there an ideal number?
Answer:
One of the first things to remember is that the number or
quantity of links coming in to you should not be your first
consideration. Years ago it was all about the quantity but
these days, it is also about the descriptive text in the link
that counts along with the authoritative aspect (how busy the
site is) as well as getting links from locations that suit
your audience. Lot's of times you can benefit with links that
are not huge in number, but are from authoritative sites using
good descriptive link text in the link.
Question:
But are there a maximum number that I should not exceed?
Answer:
If you are talking about inbound links that are coming into
your site, there is not a maximum number, but the one thing to
keep in mind is to build your links so they are growing in
moderation, in a very natural way. You would not want to have
anything to inflate the volume of links coming in by a few
thousand over night. That would send up a red flag.
Question:
What about building out going links from one of my pages. Is
there a maximum number there that I should not exceed?
Answer:
One thing to remember is that while their are SEO influences
realized by different aspects of linking, try and build your
outgoing links so that they make sense to your readership. You
are not just building links for search engines.
100 links on a page is a good maximum. Obviously you don't
want a page that goes on forever with links.
Question:
I have heard that it can be a bad thing to "buy
links." Is that true.
Answer:
That is true. At least Google has warned about buying links on
high PR sites which we have never recommended doing anyways.
Basically, you don't want to do anything for the purpose of
"manipulating rankings." You can buy advertising
from people, but don't buy links. There really is no need to
because there are so many other strategies you can use that
won't get you in trouble.
Question:
Is SEO not all about manipulation of rankings anyways?
Answer:
I'm sure there are some that may think that way. But we
believe that search engine optimization is simply about
building high quality content that is truly relevant and
useful. Content that merits good visibility because it
satisfies the reason why the searcher searched.
Question:
You mentioned that there are other easy ways to build linking.
It seems to us that it is an awful lot of work these days. Can
you share some examples of easy ways to build links?
Answer:
Absolutely. In our Search
Engine Academy Workshops we teach students lots of
important ways to build genuine link reputation and link
popularity as well as specific strategies in more detail. But
let's give you some easy examples that really are pretty
basic, but it's amazing how some people don't think about the
basic things.
You may want to start by
submitting your sites to directories, since directories do not
involve search engine robots. Some directories pass more
benefit back to you than others, but basically you want to get
into a few directories even before the search robots come by.
We do not recommend submitting to robots at all, that's
another story. But the only way to get into a directory, is to
submit to them.
TIP: Here is one stress free
way of looking at directories and determining the good ones
that pass benefit from the bad ones that pass know benefit.
Drop by this Web site where someone has tested all the
directories and made plenty of notes for you. Just follow in
the footsteps and take the advice of Martin Preece and it can
save a lot of time.
Check out this information
on the best free directories (as well as the duds)
Here is a list from Martin identifying some of the best
paid directories
Another option, for those who
want to build links from directories and speed the process up,
there is a submitter tool that works because it follows all
the rules. The most time spent submitting to directories is
when you fill out the forms, but this tool
allows you visit a list of over 800 directories and you
only need to fill out the form once. So how are you doing with
the directories is always a good first question for link
building.
Question:
Does this directory
link submission tool also submit to the search engines
too?
Answer:
No, it does not submit to search engines (and we do not
recommend that you submit to search engines using tools.)
There are some very good time saving reasons for submitting to
a directory with this tool, but also some excellent reasons
for not using tools to submit to search engines especially
through their free add URL link.
Question:
Do you have any other basic reading or suggestions directly
related to link building tips?
Answer:
We had written an e-book loaded with tips, but the book became
a little bit dated so we removed it from service. We reserve
our very best SEO skill building strategies for our hands-on
SEO Workshop students but you can also find a wealth of
material in the Workshop
Resource Center Online too. You will find a particularly
revealing Webinar that you can watch with Mike Marshall
throwing some new light on old myths.
Here are a few more "do's and don'ts from Robin Nobles if
you have not read it yet. Please see
"Do's
and Don'ts of Building Your Web sites Link Popularity."
Take a risk-free 7-day trial of Link Builder.
Would
you like a Free SEO Tip of the Day?
About John Alexander
John Alexander is Co-director of Training at Search
Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his
partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first
comprehensive online search engine marketing courses. John is author of an
e-book called Wordtracker
Magic and has
taught SEO skills to people from 87 different countries world
wide.
John's articles can be read in publications like Search
Engine Guide, WEBpro
News and many others.
