Website Linking - A Critical SEO Technique

Linking is the most discussed and I feel misunderstood topic when it comes to Search Engine Optimization of Websites. All of us grasp or somewhat understand that linking is an integral part of optimizing our websites. Yet the same majority do not understand or refuse to acknowledge that there are different link building techniques and although some of the linking methods optimize our sites others actually harm the websites search rank.

In my discussion with friends and associates I always hear "Linking" as a buzz word. Forums I visit, have constant comments on how to link to get ranked higher. I constantly receive e-mails from webmasters, SEO companies and individuals would like to "exchange" links with our websites.

So what is this "Linking" all about? Well, search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and others have to provide the best to their search clients. To do so they must determine which are the best websites for a particular search condition based on special Algorithms (special calculations to solve a problem). One of many determining factor of a highly ranked website is the number of backlinks (links pointing to it from other sites) it has. The logic behind linking is to enhance the experience of your site visitor such that if you cannot provide him certain information then you will be able to guide him elsewhere by providing him the required link to the other site, or you will give him an array of other sites (links) where he can continue to find more information. In other words you are recommending other useful sites of value to them. The links or recommended sites are now of value, and when exchanged correctly increase the rank of a website. If you build a site of value then others will link (recommend) to you, which adds value to your site. 

Links or backlinks to a site show that it is worthy of notice. The more links that point to the site the more its value. Is it always the number of links that matter? No. Quality always outweighs Quantity. Quality of the links are categorized in two forms; one is it's PageRank and second the "Quality" of the site that is doing the backlinking.

For instance; a "Book Reference Website - X" has one backlink with a PR5 from a Book Publisher and a different "Book Reference Website - Y" also has one backlink with PR5 from a University Site. In this instance site Y has a better backlink in terms of pure value. The logic is that if an educational institute has found it fit to link and recommend this particular "Book Reference Website - Y" then the site (Y) must have good value, rich content and merits attention. Educational institutes, Government websites etc are held in high esteem in the search engines eye, any site they link to is considered in good standing.

Think of it this way; if you were to view two separate ads on a new cold remedy medicine, one being advertised (linked) by a doctor and the other by a person off the street, which one would you buy? Here you will note that although the PR values were the same the quality of the link determined the position.

Since many of us in the web world are starting to understand the significance of linking, the Internet world has gone topsy turvy to build links. In their haste, they have not understood the logic of link building.

The biggest mistake being made in the exchange of  links is when two websites who wish to reciprocate links have nothing in common. Lets say a website on shoes wishes to trade or exchange links with a company which makes jam. I see you smirking, why? This example is not uncommon, in fact it happens all the time. Since we all heard or briefly read that building links is a great way to move up the search ranking ladder, everyone decided to exchange thousands of links with other sites no matter what those other sites were about. Search engine algorithms are getting sophisticated and weed out such nonsense links as being fraudulent and of no use. In many cases they can even negate your rank position. So exchange or reciprocate links that are meaningful and have value and most importantly do it with sites within your industry.

The robots evaluate all the links on our sites and determine which are truly of value. Links to sites that are not related get zero value and maybe even a negative value. Links setup just for the sake of exchanging or reciprocating do not get much value or may even be given a zero value.

Here is my take; provide links (recommend sites) to your visitors that are of value to them and would serve them well. Part of building good websites is to give value to your readers, do that with high quality linkouts. Yes, we all want to be ranked high on the SERP, but if we take care of our users first then it will be a step in the right direction. As I mentioned earlier, if you build a site of value then others will guide their users to your site.