Quality links from external Web sites will help get more of the right people to your own site. Well-written links within your Web site will ensure that your readers can act in a way you want them to.
Linking is about driving action. It's about getting the right people to the right content as quickly as possible.
The more external links you have, the more ways there are to get to your Web site. A link is like embedded word-of-mouth. It's a very positive thing.
The more times people see links to your Web site, the more likely they are to visit. The more links you have, the more likely you are to rank high in search results.
Here are some tips when getting external links:
- Get relevant links. If you're selling content management software, there's no point in being linked to from gardening Web sites.
- Avoid reciprocal linking. Getting a link by giving a link is generally not a good idea. Unless the other Web site absolutely makes sense to link to, don't link to it.
- Get linked from Web sites that don't link to too many other Web sites. If you're just one link among a long list of links, there's not much value there.
- Get linked from Web sites that are also well linked. The more that other Web sites are linked to the Web site that is linking to you, the more valuable a link from that site is.
- Get links that reflect how people search. Let's say that your customers search for “content management workshops.” If you can get links with that exact phrase, the chances of you being found during those types of searches are increased.
- Don't keep changing the structure of your Web site. If you change the structure, you risk breaking incoming links.
To maximize the power of your links, you should try to have as few Web sites as possible. If you have a single Web site address, you can consolidate all the links you are receiving under that address. If you have multiple Web sites, then you need to build up a set of links for each Web site.
