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Is Content Really King? - The Power of Links

By: Kurt Noer

Article Word Count: 1176 words  [Comments (0)]
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On-page content and optimization by itself is no longer enough.


Unfortunately, link popularity has become a dominant factor in


deciding who ranks the highest within the major search engines,


especially within Google. If a competitor of yours is both


optimized for the same target search terms and has a higher


quantity and/or higher quality of back links, they are going to


outrank you: period. Even if your website is perfectly optimized


for an extremely niche search term and no other site in the


world even mentions your exact phrase, you may still have


trouble finding your website if you do not have at least a few


back links to "validate" your website.





If it came down to a contest between on-page optimization


efforts against link building efforts, links would win hands


down. You may find it shocking to hear a President of an


optimization firm saying such a thing, but its true. I would


challenge anyone to outrank a website that has a massive number


of quality back links by using on-page optimization efforts


alone with zero link building efforts. Whereas, you can easily


outrank a website that is extremely well optimized by focusing


heavily on link building efforts. An interesting example is


Apple.com. One of the most important elements of optimization is


to place the target key phrase within the meta title tag.


However, search for the word "computers" on Google and you will


find Apple.com on the first page of results. Apple does not even


mention the word computers in their meta title tag. How is this


possible when there are literally millions of competing websites


that are aggressively trying to show up for this term by


applying various optimization efforts? The answer is that


Apple.com has a superior volume of back links (over 70,000 in


Google alone). And a large percentage of these links include the


word computers within the anchor text (i.e. Apple Computers, Mac


Computers, etc.).





Does this mean Optimization is dead? The answer of course, is


no. Search engines still love websites that have tons of fresh


and relevant content. It is the basis of what search engine


results are all about. Copywriting fees are worth every penny


when it comes to adding well written descriptions of your


products and services onto your website. Professional


optimization companies still flourish because of the success


they bring to their clients through increased rankings and


traffic. For optimum results, you need both optimization and


links to succeed today.





It's not just the quantity of incoming links, but the quality


and relevance of the websites from which they come, as well as


what words are used within the visible text portion of the


hyperlinks, i.e. "anchor text." Reciprocated links have less


value than they use to and can potentially hurt your rankings if


you are exchanging with too many unrelated websites, i.e. bad


neighborhoods. One-way links are the best links.





During the last few Search Engine Strategies conferences, I


could not help but notice an increasing number of link-related


workshops, including a class dedicated to purchasing text links.


Matt Cutts, official spokesman and software engineer for Google


shared how he personally believes that buying links is like a


politician buying votes and that incoming links should only grow


naturally. He shared that the best way to receive incoming text


links was to offer something truly helpful and/or unique and


interesting to the public and that this would generate free


unsolicited, incoming links without even asking. He offered some


extreme examples of very creative websites, which caused a


national media stir. Within minutes frustrated attendees spoke


up about how the search engines started this whole thing by


giving too much criteria to links in the first place, and that


buying links on other sites (be it through banners or text


links) has been a conventional form of advertising well before


Google even existed. Some commented that if Google was


considering penalization for sites that buy or sell links, they


should start with Yahoo, since Yahoo earns a good portion of


their income from selling paid text links (i.e. $299/year


directory listings). Interesting enough, Google actually


recommends on their website that you submit to directories such


as Yahoo.





I am sure that a majority of website owners today would love to


come up with creative ideas that would generate a ton of


unsolicited media attention. The truth is that coming up with


something exciting to say about reverse vacuum pumps, or


single-mode fiber optic tool kits, or Batesville real estate is


easier said than done. Most of the clients we work with offer


clear and simple information about their products and services.


Waiting around for other websites to give them free, one-way


text links may very well result in additional years of continual


poor search engine rankings and a lack of sales.





So how do you build back links? Below is a short list of some of


the most common ways to increase your back links: - Offer


something truly helpful that may inspire others to link to you


without even asking. - Hire a website positioning firm to help


you write and distribute press releases and articles to


thousands of sites. - Ask business partners, vendors,


distributors, family members, golf partners, etc. to link to


you. - Ask non-profit organizations if they would post a


"contributor" link to you in exchange for a small donation. -


Offer quotes and testimonials to sites you are comfortable with


in exchange for a direct link to your site. - Exchange links


with websites (but stay within your industry and away from


automated programs). - Purchase text link ads (costly, typically


$20/month each and up - but may be worth it for the right


industry). - Submit to quality directories whose listings are


known to show up as valid back links (excellent value).





Do you need thousands of links? Not necessarily. You may not


even need hundreds. Everyday, we perform competitive back-link


research and people are often shocked at how little it would


take to rise above their competitors. Even if you are in a


fairly competitive industry, there are often select search terms


that may be far less competitive than others. This is why it is


helpful to partner with an experienced search engine positioning


company who can aid you in strategic decisions.


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