Okay, an interesting topic, because I suppose, like just about everything to do with being a webmaster, there are differing views on things.
From how they work, to even what they mean.
Natural Linking ( in my opinion ) refers to links that are from within a post, that are outbound links. In that they go from the post, to either another post, or to another site. Generally, used in link trades or such, they provide a more natural flow, than the old style link exchanges, or blogroll trades.
They are prized, because they are generally on topic, with the place they are linking to. They appear ” Naturally ” in the blog post, and so are considered to be more relevant. And that does help your rankings, or so the experts say.
The question that may not be answered, is how many links are valid, before the great Goddess Google ignores them? I mean if you have a ton of links, outgoing, is there a limit?
Does where they come in the post / article, make a difference? Say I put one here, instead of closer to the top, or maybe I put one down at the bottom, does it impact the importance of the link?
Myself, I haven’t a clue, and maybe it has something to do with the number of words. I write erotic stories, so they are generally well over a thousand words. If I have ten or twenty so called ‘natural‘ links, do I get them all listed, all treated the same? I kind of think so, but then, I have no proof.
No one does.
And that is something to keep in mind. It is very difficult to know the answer, because there are many variable involved, that determine rankings. Yet it is considered, that a modest number of links, coming from a post, does help the site receiving them.
By the way, did you spot the natural link in this post? Notice how it fits into the paragraph, how it flows naturally? That is what I consider a “Naturl Link“.
The problem with this type of linking, for some, is that it requires a bit more work on behalf of the person doing the linking. I mean you have to work the phrase in, or find one that is appropriate, then add the link. That can be tedious work, not like we don’t have enough of that already? Still, it can help, but there is hope.
If you use Wordpress, well there are some nifty plugins that do help achieve that for you. How natural are they? Well, not very, because like any automation, you have to select the word and/or phrase. That can be tricky stuff, because at times, it simply doesn’t suit to have a phrase linking up to another site.
Then there is the ‘new window‘ conundrom. Should outgoing links open a new browser window, or the parent window. Myself, anything that goes off my site, gets opened in a new window. I know, many argue that is annoying, but my goal is really to keep the surfer at my site, until they decide to buy something. Why would I want to send them off elsewhere before they buy?
Keep in mind, these links are generally used to link to another site, to give it a boost in its ranking, though it can be used, to send surfers to a sponsor’s site. If the primary reason is for link juice, then I really suggest, have it open in a new browser window, and keep the surfer at your site.
Mar 30th by Malcontent