Linking
So far we have discussed how the Internet functions, how search
engines operate, using a web hosting service and the design of
your web site – in a nutshell. In web design we covered the
importance of the home page, titling your pages, developing
keywords and phrases and the importance of simple, easy to find
and easily navigable web pages. We have talked about some
required or expected pages for your site and how to provide
useful content for your customers. It seems that we are
beginning to pull together a pretty respectable web site. There
is another aspect of web design that is quite essential for the
success of your Internet business and one that many people
choose to ignore or realize the importance.
Linking is a term that is used to describe a connection from one
web site to another. It is often referred to as a hyperlink and
some call it a hot link. It provides a user with a means of
going to another location whether it is on your web site or
someone else’s site. We are going to discuss how you should make
links on your own site but first, we need to look at how search
engines see links and linking.
Search engines, like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc., utilize a
developed formula to determine where your web site should be
placed among all the other web sites that contain similar
information, when a search is done by someone. This is called
“page rank” or “search engine placement”. Each of these search
engines has unique formulas and sometimes can result in widely
differing results from one search engine to another.
You and I can’t control, at least directly, the formula that
these use but if we gain a better understanding, this can be a
huge advantage. With anything, there is the upside and the
downside. The upside to all this is finding your web site ranked
at the top of the results pages. One of the downsides is the
countless hours people spend trying to trick or fool the search
engines into thinking they have found something they haven’t –
if that makes any sense. The long-term problem with this tactic
is the search engines have to spend countless hours trying to
stay one step ahead of the scoundrels.
I don’t know these formulas nor does anyone else who is not the
creator or owner of the companies that develop them, although
some people would like you to believe they do. There are some
basic concepts that seem to be agreed upon throughout the web
design industry. I would like to share some of those with you.
Today we are talking about linking.
When someone sits down at their PC and decides they want to
research ball caps, will my site come up first? How is it
determined where I will show up? There are several factors that
are used to determine that. One of them is derived from how you
use links on your site. This is often referred to as “link
popularity”.
The world of linking is evolving as rapidly as the rest of the
cyber world. This is caused by search engines attempting to
become a better tool for the user and because of what I call
abuse. I’ll give you a brief history. At one time, search
engines thought it would be a good idea if people who owned web
sites began “linking” their sites together. This way it would be
easier for a user to get from one site to another without having
to go back to your browser each and every time. Those who did
that got rewarded with better page rank.
It was then discovered that exchanging links – I’ll put your
link on my page and you put my link on your page – would be
better and thus it would up your page rank. Now we have evolved
to search engines believing that if you have a lot of web sites
linked to your site, in other words a one way link, that means
you are popular and your page ranks soars. If one of those links
happens to be a very big and important web site, it becomes very
beneficial to you.
Let’s look at this closer for a minute. Many, many sites, mine
included, were created with a “Links Page”. This was a page
within your web site that you designed specifically to place
links to other places. You may have even gone to the trouble of
putting up only related web site links. When I speak of related,
I mean for my ball caps site I would list only links that were
related to ball caps. Of course I would throw in a buddy or
two’s link for their sites to help them out a bit.
The search engines liked this approach, so the nerds of Cyberdom
decided if this was good, more must be better. So, they began to
put up thousands of links on hundreds of pages somewhere in the
back of your web site. In time the search engines caught on and
had to make some changes. They opted for the link exchange
program. At least that way two parties had to work together to
create the event. Again, the nerds found that they could create
“link farms”. This is where they solicited your business by
telling you they would handle all your linking efforts for you –
in exchange for lots of money. With this effort, they collected
many thousands of sites and made the links between sites
themselves.
Do you see where I am going with this? It really angers me in a
way because if the search engines didn’t have to spend so much
time focusing on these idiots, we would all have better tools to
do our work. Such is life!
In laying out your web site, I purposely did not tell you to
create a “links page”. It’s not so much that I don’t think you
should have one, as I want you to know how to do linking the
correct way.
How you link depends a lot on your site content. Let’s look at
the Bethel Chamber site for a moment. They have many links
pointing to member’s web sites. This is part of your membership.
The Chamber is a resource of information therefore they should
be providing those valuable links from their site to yours. It
is part of what they do and they are not spending time trying to
exchange links with anyone. If someone else chooses to link back
to the Chamber, that is called a natural link and search engines
now like to see natural links. More on that in a minute.
I sell ball caps. Should I link to the Mollyockett Motel? That
depends on a number of issues. First let me explain that the
only way you can be “punished” by the search engines in your
linking program is if they determine your links have been placed
through those infamous “link farms”.
If my ball cap business were in Miami, Florida it really
wouldn’t benefit anyone for me to link to the Mollyockett Motel
– unless I was ranked in the top 100,000 web sites. If that were
the case the Mollyockett might benefit. If my business were
located in Bethel, Maine or West Paris, it would be a wise idea
to get together with Tim and Fran and exchange links and present
a unified force.
So let’s talk about the best way to link. Putting everyone’s
link on a links page is not the best and most beneficial way to
link. As of today, the most beneficial link for you is one that
occurs naturally and points only at your site. What does that
mean? To occur naturally means that someone – meaning another
web site or designer – finds your web site useful and beneficial
to their business, so they make a link from their web site to
yours. When this happens, the search engines believe that this
must mean the site this person linked to is a good and valuable
site. With this you are rewarded with a higher page rank. If the
web site that linked to yours happens to be a very popular site,
with high page rank, you get bonus points for that.
One of my sites is called Maine Hunting Today. One of the things
we do there is provide our readers with a database that contains
businesses related to outdoor recreation in Maine. If Maine
Hunting Today has a number one page ranking, which it does, and
I list your web site along with a link to it in my database,
that is good for you. So, what does that tell you? Spend time to
find sites such as Maine Hunting Today and asked to be placed in
their database. Most all of these services are free. Of course
you need to find relevant sites.
We have determined now that a natural occurring link is best.
How do we get one of those? The best way is to be determined by
someone else that you are an authority in what you do. We had
discussed previously about providing good site content so others
will know where to go for valuable and needed information. With
this you are perceived as an authority in your field. This form
of link is the one that takes the longest to achieve for obvious
reasons and by search engine standards delivers the best
results.
How else can we link? A good way to create a link to another
site is within the text that you write. In a previous edition I
told you about creating a link in your text to another page of
your web site. The same can be done to link to another web site.
If I was writing about how Tom’s Ball Caps started and in my
story I told of how I met Ted Williams and we ate dinner at
Pat’s Pizza, I could make as many links in that story as
possible. I could link to one of my own pages by simply linking
with the words “Tom’s Ball Caps”. If Ted Williams had a web
site, I could easily link to there from here and the same with
Pat’s Pizza. In time others will discover your hard work and the
benefits will pay off in the end.
Another way is to place a link on a relevant page at your site.
Here’s an example: One of my web sites has a section on Maine
humor. Through networking, I met up with a woman who makes a
living using laughter therapy and she is in Maine. We swapped
links with each other and I placed her link on the main page of
the Maine humor section of the site. I didn’t bury it on a links
page somewhere. Why? Because it is relevant to what is contained
on the humor page. Search engines recognize this and reward you
accordingly.
How you place that link depends on how you lay out your pages. I
like to create a section on one side of my page for the purpose
of placing useful and relevant links on. Where you choose to do
it is up to you but remember one thing. Don’t compromise the
content of your web page for the simple reason of trying to
create a link. It should be done as “naturally” as possible.
Go ahead and create a “links page” but personally I think it is
not of much benefit to you unless this is where you chose to
provide your customers with other places to go to find what they
are looking for. I don’t recall when the last time any of the
search engine robots crawled any of my links pages.
One thing I wanted to point out to make sure that I am
understood. The last thing you want to do is get your customers
to leave your web site. Don’t make it too easy for them to click
and be gone. If your content is interesting they will stay no
matter how many off page links you create. At the same time,
customer service is valuable. If you can not give your customer
what they need from your business, help them find a reliable
place to go.
|
|
