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Website Linking Strategies- Are your efforts paying off?

I wrote the other day How to Get Your Website to the First Page of Google which received an awesome response from many. One of the main points I discussed in that article was the importance of linking in your blog posts. I explained how this can be a vital part of your Search Engine Optimization and if done properly can bring great results.

Many questions were asked in the comment section as well as a few practices that were used by commenters that I wanted to address.  Before I get into that, let's do a quick review of what I'm talking about.  In that post I said:

"The more sites that are pointing links at your page (especially when titled with the keywords you are trying to achieve) will produce a great return.  One easy way to get some great links pointing to your site is to make sure you have added your business site to your profiles on any and all networks you participate in.  Links from higher ranking sites help the search engines realize that these sites recognize your website." 

Many who read the post I believe stopped reading there & rushed off to their twitter profile, Facebook profile and every other social network they participate on and started adding links.  But, if you read on, there was a very important disclaimer that went along with that statement.  I said: "One thing for sure, you need to be positive that the links you insert places are actually working for you.  Many networks block the search engines from following the links to prevent spam."

A common misconception is that when I place a link online, that link is automatically recognized by the search engines and is benefiting me each time I place it somewhere.  So, every time there is an opportunity to place a link, the instant notion is to place one.  Don't get me wrong, I am not saying do not place the link just because the search engines are not reading it.  I always place a link when there is a place asking me.  Even if the search engines do not follow it it still can bring a consumer reading that site to me. 

So, how do we know whether the link is a benefit or not?  What can we do to check?  As I have shared in the past, I am huge fan of using Firefox as my web browser because of the amazing add-ons they have to enhance & help you analyze your online presence. Firefox has an add-on called NoDoFollow.  This simple add-on can easily be turned on and off and show you whether the links you are leaving are being followed by the search engines or not.  Here is quick video showing you how NoDoFollow works:

Try using NoDoFollow and see how effective your linking strategies are.  My guess is that you will be surprised by some of the places that links are followed and not followed.

Anchoring Your Links

Another common mistake I see when inserting links is not setting them as anchor text.  What do I mean by anchor text? Anchor Text as defined by Wikipedia is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink.  Think of them in the most literal play on words possible, they anchor the link down for search engines to understand what that link is supposed to be.  So when you are writing your posts, instead of placing a link like this, http://www.eventbrite.com/event/581158260 you would make a link like this: How to Chug Google Juice & Gain 15 Years of Fame.  Not only does this assist the search engines in understanding what you are trying to say, it also assists consumers to know what they are about to click on. 

If both of those links were placed in a blog post, my guess is that the one with anchored text would be clicked on at a ratio of around 5:1 to the other link.  I wrote how to insert links into your blog a few months back, so if you are not sure the proper way to do so, visit the tutorial for assistance.  While this seems like a minor thing, if it is done properly over several hundred posts of content, it can really pay off in large dividends. 

Titling Your Links

This is another minor step that can help both consumers & search engines understand what you are trying to convey.  When adding a title to the link, it does exactly that, titles the link for everyone.  That way when someone hovers over a link, a pop-up appears with what that link is supposed to be.  So even though the link anchor might be Jason Crouch, and the link is to his profile, the title is completely different pops up when you hover over the link Jason Crouch.  Once again, a very minor thing to do that can result in many more clickthroughs and SEO benefits.

I hope this helps everyone have a better understanding on linking strategies.  If you have any questions, let me know. And by the way, 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors offers some really great personal coaching taught by myself and Jason Crouch on this subject.  We also have a webinar coming up where we will get into this in more detail.  Find more info here.

Photo Credit 1HappySnapper(photography)& John of Austin