Inbound Links refers to links from other sites, to your site. These are the important links, that help gain you rankings in the Search Engine Indices.
There are several kinds of incoming links to take into consideration.
WARNING : LENGTHY ARTICLE AHEAD, GRAB SOME COFFEE!
Not all inbound links are equal, in terms of Link Juice.
One of the more standard form of linking, is the reciprocal link.
This is where Site A will provide a link to your site, but in return, you also provide a link back to them. Now that is generally the most widely used linking strategy, however the big search engines aren’t stupid folks.
They understand that these kind of links are more than likely an agreement, between the two sites, and are not based on the relevancy of the two sites. In other words, they don’t buy that my fiction site is linking to your big boob site based on similar content, but on ways for us to get noticed in their indices.
This strategy has become rather depreciated in giving benefit to either site involved, but is still helpful, in a modest way.
A more beneficial strategy is the One Way Link Strategy, that in all honesty, really isn’t one way, as the name implies. It is a way that many, savvy webmasters, try to manipulate the linking benefits.
One Way Linking implies that Site A is linking to your site, out of your site being a form of authority. Basically the Search Engines don’t see a return link to Site A, so they assume that there isn’t any other reason for the site to link to yours, other than it having something of relevance, and importance to Site A.
WARNING: There is always a high risk of being caught in phony linking strategies, that can lead to a penalty or ban from the major search engines, for both ( all ) parties involved.
One Way links, can be achieved, if you have more than one site, ideally on separate IP addresses, and yes, ideally, on different Hosts. However than can be expensive. In the past, it was important to show that your link back was definately not associated. However, as the number of IP addresses dwindle, it seems to be of less importance.
Now, in a perfect world, links will be natural. They won’t need any manipulation, but given how the world is really profit driven, Capitalistic, people look for ways to get ahead. Linking strategies are a major tool, and even though the search engines protest, and claim it shouldn’t be that way, truth is, IT IS.
The problem is, it generates a conflict between the webmaster, and the search engine Guru’s. See, the SE ( search engines ) want to make their indices relevant, to their customers. We, on the other hand, want to attract those customers, to buy our goods.
What happens is, that many webmasters go way too far in their methods, to get ranked on the Indices. At the same time, the SE’s go way too far to try and limit the manipulations, so that in reality, we both wind up losing. It has become a giant game, where we take one step forward, they counter, and on it goes.
Originally the rules made sense, until many started to push the boundaries, so the response was to tighten the rules. Part of the problem, is that being a webmaster is a simple matter of putting up a site, adding some banners, and trying to sell stuff. There is NO group that sets standards for how a site can operate, no official means of containing the practices a site operates under.
Linking is one of those areas, that has become a giant minefield. You want to take into account, just what is, the goal of your link trades.
Is it to gain traffic?
Now, by that I mean are you trading links to get incoming traffic. Not search engine traffic, which is a different kind of traffic. Many Link Lists, Directories, are what are called ” Traffic Trades ” which is usually dependent on you sending them traffic, and the more you send, the higher up in their site you become, which in turn ( theoretically ) means you get more of their traffic.
The main problem with this, is that it isn’t necessarily targetted traffic, nor buying traffic, but lookers. You need a whole lot of that kind of traffic to make sales, while the other form of traffic, from Search Engines, is in theory, more apt to buy. This is because they are already searching for what you are selling, least that is the theory.
When making a decision on whether to enter into a link trade, you need to decide, what is your goal. Is it to simply get more traffic to your site, or is it to improve your ranking on the Search Engine Indices?
Search Engine Traffic
Now, both type of links, generate Traffic. In all honesty, Search Engine traffic has lower numbers than the other kind, but the difference, is that SE traffic is more refined, more targetted.
Think of it as the shopping mall. People go shopping, they walk around and peer into the various shops, but they have nothing specific in mind to buy. They are simply out for the day, maybe buying, maybe not. If something strikes their fancy, perhaps, but basically they are just having a day out of the house. Those are the types of people, Link Lists, TGP’s, etc. deliver to your site. The Looker.
Search Engine traffic are the one’s going to the mall, but head directly for the florist shop, the drugstore, or the electronic store. They already know that they want to buy something, and just what they want to buy.
The major benefit here, is you don’t have to convince them that they should be buying, you just need to convince them that you have what they are already looking to buy.
In my opinion, the reason that reciprocal linking has been depreciated, is because of the Link Lists, the Traffic Trades. People forgot, the goal is to get the customer, not just have a lot of people walking through your site.
to be continued…
Mar 31st by Malcontent