Linking is one of the most misunderstood concepts in Search Engine Optimization, but is very significant to your business. If you don’t have a good linking program in place, your site won’t rank well. On last Thursday’s webinar, held by Paul Taylor and Travis Low, they focused on key points and tips on why building a good linking campaign is crucial for your site, especially those top 10 spots on page 1 of search engines site. To start off, let’s go over some need-to-know facts.

• Research shows if you are not on the first page, most visitors won’t go beyond page one.
• If you’re ranked number one on the first page of search engine sites, you will have 10 times more of a chance to get clicked on than someone who is ranked number ten (42% vs. 3% click-through-rate, respectively).
• Inbound linking is the most cost-effective way to improve rankings (we’ll get into definitions later).
• Nowadays, the top 3 positions on the 1^st page are normally considered “above the fold.”
• Organic searches, overall, still get majority of clicks compared to Paid searches (but we’re currently working on a case study, so stay tuned!).
• The importance of ranking high will translate to more revenue, and business growth!

There are a few ways to link your site in order to get a better ranking. One way is through inbound links, which are hyperlinks on external sites that you don’t own which link back to your site. These sites should be relevant to your business and regarded high by search engines, so that the inbound links serve as “votes” that tell search engines your site is useful and relevant. It is also important to diversify your links, and not just add a whole bunch to navigate to just one page. Directories are the quickest and easiest way to build up your search rankings and press releases help optimize your keywords. However, one tool that does not help with ranking is social media. All social media sites that you are accustomed to—like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn—have no follow tags. They tell search engine spiders to not follow the text outside of their website, so your site can’t link any of the “juice.” (For more information on the diversity of inbound links, check below on how to get a copy of the slides!)

In addition, internal links are links within your site for Google spiders to know what your site is about, and to see a “content silo” of inter-linked pages. It is imperative to keep the theme distinctive, which will strengthen your website and rank.

One thing that should be known about linking is that it is a gradual process. You want it to be a diverse group you’re ranking from, and the gradual buildup will allow your rankings to look like a natural evolution. Not all links are created equal, so you want to create one that will have a lot of domain authority as well as making sure Google sees that it is relevant.

Every site benefits from linking; e.g. if you don’t have the budget for a full SEO campaign but need to boost search engine rankings, if your site is optimized but not ranking well, and/or if your site needs to be optimized but faces technical limitations. Be sure to proceed with caution, and build a timeline for implementing this process! If you have any questions, or need evaluation and analysis, Webmarketing123 can assist you. Contact Mark Powers at (800) 619-1570 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (800) 619-1570 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Mark.P@webmarketing123.com–and don’t forget to ask for a copy of the slides!

-Sarah