Is Link Popularity Really THAT Important?

Yes, for these three very important reasons:

• Top search engine ranking
• Top search engine ranking
• Top search engine ranking

I know, that's like saying the most three important things in real estate are location, location, location -- but it's just as true in search engine optimization as it is in selling houses. Search Google for +"link popularity" +article to see the astounding amount of information on the subject. I'm not recommending reading all 32,000+ articles, but the number of people writing articles on the subject helps us realize that this is an important topic.

How does link popularity work?

Although Google is best known in the link popularity arena because their PageRank^TM algorithm, ALL the important search engines use the number of sites linking into your site as a factor in deciding where you rank in their search engine results pages. The more links coming into your site, the higher your search engine position.

Google uses their PageRank algorithm to expand the equation. Rather than just counting the links, Google also grades them. While the details of PageRank (see section 2.1.1, Description of PageRank Calculation) are very complex, the result is simple - the more links coming into a page, the higher the PageRank. And the higher the PageRank, the higher the position in Google (and the search engines that use the Google results - AOL, Yahoo, Netscape and EarthLink). The best short explanation of the details is at Google under PageRank Information.

How do I boost link popularity?

Now we know how incoming and reciprocal links can boost our link popularity and push our site higher in the search engine listings. Where can we find high-quality sites that will link to us?

1. Find specialty directories in your category and get listed. The best place to start is the Search Engine Directory at SearchEngineGuide.com. This free search engine directory covers thousands of specialty search engines.
2. Find non-competing sites that have related content. Just go to any major search engine and and search for the top level terms you want to be found on. The list of sites will contain many of your competitors, but it will also contain sites that are complementary to yours without being a direct competitor. Some examples are:
   • A local car wash site and an automotive interior shop or any other site connected with the appearance of automobiles. 
   • A furniture site and sites that offer information on furniture but do not sell it, like Furniture World Magazine and www.hardwood.org. This requires content on your site that is of interest to general information sites, but remember that one page of relevant, non-sales related information can draw many incoming links.
   • A web design company and an editorial site on web design, like Web Page Design (#1 in Google for web design)
     
     

   Contact these sites and request a link. It's a good idea to establish your link to them first, since it demonstrates your genuine interest in their site. Be sure to explain that reciprocal links are a good idea for both parties, since the search engines count the text inside an out-going link much more heavily than just plain text.

3. Write articles on your industry and give them away to other sites. Include your URL and make it part of the  publication agreement. The has the additional benefit of enhancing your status as an industry expert.
   

Any other reasons?

Actually the original reason to build reciprocal links, to bring in visitors, is still important. Reciprocal links bring highly qualified traffic to your site. If a surfer is on a site that they trust, and sees a link to your site, at least part of that trust is transferred to your site. And we all know that the higher the trust, the better the conversion rate.

Summary

• The more links coming into your site, the better your search engine rankings will be.
• Links from popular sites count more heavily.
• Find specialty search engines that cover your industry or market.
• Find sites in your general area (automotive, furniture, books, etc.) that are not competing with you and ask for a reciprocal link.
• Write industry specific articles and get them published on other complementary, non-competitive sites.

Footnotes