To Link or Not To Link

To Link or Not To Link
By Vickie J. Scanlon

To link or not to link, is definitely the question. Why? A lot has changed, and is changing when it comes to linking. Google especially, is cracking down on certain types of linking. So what do you need to consider.


Backlinks
Let’s start with backlinks. Backlinks are links that are directed toward your website (also called Inbound links). The number of backlinks are an indication of the popularity or importance of your website, which in turn, indicates the importance of the page (page rank).


Minute Review of Calculating Relevancy of Site
How does search engines calculate the relevance of a site? They consider the quality of the inbound links-which is determined by the quality of the other site's content.

What is important? The inbound link will rank higher in relevance if the other site’s content is relevant to your site. If you have inbound links that is not related to your site, the degree of importance goes down.


Google Raise the Bar on Quality Links
Google is being more particular, setting higher standards for linking. Why? Some people are of the mistaken belief that they can increase their ranking by using link farms. I would strongly suggest that you think twice before venturing into that area. Why? Link farms can hurt your ranking, and/or set you up to being banned by Google. It was a going thing in the past – but Google has matured, as well as, their technology and skill level, and they are expecting more from their users.

So, on a personal level, what really is the important reason to achieving quality backlinks? Simple. To encourage visitors to your site.

Reciprocal Links
This brings us to reciprocal links. Reciprocal links, as you know, are links that are exchanged by webmasters. There purpose is to increase their page ranking. But what if you have backlinks that show "no relevancy" to your website are included in the mix? They get counted-but with a decreased relevancy on the specific outbound link.

So what do you do:
1. Know who you are linking too.
2. Make sure the site compliments and is relevant to your site.
3. They don't practice black-hat SEO techniques.
4. Be careful about interlinking your websites, especially if they are on the same IP.
5. They are not in a bad neighborhood

Other Issues
There are other issues to consider here as well. It's a nice compliment to have your site singled out by another site for linking purposes. But please look at the site, the total site. And if you do link with the other site, click on the link ever so often. Why?

1. You could find they eliminated the page completely.
2. They started using a 302 redirect, linking to a product they are selling. Gee, could it be you're selling something for someone else-and not getting the money. Or, are they stealing your traffic? Both!
3. They put your link on a “No Follow” “no Index” page. (That’s like a fish swimming upstream in mud).
4. They encrypted the whole page where your link is to reside. (Is it there, or isn’t it?).
5. Your link is moved from one page to the next. (With each move, the relevancy of the link goes down, in the eyes of the search engines.)


To conclude, linking is a process that needs constant attention on your part. If you ignore the link and expect your linking partners to behave themselves-when you don’t know them-expect to have some problems. Translated-be vigilant, and take appropriate action when necessary.