An Introduction To Link Building
Section II
Fundamental Properties of a Link
Fundamental Properties of a Link:
If you’re reading this (and you are) then chances are you know what a link is. As such, we’re going to skip the lecture on HTML and the structure of the Internet (it’s a series of tubes). What we will discuss are the important on-page and structural characteristics of links that can help make them most effective: anchor text, link location and link intention.
a. Anchor Text:
Anchor text is the actual text that visitors click on to follow a link. Below are three examples of anchor text for a link to the SEOmoz homepage:
1. For great info about search engine optimization, check out http://www.seomoz.org/.
2. For great info about search engine optimization click here.
3. Here’s a great resource for info about search engine optimization.
Of these examples, both 1 and 3 have distinct advantages over number 2. Number two provides a link (which is good) but it offers absolutely no semantic value. SEOmoz isn’t a respected resource on “click” or “here.” These aren’t keywords or search terms anyone would use to find SEOmoz, therefore there’s no keyword benefit conveyed by this anchor text.
Example 1 does contain SEOmoz’s name (since it’s in the domain name). This helps some, but chances are we wouldn’t need much help if someone were searching for ‘SEOmoz’ directly. Note though that constructing concise, relevant URLs for the pages on your site can help, not only for links of this style, but for keyword relevance in search engine spidering. If an article page has the URL www.seattleboatours.com/article/121.html, it conveys no value about the content of the article, whereas www.seattleboatours.com/articles/holiday-cruises.html provides context and relevance to anyone searching for “holiday boat cruises.”
Example 3 is certainly the best of the three because it not only provides the link but it also offers additional semantic relevance. If the search engines see that a lot of links to SEOmoz use anchor text such as ‘search engine optimization,’ they will quickly recognize that other web pages think SEOmoz is a relevant source for information related to those keywords. Whenever possible, links that carry semantic value (such as example 3) are preferable.
b. URL Location:
URL Location refers to where in a site’s page structure your link is found: shallow or deep. Shallow links are link to your site’s homepage or top-level category pages. Deep links, on the other hand, are links to more specific pages such as individual articles, blog posts, tools or other content.
Deep links are usually the result of people finding your deep page content useful and wanting to share it with their visitors. Search engines like these types of links; they’re natural and often more valid. Shallow links, when too prevalent, tend to look spammy to the engines. If hundreds (or thousands) of sites are linking to you, and more than 80% link exclusively to your homepage, the search engines may cast suspicion on the “validity” of those links. Aggressive link builders would be wise not to abuse homepage-only linking. Keep in mind that this is much more important for larger sites since small sites do not have much inherent depth.
You can check your deep link percentage by visiting Yahoo! and performing a link search. Type in the search as “linkdomain: www.yourhomepage.com” using your homepage URL.
Also important is the location of the link on the linking page. Are you being linked to from someone’s homepage, an advertising page or a relevant, high-quality content page? Links from a link directory or advertising pages are often paid, reciprocal or otherwise externally influenced and therefore less legitimate than deep links from within actual content or more specific, topical pages.
Conversely, the more popular, specific and well-linked-to the page is that links out to you, the more valuable that link will be.
If it’s a link indicating you as a source or a reference on a particular topic, the value is high. If it’s sending someone to you for more information or to buy something, it could be valuable depending on the needs of the searcher. If it’s one link of many in a directory, it may be helpful (depending on the exclusivity and trust of the directory). If it’s a link influenced by money, relationships or other less trustworthy motivations, search engines will try to find algorithmic ways to prevent it from passing value. That’s not to say it won’t help your ranking now, but over time, engines have gotten better and more efficient at measuring the quality and intention of link patterns.
1. For great info about search engine optimization, check out http://www.seomoz.org/.
2. For great info about search engine optimization click here.
3. Here’s a great resource for info about search engine optimization.
Of these examples, both 1 and 3 have distinct advantages over number 2. Number two provides a link (which is good) but it offers absolutely no semantic value. SEOmoz isn’t a respected resource on “click” or “here.” These aren’t keywords or search terms anyone would use to find SEOmoz, therefore there’s no keyword benefit conveyed by this anchor text.
Example 1 does contain SEOmoz’s name (since it’s in the domain name). This helps some, but chances are we wouldn’t need much help if someone were searching for ‘SEOmoz’ directly. Note though that constructing concise, relevant URLs for the pages on your site can help, not only for links of this style, but for keyword relevance in search engine spidering. If an article page has the URL www.seattleboatours.com/article/121.html, it conveys no value about the content of the article, whereas www.seattleboatours.com/articles/holiday-cruises.html provides context and relevance to anyone searching for “holiday boat cruises.”
Example 3 is certainly the best of the three because it not only provides the link but it also offers additional semantic relevance. If the search engines see that a lot of links to SEOmoz use anchor text such as ‘search engine optimization,’ they will quickly recognize that other web pages think SEOmoz is a relevant source for information related to those keywords. Whenever possible, links that carry semantic value (such as example 3) are preferable.
b. URL Location:
URL Location refers to where in a site’s page structure your link is found: shallow or deep. Shallow links are link to your site’s homepage or top-level category pages. Deep links, on the other hand, are links to more specific pages such as individual articles, blog posts, tools or other content.
Deep links are usually the result of people finding your deep page content useful and wanting to share it with their visitors. Search engines like these types of links; they’re natural and often more valid. Shallow links, when too prevalent, tend to look spammy to the engines. If hundreds (or thousands) of sites are linking to you, and more than 80% link exclusively to your homepage, the search engines may cast suspicion on the “validity” of those links. Aggressive link builders would be wise not to abuse homepage-only linking. Keep in mind that this is much more important for larger sites since small sites do not have much inherent depth.
You can check your deep link percentage by visiting Yahoo! and performing a link search. Type in the search as “linkdomain: www.yourhomepage.com” using your homepage URL.
Yahoo! Site Explorer link data for the entire SEOmoz site and homepage only, respectively:
In the screen captures above you’ll see that SEOmoz has 1,640,235 links to the entire site but only 178,801 to the homepage, “www.seomoz.org.” As such, almost 90% of links to SEOmoz are to deep content pages.Also important is the location of the link on the linking page. Are you being linked to from someone’s homepage, an advertising page or a relevant, high-quality content page? Links from a link directory or advertising pages are often paid, reciprocal or otherwise externally influenced and therefore less legitimate than deep links from within actual content or more specific, topical pages.
Conversely, the more popular, specific and well-linked-to the page is that links out to you, the more valuable that link will be.
c. Link Intention:
What you should always keep in mind when considering the relative search engine value of a given link is: how will the engines view this link’s value to searchers? What is the linking page’s intention?If it’s a link indicating you as a source or a reference on a particular topic, the value is high. If it’s sending someone to you for more information or to buy something, it could be valuable depending on the needs of the searcher. If it’s one link of many in a directory, it may be helpful (depending on the exclusivity and trust of the directory). If it’s a link influenced by money, relationships or other less trustworthy motivations, search engines will try to find algorithmic ways to prevent it from passing value. That’s not to say it won’t help your ranking now, but over time, engines have gotten better and more efficient at measuring the quality and intention of link patterns.
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