Link Popularity: Is Your Site A Wallflower?

by MaryJo Scamurra

So, your web site is created. Your meta tags are in place. You've submitted to all the major search engines. Besides twiddling your thumbs waiting for busloads of traffic to hit your site...now what? Now, you need to use link popularity to improve your ranking on the search engines.

Your link popularity is measured by how many web sites link to yours. Search engines count your link popularity, or lack thereof, when indexing your site.

To find out how popular your site is, visit the major search engines and do a search for link:www.YourDomainName.com (replace YourDomainName with your actual web address). You'll see a display of how many sites currently link to you. You can also use the free link popularity test offered at http://www.linkpopularity.com to query Infoseek, Altavista and Hotbot, all at once.

It is important to have your link on as many web sites as possible. There are several ways to help increase your link popularity.

1. Reciprocal Links

Seek out sites that are similar in interest or sites that compliment your content. One way to find such sites is to visit a search engine and find out who links to your competitors. Use the same method described above, link:www.YourCompetitor.com. Compose a letter to those webmasters that link to your competitors letting them know you enjoyed their site. Point out a reason or two why you liked it, to personalize it, and suggest a link exchange. It may be beneficial to already have a link to them in place on your web site. There are endless web sites out there, in every category, so even if you receive a bunch of "no" replies there will be plenty of "yes" replies as well.

2. Link Scripts

You can increase your link popularity by registering with link exchange programs. They work by adding a small script of HTML to your web site. When clicked upon they will open another page containing links. Your link is then placed on similar pages operated by other registered users. One such program can be found at http://www.linkme.com.

3. Banner Exchanges

Participate in banner exchange programs as another way to bring up the popularity of your links. While many argue the effectiveness of banner exchanges to produce click-thrus, there is no denying they can help your link popularity. You'll find a listing of banner exchanges at http://www.mjswebularworld.com/exchange.htm.

4. FFA and Classifieds

There are literally thousands upon thousands of Free For All pages and free classified ad sites on the web. While many dislike FFA pages because of the amount of email associated with them and the probability that they are never read, they can increase your link popularity tremendously. For further information on where to submit, along with tools to automate the process, visit http://www.mjswebularworld.com/classads.htm.

Link popularity takes time and work. Actively seek out places to put your link by making this a part of your regular Internet promotion regimen. Your search engine rankings will improve. When your rankings improve, so will your traffic!

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