Link Popularity and Search Engines

As much as we hate to admit it, search engines are still the #1 source of traffic to a web site. A survey released July 11, 2000 by ActivMedia showed that search engines still rate highest (48.4%) as a source of traffic, in terms of site owner satisfaction (although less so (36%) for larger, e-commerce sites with more than 500 online sales per month).

Over the past month there has been exciting news on the search engine front that will radically change the way that web sites are ranked on AltaVista, Excite, Google, Lycos and the “web pages” search portion of Yahoo. In an effort to assure better quality search results (i.e. that the results better match the search term you’re looking for), these search engines have adopted a new ranking system that actually measures and ranks the number of links directed towards a web site. In addition to keyword relevancy, title and meta tag optimization, and directory listings, link popularity has become another significant factor in obtaining high search engine rankings (which consequently is likely to generate more traffic at your site).

Let’s begin with the really big news: At the beginning of July, Yahoo terminated its contract with search technology company Inktomi, the company that has served the results for Yahoo’s “Web Pages” section. [For those of you who may not realize, Yahoo is not a "search engine" in the true sense of the word. It is a "directory" where human "editors" decide whether or not site submittals get accepted and listed.] Yahoo then announced that they had signed Google as their new search engine of choice. This is big news since Google prides itself on serving “important and relevant” keyword search results, a large factor of which is influenced by link popularity.

Next is Excite. Previously, Excite’s search results were influenced by the quantity of links directed to a site; now it has changed its link popularity influence to be dependent on the *quality* of those links. For example, a site with several links to it from popular web sites could have a higher ranking than a site with hundreds of links from minuscule free links pages.

Lycos, meanwhile, has partnered with FAST Search in order to deliver quicker and more relevant search results. FAST claims to have the largest and fastest catalog on the Internet, whose “new hyperlink analysis, in concert with other relevance algorithms ensures that the most relevant results will be delivered first.”

How to Increase the Link Popularity of Your Site

As you may have figured out by now, the underlying theme to these search engines that rank based on link popularity is that they measure the QUALITY of those links, and not the quantity. With this in mind, the old technique of submitting your site to countless Free-For-All (FFA) pages will not have as much pull as initiating a strategic linking campaign.

* Research the search engines for sites that have a similar interest as your own. Contact their webmasters with a personalized e-mail and ask for a link to your site. You may want to offer a reciprocal link back to their site in return - place this on a links page. This helps because most of these search engines will also rate your site on the quality of the links leaving your site as well. Be sure that all link pages are visible to the user and not hidden within other pages.

[For more tips on linking visit our tip on "Successful Linking Techniques" from 10/27/99.]

• Save special placement on the home page of your site for one site — preferably, one that ranks high in search engine results — that reaches the same target market as your own but that is not a competitor. Offer them a strategic partnership as the only site that will have a link on your home page and ask for the same in return. Links from a site’s homepage will rank higher than links from an internal page.
• If your site is an e-commerce enabled site and you do not want to lose visitors on a links page or via a partnership, offer a link on your post purchase “Thank You” page in return for a link on their site.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, make sure that the pages that link to yours are submitted in Google, AltaVista, FASTSearch, and Excite. If not, these search engines will never know the quality or quantity of links that point to your site.

For information on our Search Engine Optimization service please e-mail SEO@webadvantage.net and give us you URL and contact information.

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