18 replies to this topic

[azs]

I know there are various "Link Building" tools out there. Does anyone recommend any of these as a means to help build relevant links? If not - does anyone have a good suggestion as to where to start? From what I understand I should search the keywords in question and select "non-competitive" but complimentary sites and see who links to them as one method.

azs

[Jill]

Azs, we've been discussing this topic in many of the other link building threads also. You might want to have a look at those.

Jill

[maartenvr]

There is many things you can do to help managing your links. but building the links you should do yourself.

Personally I would recommedn Arelis, but not using their email template features and finding link partners etc. Just to keep track who has linked back, who you have emailed etc.

From what I understand I should search the keywords in question and select "non-competitive" but complimentary sites and see who links to them as one method.

Never heard of searching for the keyword in question. But a popular thing to do is look who are linking to your competitors, and work with them.

[Scottie]

Hi Azs-

The most widely used method of getting links is trading links with relevant sites. Find those by finding who is linking to your competitors and other relevant sites, as you mentioned.

You can also get listed in directories and use those directories to find other relevant sites to request a link. They don't always have to be reciprocated.

Then, get creative. Contribute articles or endorsements to other sites and products that you truly believe in. Send out press releases through the online services- some are paid, some are free. Join local organizations like the Better Business Bureau or your Chamber of Commerce as they often provide a link back to your site as well.

Good luck!

[Debra]

From what I understand I should search the keywords in question and select "non-competitive" but complimentary sites and see who links to them as one method.

This is a good way to start!

Be sure you add your linking information to your website - make it easy for people to link to you. Provide "copy and paste" code that has your keywords in the anchor text, keep the verbiage short and to the point.

And when someone links to you, send a thank-you note and ask them if there are other sites like theirs you can swap links with. Make all your correspondence viral!

[mopacfan]

magnolia,

That's a great idea, but will you always know when someone links to you using the link code you supply or do you just run a reverse link check now and then?

[compar]

From what I understand I should search the keywords in question and select "non-competitive" but complimentary sites and see who links to them as one method.

I use to think that one should never link to a direct competitor, but I have changed my mind somewhat. First of all a link from a direct competitor has to be the most relevant of all possible links.

Secondly if you have the visitor on your web site and loose him/her to a competitor's link them maybe you should work on your site to make it more attractive, more user friendly etc.

It also depends where you place the links on your web site. I probably wouldn't place a competitors link directly within my content text, but I might place it at the bottom of the page. For instance I have placed a link to HankRankings.com on the bottom of an article I have written about SEO. I wrote this article to be informative but I also wrote it to promote my own SEO practice. So you can look at this as a link to a direct competitor. But a visitor might see it as a measure of my confidence that I am willing to provide links to my competitors.

However in this day and age many many links are placed on links pages. Often there are so many links that you could not possibly incorporate them all within the normal pages of the site. I have no hesitation whatsoever in placing links to direct competitors in my links pages.

1. Because as much as we say that links should be there for the viewer the fact is that we also want them there for the SEs. And the easiest reciprocal links to get are ones from competitors.

2. As I said above if a visitor to my site still wants to move to a competitor's site there is nothing in the world I can do to stop them -- all they have to do is go back to the search engine and click on a different listing. So If I can't hold them I might as well give them an easy way out.

[Debra]

will you always know when someone links to you using the link code you supply or do you just run a reverse link check now and then?

Yes, running a check or responding to an email is how you are going to know your link has been added. Be sure to use alltheweb in addition to other search engines when checking. I find alltheweb shows more links.....

If you sell a product off your site, add a link request in the shipping order.

Or the confirmation notice.

Add a request in everything you do. Remember, it's not linking, it's marketing!

<hehe, haven't said that in a week or so, was feeling withdrawl pains> :laugh:

[compar]

Be sure to use alltheweb in addition to other search engines when checking. I find alltheweb shows more links.....

Magnolia,

What is the explanation for alltheweb showing more links than Google? Could it possibly be that Google attempts to only show links from pages with PR4 or higher?

[Debra]

I have no idea.

[Debra]

What is the explanation for alltheweb showing more links than Google?

http://library.stanf...archEngines.pdf

Google - All pages are crawled and indexed up to 110k of content. After that, any remaining content is not searchable. All pages in cache are also limited to 110k.

Alltheweb - Entire content on a web page is crawled and indexed

Makes sense that alltheweb should have more to show!

[Matt B]

Comprar -

AlltheWeb simply indexes pages and links with very little screening of quality (comparitive to Google). AlltheWeb is mostly about quantity of pages indexed. Do comparable searches, and Google will win out in relevancy most times, mainly for the fact that they (Google) obviously apply filters to links they feel aren't worthwhile.

Not that that it's a good or a bad thing, it's simply how they choose to run their algorithm and judge relevancy.

[qwerty]

Debra -- So your theory is that Google is failing to see links at the end of long documents? Hm....

[compar]

Debra -- So your theory is that Google is failing to see links at the end of long documents? Hm....

No Debra denies that Google only shows links of PR4 or higher. She and I had this debate on another thread.

In Debra's defense she found some links listed that only had PRs or 2 and 3. But we all know Google's rankings are pretty flaky at the moment.

<inflammatory comments removed - Scottie>

[qwerty]

I know about the PR4 debate, and I'm now leaning in the direction of believing Google does list backlinks from pages below that threshhold (threshold? -- I hate spelling errors, but I'm too lazy to check right now).

But if you look at the quote she's got in her last post in this thread, she's referencing the idea that Google stops indexing long pages at 110k of content. So, extrapolating on that, I'm taking it to mean that if a page is for example 125k, and a link to your page is at the end, Google will fail to catch the link.