Link Popularity - How to get inbound links for free

I have read a lot of articles and material on linking strategy, and it has been mentioned that you should be wary of putting a link on a site that has little page rank or popularity for fear of potential damage to your own domain. This is correct only if your sending traffic towards that site from your own by placing a link to them on your links page. It does not go against you if the link is a one way link from them to you!

It doesn't matter if the site is not the best site you've ever seen. Or it has no page rank and very little link popularity. All of that is immaterial. All that matters is it's listed with the main search engines has similar keywords and theme to your own. It is even better if it has one of your keywords/phrases in its title. If you've got that you will get the credit for link relevance and popularity and they will get the credit having a better quality outbound themed link. You and the Webmaster are gaining popularity without you having to place an outbound link anywhere.

For that reason webmasters of lesser sites should welcome placing outbound links to quality websites as it helps rather than hinders them when it comes to search engine placement. It gives credibility to these sites as information resources and the better they rank the more reciprocal opportunities arise for them.
This should be explained to the webmasters when you request a link from them. By doing this you will be helping more people understand what the link building is all about and how to make the best of link popularity rankings no matter what level of website you have.

The biggest majority of webmasters that control websites on the internet today compete with websites that are ranked higher in the search engines than they are no-matter how good their site, so this advice is for everyone to think about. If you can't get a reciprocal link from a higher ranked website within your theme, consider linking to them anyway as it will do you no harm.

A good way of finding these sites is to go to the main SE's armed with a list of your clients keywords / phrases and type in 'keyword + add url'. This will immediately produce a list of directories/ niche directories / portals, vortals and websites that will have a 'submit a site' feature. There are many search terms that will produce potential inbound links for your site.

'keyword + links pages' is another search phrase that is useful to generate sites that will be more receptive to link requests and by using this term you will be given the link direct to the links section of the site. Whether the webmaster will require a reciprocal link is something that you will find out once you get there. If this is the case you should evaluate the website and decide whether it is beneficial for you to do so.

These listings are a valuable source of traffic as well as helping you in your quest for link popularity. It's free; it's easy so get it done!

Billy Fullerton is the author of the new book, Link Popularity Made Easy which is due to be Published in the New Year,. Billy is the Link Strategy Manager with Summit Media, a UK based customer Internet Solutions company and consulting firm, http://www.summitmedia.co.uk He can be reached at mailto:bfullerton@summitmedia.co.uk

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The internet has allowed a number of individuals to start their own businesses. Internet businesses are a fun way for individuals or groups to make a profit online. There are number of ways to increase the profits of a website; however, search engine optimization is likely the most profitable one.

Search engine optimization, commonly referred to as SEO, is a collection of tools or methods used to improve the search engine ranking of a website. Say an individual is searching for stomachache relief for toddlers, they will key that phrase in a search engine website that will provide them with a list of numerous websites containing information on stomachache relief for toddlers. Most internet users will likely click on the websites that appear in the top ten and many times they don't even get past the third page of the search results. For this reason, proper search engine optimization is important in moving a website up the ranking scale.

A large number of techniques are used to increase a websites ranking. One of the most common ways to do this is by using SEO articles. Search engine articles are also commonly referred to as keyword or keyword phrase articles. These articles will contain information relevant to the website that they are on. The number of keywords used will often help to improve the website's search engine ranking. Although producing keyword articles may seem like fairly simple task, they are time consuming and additional searching engine optimization techniques also may need to be used. For this reason many website owners hire outside individuals or companies to increase their search engine rankings

Finding affordable search engine optimization is possible. There are a large number of individuals or groups who advertise their services on the internet. One of the best ways to find a quality, yet affordable search engine optimization company is by using an internet search engine! One of the most common mistakes made by individuals who may be seeking affordable search engine optimization over the internet is not fully examining a wide number of individuals or companies. Just as if you were shopping for any other type of merchandise, you should fully inspect the services offered by each search engine optimization company and determine if their fees are affordable.

Affordable search engine optimization is available for individuals who need assistance in improving the ranking og their company website. Each affordable search engine optimization company will have their own pricing guidelines; however, many tend to accomplish the same goal. The goal of increasing website ranking is an effective way to increase profits, especially if a website is selling a product or service. In addition to individuals who use their online website to sell, affordable search engine optimization is also used by individuals who run a private or personal website. Many internet users or bloggers use keyword articles and other effective search engine optimization techniques to improve their rankings. Although they may not be selling a product or service, they may make a profit from affiliate linking.

Affordable search engine optimization help is out there, you just need to find the right one to successfully improve your website.

About the Author

Charlie Preston is President of Click Response a website design/Marketing firm specializing in helping small businesses achieve a higher ROI from their websites. They also provide affordable search engine optimization that works.

Use these 5 steps to develop unique links for your marketing plan to capture a specific market niche, and create a reputation you can build on.
We (entrepreneurs and business owners) are fascinated by the concept of marketing. As I glance over to my bookcase, I can see at least a dozen marketing books crowded together on the shelf. The titles range from The Principles of Marketing (a textbook from my college days) to a specialty volume of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer (a must-have, by the way, for any author/publisher). Marketing IS important. And having a marketing plan is even MORE important. So why do so many marketing efforts falter and often faileven with a detailed plan?

In my consulting practice, the one thing I see as the biggest obstacle for both offline and online marketing efforts is something I like to refer to as the missing link between a marketing plan and your marketing plan. Heres what Im talking about . . .

The difference between the two books mentioned above is that the textbook is filled with theory and concepts and the Kremer book is filled with action ideas. Knowing what the act of marketing entails is a good thing (textbook), and, having creative, idea-generating advice (Kremer) is even better. However, theres one thing missing: the link between the two that will make YOUR marketing plan unique to YOUR business. That link separates a good marketing plan from a GREAT marketing plan. And, you cant find the link in the pages of a book.

To establish the link for your specific marketing plan, you have to take a step back and re-evaluate information you acquired from the feasibility study you conducted (either formally or informally) prior to starting your business. Who are your customers? Where do they gather? Why would they want your product/service? What related products/services do they buy? Etc. Use this information to start building your personalized marketing links.

I recently received an e-mail from a woman who was interested in opening a massage parlor. Here is an excerpt of the response I sent to her as an example of building personalized links:

1. Create a profile of your potential customers

Most entrepreneurs make the mistake of assuming that "everyone" is a potential customer. After all, in your case, who wouldn't benefit from a relaxing massage? But, in order to effectively market your services, you must identify characteristics of your potential customers so you can devise ways to bring them to your doorstep. For instance, your profile list may include:

Potential customers: business professionals. Characteristics: high stress levels, tension-filled days, minimal available time.

Potential customers: construction workers/factory workers/day laborers. Characteristics: physical stress, aching muscles, long hours and overtime.

Potential customers: stay-at-home moms. Characteristics: house-bound, hectic schedule, hard to find moments to themselves.

Potential customers: students. Characteristics: high demands and pressures for studies, sports, community involvement, etc.

List as many potential customer segments as possible and as many characteristics about each segment as possible. The more detailed your descriptions, the easier it will be to market your services to them.

2. Identify the benefits of your services to address each specific market segment.

You need to be very clear about all of the benefits you offer (or will offer) in order to clarify and communicate them. How does what you do help your customers? What's in it for them to use your services? Start a list and keep adding to it as your business develops and you start honing in on what customers tell you they like best about your service.

3. Research, research, research!

You can't help clients if you don't know what they want. If you aren't willing to conduct the research yourselfwhich includes surveys, assessing the competition, understanding the buying habits of your target markets, etc. then hire a research firm to do it. Research is very important to the success of your business. It can literally change how you set up your business practice. For instance, you may assume that business people would be interested in a thirty-minute massage following a hectic work day and a 45-minute workout at the gym. With a little research, you may find out they would prefer a 5-minute tension-releasing, on-site neck massage during their lunch break at work. This discovery would change the whole dynamic of your business, and your marketing strategy.

4. Target one market at a time

Choose one market and go after it. Niche marketing is key in a competitive market. Establish yourself with that market, then gradually add another. Become known as 'the only choice' for a specific service. As in the above example, you may market yourself as the "One Minute Masseuse" who makes house calls. Or you may decide to create a spa-like 'get away' parlor that your customers can 'escape' to. Each of these examples requires very different marketing because they target very different markets. Choose a niche and carve out a plan to "own" it.

5. Develop your marketing plan

Once youve identified who your ideal customers are, what they want, and what services you will offer to give them what they want, then (and only then) you are ready to develop your marketing plan. The plan itself will include all of the ways you can spread the word about your services to a VERY SPECIFIC customer market.

Pick up a few of the creative 1001 Ways to Market . . . type books and choose only 5-10 ideas to start with. Mold them into very specific action steps for your ONE, targeted customer profile market.

Before ending this article, I want to stress that a marketing plan is not a blanketed media blitz that goes in every which way hoping to snag a few customers (like SPAM e-mail!). A marketing plan is a methodical action plan that you slowly build upon. To iterate the steps outlined above, target one customer niche and link your marketing campaign to that ONE customer profile. Every ad you place, event you plan, direct mail piece you send and press release you write should be targeting the same market niche.

If you pay attention to developing the unique links for your marketing plan, youll capture a significant portion of a specific market niche, and create a reputation you can build on.

About the Author

Susan Carter helps business owners do more with less to operate and market their small and growing businesses. She is the author of How To Make Your Business Run Without You, and SPLASH Marketing for Overworked Small Business Owners. Carter offers FREE book chapters, and distributes free business-building advice in her twice-monthly ezine, SuccessExpress Press, available at http://www.successideas.com

Copyright 2005 Mike Adams

Do you depend on free search engine traffic for your livelihood?

I admit it. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), keyword density, keyword relevance, KEI, incoming links and link text, and where my web site and web pages rank in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) for my targeted keyword phrases.

This afternoon I had a shock. I discovered my main web site was dropped from Yahoo! Not one page could be found in Yahoo, out of hundreds! This was after months of working to completely revamp the site, rebuilding it with a nice content management system and lots of pertinent on-topic content, building links, writing and publishing articles, creating RSS news feeds and publicizing them…

I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It's a clean site - no black-hat SEO techniques, nothing that should get me banned, just good information, the heart and soul of the Web.

I checked my logs, and thought, "Oh my God, it doesn't look like Yahoo has crawled my web site in over a month." This was after getting used to Yahoo's spider crawling my web site daily because of all of the new, pertinent information (and especially because of the RSS news feeds and pinging). But I hadn't noticed because traffic was still high, even increasing.

Frantically I searched the Web for information about Yahoo making changes. Sure enough, I discovered that Yahoo apparently changed their search algorithm around the time Yahoo stopped crawling my web site. What could I do? What if the other Search Engines dropped my web site, after all those months of long nights and long weekends really working to create a quality web site?

In the midst of this chaos, my wife looked me in the eyes and said, "Don't worry about it, you still have traffic. The web site is doing well!"

I replied, "Well, yeah! In fact the web site traffic has doubled since Yahoo apparently dropped the site a month ago!"

Then it struck me. Traffic really had doubled, despite the fact that none of the traffic was coming from Yahoo any more. And I wasn't doing any pay-per-click advertising or any sort of advertising. All of the work I was doing really was paying off - in ways I hadn't really imagined. I just lost all incoming traffic from one of the two or three biggest search engines and yet my traffic doubled!

Have you ever heard the expression, "Don't build your house on sand?"

Or how about, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket?"

There are only about three important search engines at any one time. As I write this, I would say those three are currently Google, Yahoo!, and MSN. The more dependent you are on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and placing high on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) in these few search engines, the more you have built your house on sand or put all of your eggs in one basket. You know that search engines regularly change their algorithms, right? One big change and your web site can disappear or all but disappear from a major search engine. And you won't know if it's temporary or permanent. If you're in this position, you are at the mercy of the search engines.

So what can you do to change this, to ensure that one single algorithm change won't wipe out your business?

One way, perhaps the best way, is to build alternate traffic streams to your web site.

1. First things first: Make sure you have a web site that people would want to visit. Ever visit a web site that was so bad you wondered how they make any money? Guess what, I'll bet they don't. Unless your web site is just a sales page and you direct traffic to it from other web sites or from affiliates, now is a good time to start building some quality content - lots of it, if you don't already have it.

2. Get lots of incoming links… but change the way you look at links. It used to be that links drove the Web. That was how people found your web site - by surfing in from other people's pages. Then something strange happened: search engines. But as the search engines evolved, they started measuring the quality of web sites - and determining your site's position in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) - by how many incoming links you have, and what keywords are in the link text. Then people began to link just for Search Engine Optimization, not for actual traffic from those links. Do you really think people are going to find your web site and surf in from a page of 200 uncategorized links hidden behind a link at the bottom of a page and called "Partners" - in an 8 point font? If you want to get traffic from links again, regardless of what the search engines do, you have to change your links pages and you have to change the type of link partners you link to. There's a very nice free service, Honest Links, that is a grassroots effort by Webmasters to get back to linking for traffic, not SEO. You can learn more at: http://www.honestlinks.net/

3. Write and publish articles related to the theme of your web site. Publish them in the many article directories on the Web, as well as the many mailing lists for authors and publishers. Webmasters and Ezine publishers will pick them up and publish them if they are good. You can get hundreds, even thousands of links into your web site by just including a little "Resource Box" at the end of your article with a link to your web site. (Look at the end of this article for an example of a Resource Box.)

4. Publish a newsletter and start building a list of subscribers. It's one of the best ways to get people returning to your web site, along with the next one…

5. Start a blog on your web site. Post interesting and useful information related to your web site's theme and ping the various blog and news directories after each post. You'll get links from these directories AND you'll build up readers syndicating your posts on their web sites and reading them in news feed readers. Recently people have been gaming this, too. People post and ping just to get noticed by the search engines and get spidered more often. It will do that, but if you don't have quality posts, you will still be at the mercy of the search engines. Create quality content and you will build loyal subscribers as well.

I can't say it doesn't bother me that my web site was dropped from Yahoo. It feels like I must have done something wrong. But I know I have a good site, with great, useful content that is on topic. I know that my site could be back in Yahoo tomorrow, or it could take months. In the meantime, I'll keep building a quality site that people want to visit and doing everything I know I should. Traffic has doubled every month for the last two months. I'll bet it will again next month - with or without Yahoo!

Here's another old saying for you, "Dig your well before you are thirsty." If you're too dependent on search engine traffic now, maybe it's time to start digging that well. The five steps above should get you started.

About the author:
Mike Adams has been building web sites and playing with Internet marketing since 1996. Looking for an Internet marketing solution? Visit http://www.timberway.com/

Online Networking Through Reciprocal Links
Judy Cullins c. 2003 All Rights Reserved.

What is Networking?

Networking can make you rich with wealth, referrals and sales.
And much more, it can bring adventures, challenges, friends,
relationships, and passion. Exchanging reciprocal links is the
Online version of networking. Here's seven reasons for
exchanging links.

Seven Reasons for Exchanging Links

1. When you exchange links with Web sites related to your topic
(product or service), visitors who click your links will already be
targeted and interested in your information and products.

2. It's free. Exchanging links is free. The only cost is to hire a
computer, Web master, or virtual assistant to submit the links
and upload the links that other people send you. You could be
paying for targeted visitors from pay-per-click search engines
or ezine ads, but with reciprocal links, it's all freeand you
develop great new relationships.

3. You'll increase your popularity because search engines notice
links and will look at your numbers to list you Web site higher.
You're also getting free targeted advertising.

4. You build up your resource directory with reciprocal links,
thus offering an extra service/feature for your visitors as well as
advertising your Web site at the same time.

5. Visitors come faster to your Web site when they click on
someone else's link page. Search engines can take months to list
you. New Web sites can quickly build a flow of traffic through
reciprocal link exchanges.

6. Your link is guaranteed and people can always find you

7. When you submit a short description your link is customized,
and you should offer the same to your link partners. A longer link
can offer a free ezine or tip and bring far more Web visitors back
to your site.

Start your friendly, yet profitable, Online networking today. Just
visit a related Web site and ask. Or, notice related email businesses'
descriptions and ask for a link exchange.

Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach
Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams
eBk: "Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Online"
http://www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml
Send an email to Subscribe@bookcoaching.com
FREE The Book Coach Says… includes 2 free eReports
Judy@bookcoaching.com
Ph:619/466/0622

Writing testimonials and complimenting other web sites and webmasters is not only a good way of improving your site profile, but also a very good link popularity strategy that you should seriously consider adopting to promote your website. That doesn't mean that you should start writing to every website you visit.

The benefits of writing testimonials is that webmasters will use the testimonial on their site, and in doing so will provide a link to you. Most people will ask your permission to publish your testimonial and you will grant it, providing that the link to your web site remains in place, it's that simple.

You can of course search for web sites that publish testimonials through the Search Engines using relevant search terms such as "add a testimonial" using keywords, and you will find a few that will be happy to publish your testimonial on their "Testimonial Page" but you can write to any site with a testimonial and there's a fair chance of it being used at some point. Whether or not they have a page for this purpose.

As with everything concerning link popularity, it is important to stay within your websites theme when you are writing testimonials. After all, the whole point of writing the testimonial is to get a quality inbound link from the targeted website. It should be a highly ranked website which appears on the first 3 pages of the main Search Engines. It also must have a similar theme to your own.

Writing testimonials is also a way to get good quality inbound links from top ranking websites that wouldn't otherwise link to you.

I've read a lot of testimonials that people have written over the years and it's got to be said that the biggest majority of people who write them have not grasped the importance of the wording of their testimonial. It's all very well patting another Webmaster, or company on the back, telling them how great their website is, but let's take a step back, and a shot of reality here for a minute. It's your own website that you are promoting!

Before you even begin to write a testimonial I suggest that you do two things:

Copy your websites title, description, keywords and H1 tags on to a blank word document.
Do the same with the website that you are going to send the testimonial to.

You now have two sets of key words and phrases that apply to both sites. Now cross-reference both sets of words until you have the most important key words that both sites use. I'll give you an example:

Let's say both website themes are to do with animals. They're focusing on all types of pets, i.e. dogs, cats, birds, fish, horses, hamsters, reptiles etc. and their key words read like this:

meta name="keywords" CONTENT="pets, dogs, cats, pet supplies, pet care, pet shop, pet names, pet information, pet retailers, pet stores, cat breeds, dog breeders, cat food, dog food, cat insurance, dog insurance, animals, animal insurance, birds, fish, reptiles, horses, puppies, bird, rabbits, virtual pets, cat supplies, dog supplies, pet passport, pet travel, vets, veterinary, pet health, pet guides, pet info, exotic pets, pet birds, cat breeders, dog training, cat names, breeds, tropical fish, aquarium fish, pet welfare, animal charities, animal shelters, pet publications"

You on the other hand only deal with dogs and your key words read like this:

meta name="keywords" content="dog, dogs, dog links, pets, pet care, products, breeds, canine, canines, puppy, links, dog breeders, pet information, boarding, kennel, groomer, pet supplies, dog sitter, dog food, labrador, dog information, dog products, working dogs, puppies, find a dog, k9, K9, obedience, German Shepherds, Beagles, rottweilers, dobermans, collies, labrador retrievers, dalmatians, poodles, corgi, hounds, terriers, greyhounds, great dane, jack russell terrier, mutt, mutts, mixed breed, bulldog, sporting dogs, veternarians, kennels, groomers, golden retrievers, adoption, AKC, dog fancy"

For the purpose of this example I've used only five similar key words / phrases - pets, dogs, pet care, dog breeders and pet information. However, I think that you will get the general idea.

When you begin to compose your testimonial you will be writing with your own websites profile firmly in mind. The main key words and phrases, which apply to your site, will be included in a paragraph of text that applies to your site surrounding your text link. This also applies to the website that you are writing the testimonial for, so you are self promoting without it being apparent to anyone else and providing the crawling spiders with a good quality relevant link.

Some people will argue that you will get the link just by adding your bio to the testimonial. This is to a certain extent true, what has to be considered however, is that link quality is more important than just link popularity alone. By following these simple steps you are in effect writing key word rich content for your own sites promotion on another companies web site. And, with you firmly in control you are creating quality rather than quantity.

I had considered writing an example of a good testimonial, but I've thought better of it as it would be copied and it won't be long until a lot of similar paragraphs begin to appear all over the web! This would of course lead to people looking at testimonials differently, which, will eventually happen but I'd rather that you wrote your own original individual testimonial.

I will include a couple of links to testimonial pages on a couple of random web sites for you to look at:

http://www.1simple.com/aboutus/clients/
http://www.lawinfo.com/testimonials.html

It would also do you no harm to look at the wording of these testimonials and compare it to the senders keywords and you will easily understand, given the information that we have already covered, how to, and how not to write a testimonial for link popularity.

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Search engine optimization does not have to be complicated but it does require some work if you plan on having your Website in the top 10 on the major search engines. Many Webmasters want their Websites on the first page of Google, MSN and Yahoo when their keyword is put in the search. Unfortunately they believe one of two things. The first being that it is too difficult for them to do it themselves and the second is that there is a secret trick that will have to perform in order to get high rankings. Both of these statements are false.

Some Webmasters will pay thousands of dollars to a so-called professional SEO expert to have their Websites on top in the rankings. The truth is that you can get top Search Engine Rankings spending a little bit of money and doing the work yourself or paying a professional SEO company thousands of dollars to get your Website on the first page. Both will work the choice is yours.

There are many myths about SEO but I want to tell you the plain truth. The do-it-yourself person can accomplish just as much as the professional. You must be willing to do many tasks of Website Optimization if you want to succeed. There is much information on the Internet on SEO. Some will tell you that the secret to high rankings is creating and submitting many RSS Feeds. Others will tell you that you need quality reciprocal links. Is there just one way of gaining first page on Google?

What is required of Webmasters in order to achieve Top Website Rankings? Some believe that if they perform 3 major tasks of Website Optimization that their Website will soar to the top. I believe that you cannot just do a few works of optimization or come up with a secret trick to achieve a high site ranking on the search engine.

Complete Website Optimization is your best guarantee to having a high ranking on the major search engines. What is complete optimization? Using all of the information and tools to get your site noticed on the search engines with a high ranking for your keywords. If you really want a top ranking and only want to spend a little bit of money I will tell you the many things you will need to do in order to have the first page on the search engines.

Having complete Website Optimization will require many working tasks, tools and much researched information. I'm going to give you the many tasks that you will need to perform to accomplish high rankings.

1. Accurate Description of Website. 2. Clear Metatags relevant to your content. 3. Having your Text Body descriptive of your main Topic. 4. Finding reciprocal links. 5. Quality search engine submission. 6. Proper wording of document title. 7. Building high traffic Web Pages. 8. Tools for validation. 9. Creating and submitting RSS Feeds. 10. Writing and submitting effective articles. 11. Writing and submitting Press Releases. 12. Creating and submitting Blogs. 13. Building and submitting a site map. 14. Proper use of FFA sites. 15. Submitting to Web Directories. 16. Classified Advertising. 17. Effective email advertising. 18. Traffic boosting tools like toolbars.

After you complete all of the above then you can be sure that your Website will be on top. If you want the much researched information on complete optimization with many tools to speed up the process then visit: http://www.websiterankingtop.com by: Bill Naugle

About the Author

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