No, its not a general question for all and sundry. Obviously, there are many who would want to link to a Home Business or Affiliate program related website and for good reason. They would be helping their Page Rank, if thats important any more however, more to the point, they would be improving their chances of a better ranking in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). But yes, you guessed it, THERE IS A PROVISO. A very important one, that so many people engaged in reciprocal linking programs just dont seem to be able to get their heads around
I must confess, I have written about this same subject, just on twelve months ago, I think it was. My experience during the time since would suggest that I may as well have been writing fairy stories, for all the good it did.
I get, and this is no exaggeration, at least a dozen requests EVERY day from people wishing to link with my (currently seven) Home Business or Affiliate related sites, who have websites that have absolutely NOTHING in common in any way with either topic, or in the case of Affiliate content websites I have, nothing to do with the subject matter or product/s concerned. The majority of these requests, for some reason, seem to come from poker/casino/gambling websites and those concerning travel/holidays.
Why is it that the people requesting these links dont understand that they are, in fact, irreparably damaging their websites and possibly harming their chances of a decent showing in the SERPs (Not that all those with these types of websites practice this type of free for all linking). Why cant they understand that Google, the devisors of the PR and the Search Engine with whom most are concentrating on scoring a good ranking, quite clearly explain that links from RELEVANT websites are the only kind of link that is likely to improve your SE rankings. They also go on to say that using any kind of mass linking program or free for all method of linking is more likely to damage your rankings.
While its true that your PR will probably increase with the amount of raw links to your website, those links that are from websites of non-relevant topics will NOT serve to improve your ranking in the SERPs. Where the PR is calculated simply from the number of links, the algorithm used to come up with the SERPs definitely includes more complex data including an analysis of the content of the websites from which incoming links come, not just the text of the link.
The only advantage I know of, that PR alone will give you is a better chance of obtaining reciprocal links from other websites. Certainly, a far better way to obtain links is to publish good quality articles about the topic of your website, which of course will be picked up, by and large, by websites looking for good content of the same subject matter. This will also serve to give you one way incoming links, which although Google dont appear to mention in their pages, are widely understood to be of more value than reciprocal links.
Apart from the reasons Ive mentioned above, there is also the amount of work involved in trying to do the right thing by answering these pointless requests for links. I must say, its very annoying given the time involved, which could be better spent by all parties doing more constructive things.
I have often lamented the irreparable damage that mass linking programs have done to many websites. After all, there is virtually no chance of getting the links that are in place from non-relevant websites removed. It would be a mammoth task. The types of link building program that collect links from anyone willing to complete the form on your website and place your link on theirs, have turned a number of websites into mini directories, which certainly wont help their rankings in the SERPs.
My advice to anyone, either new or an old hand is to join one of the reciprocal linking co-operatives like Linkmarket.net, in which you are able to approve links from sites of YOUR choosing and request links from sites with the same content and subject matter. After all, links of the same content as your website are the most likely to interest your visitors and THAT is the primary basis of linking, to offer worthwhile information and assistance to your patrons. Incidentally, thats what Google and the other SEs are primarily concerned with, sites that are of value to THEIR patrons and they will only offer you as a choice if they feel you have the same goal in mind.
Ive been told that when I do anything designed to improve my rankings, to ask myself a simple question, would I do this if there were no Search Engines If the answer is no, then it probably wont benefit my visitors and will be a waste of time as far as my SE rankings are concerned.
The 2005 Edition of Steve Brennans popular ebook title is now available. He also operates a number of Affiliate wesbites which include and .
Search engine optimization is THE most cost effective way for a company to market their products and services. Below are 5 extremely valuable search engine optimization tips:
1. Content is Key
Webmasters are extremely concerned with optimizing their code and as a result, they often forget about optimizing the content. As optimization tips go, this is one you should pay close attention to. The first 200 words of your home page should be loaded with keywords, this includes your headline. Some search engines, particularly those that ignore meta tags, will actually use the first few lines of text (including the headline) as your site description.
2. Utilize Static HTML
You dont need a dynamic website unless you have dynamic content, such as airline seat availability and pricing which needs to be dynamically published from a database because it constantly changes. You may store your website in a database but youre better off publishing it as a static HTML website. Its cheaper, the pages will download faster, and search engines will find it easier to comprehensively index your website.
The less HTML code you have, the better, as it makes it easier and faster for the search engine to index your page. Aim for a total page weight of 50 KB for any page (thats including graphics). Certainly, anything over 100 KB is going to be slow, and some search engines dont like pages that are over 100 KB.
3. The Title Tag is Critical
The title tag is the single most important piece of content for people who search. Keep it short: Dont have more than 60 characters (with spaces), which is roughly 8-10 words. Lead with the most important careword for that particular page. Always start off with what is specific about the page and move to what is general. Many websites begin their title with their brand or organization name, and then follow with what is unique about the page. (This is a very common mistake, so check out your website.)
4. Optimize Your Images
This is another optimization tip that many people forget about. However, through use of your alt image attribute tag, you can slip in an extra keyword phrase or two that describes the picture users are about to see. The text only shows up when the user has turned off the view images option in their browser or the image fails to load. But some search engine robots will pick it up too and the extra keywords could help your ranking. So take a few seconds to implement this optimization tip on your site and you could see improved results soon.
5. Why You Shouldnt Optimize Your Own Site
While we have given you some basic optimization tips to help you quickly boost your search engine ranking, we still recommend that you hire a Search Engine Optimization professional for the best results. Search engines change their guidelines regularly, making it impossible for any one or two people to stay on top of all the changes while still running their business. What was a great optimization tip yesterday, could get your site blacklisted today. Your SEO professional will watch over your site as if it was our own, ensuring your site is always running in peak form. For example, we predicted many of the guideline changes Google made in November of 2003, saving many of our customers from the massive fall in rankings most experienced.
About the Author
Carmen is the VP Client Relations of Ms. SEO Inc., a Calgary based
Ms. Seo Inc. works with their sister company Ms. Hype Inc., to offer their clients a powerful online presence.