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Link Building – Quantity, Quality, Deep Linking and Anchor Texts

link-buildingIn order to rank high in search engines, you need to have MANY links – think quantity. Link building is the process of creating inbound links to your site. Building links is important when it comes to SEO effectiveness.

• Draws a LOT of quality traffic from relevant sites (which means potential customers and more sales)

• Because of reputable incoming links, your site is seen as a credible resource

• Greater search engine exposure – higher indexing/ranking

Although, you can’t stop at JUST quantity – they have to be QUALITY links or you’ll be wasting your time with link building. When it comes to link building, you need to think strategically.

quality-links• Links from websites with HIGH authority and expertise – A link from a well-known news source such as CNN is more reputable than a link from your sister’s blog.

• Links from websites that are similar and/or related to your site – If you sell specialty gourmet food, it wouldn’t make sense to link to a site that sells cars. You’d want to link to a site that is similar to your products such as artisan cheeses or specialty sauces.

• Links from niche social networking sites and blogs – Don’t link to just ANY social media site or blog. If you’re a photographer, you’d want links from photography social media sites and blogs. Viral marketing (social networking, bookmarking, etc.) is the fastest way to build many links quickly!

Deep Linking

Deep linking refers to hyperlinks that point back to a specific image or page on your site (but not back to the home page). For example, a link to running shoes should be directed to the running shoes page, and not back to the home page Deep linking is crucial to SEO – it helps optimize targeted keywords and increases your search engine rankings.

Deep linking works well IF the pages of your website contain unique and relevant content. Search engines are attracted to GOOD content and targeted keywords. Your pages will attract more visitors if your content is relevant and fresh.

Anchor Texts

anchor-textsAnchor texts are clickable hyperlinks within your site that describes the page (how search engines rank your internal links). Keywords play a key role in creating effective anchor texts.

• If you want to rank “running shoes” you would NOT use “check it out here” or www.site.com as your anchor text. Anchor texts need to specifically describe the page. Search engines will rank the wrong keywords. You want “running shoes” to be ranked NOT “check it out here” or “www.site.com”. It’s much better to use “running shoes” as your anchor text. It describes your page better which makes for higher ranking in SERPs.

• Use WordTracker or Google AdWords to research relevant keywords appropriate to your web pages. As a result, keywords that you choose may not be highly searched and you may find better words/phrases. Think about your products, services and customers/markets when searching for targeted keywords. Don’t go overboard with keywords and remember not to stuff keywords into your pages (you’ll get booted out of search engines).

This is a Guest Post by Zeke Camusio who is a serial entrepreneur, Internet Marketing expert and founder of The Outsourcing Company, an Internet Marketing agency with offices in Aspen, CO and New York. Let’s Do It!, his blog, is read by thousands of people all over the world.

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