The term ‘inbound links' is becoming quite the buzz in the search engine optimization industry, and it's clear why. Inbound links have been found to make significant and positive contributions to the overall range, popularity and traffic of a website that uses it. What exactly are inbound links and how can you use them to improve your own site? Read on to understand.
Inbound links defined
‘Inbound links,' sometimes also called ‘back links,' are simply links in other sites which when clicked lead back to your site. It has long been used in promoting and improving the search engine rankings of websites, but it is only lately that more scientific ways of generating inbound links have been put into writing.
How inbound links work
Inbound links can improve your search engine rankings dramatically in a number of ways.
1. Inbound links from popular sites make your website easier to ‘spider.' If the site that links to you is relevant and regularly crawled by major search engines such as Google, for example, then search engines would be able to find you faster.
Search engines also count the valid inbound links to our site, and use this figure to determine your site's relevance for certain search terms. The higher your relevance, the higher your rank, and the more likely your potential buyers will visit your site. Remember that 85 percent of internet users go to search engines when looking for particular products and services. Improve your search engine ranking through inbound links, and you will surely be able to reach a bigger market in no time.
2. Inbound links can generate significant traffic into your site. Some of your potential buyers may not even find you from search engines, but from the websites that gave you inbound links. This is why it is important to network with the webmasters of websites that cater to your niche because these types of sites carry news and information that are relevant to the content of your site. You should also try to procure inbound links from your business partners and suppliers. They will most likely grant you inbound links because they already know you and have had some business history with you.
The don'ts in inbound links
Remember never to make the mistake of over-linking and reciprocal linking, though, because (a) search engines still prefer one-way inbound links, and (b) search engines usually interpret over-linking as ‘link farms,' which are considered illegal and punishable. Maintaining a healthy, sensible level of inbound links is still the best tool for improving both your website traffic and search engine ranking.
Good Luck with Your link Hunting.
Wessam Sabry
Weather For Web Site
Six Tips for Promoting Your Web Site - By Bronson Tang
When you think of traffic, you might envision smog-filled, congested highways with frustrated commuters battling to get to the office. But when it comes to promoting your Web site, traffic is a good thing. So how do you increase traffic to your Web site? This is accomplished through Web site promotion, also known as Web marketing or search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines rank Web sites based on content, therefore, SEO can help your Web site rank higher on main search engines such as: Google,AOL, Lycos, MSN or Yahoo. Below are some basic tips for promoting your Web site. For the more technologically advanced, additional tips are offered at the end of the article. Either way, utilizing these simple tools can improve your search-engine ranking and subsequently create more traffic to your Web site:
1. Create industry-specific key words: The above-mentioned search engines find you by scanning your Web site. So to successfully attract visitors to your Web site, it's vitally important to include appropriate key words and phrases. Creating a content-rich Web site with industry-specific words and/or phrases increases your chances of being ranked higher on the search engines, in turn creating more visitors to your Web site. Listing your individual services and/or geographic location also can improve your search-engine ranking. The following free services are recommended for additional assistance with creating your list of key words and phrases:
Overture -- This word-list development tool allows users to "test" the viability of specific key words and phrases. It enables users to gauge how much a particular word or phrase has been used by providing a usage tally based on the number of times the word/phrase was searched in the previous month.
Google -- For the less technologically inclined, Google offers a similar word/phrase search feature. Entering a specific word or phrase on Google will provide you with a "total number results" in the upper right corner based on the key word and/or phrase you entered. 2. Create key words and phrases for first paragraph of home page text. To determine your Web site's importance and overall subject ranking, search engines primarily look for key words in the first paragraph in the body of your Web site's text. However, exercise caution here, as more key words do not equate to a higher ranking. Search engines frown upon excessive amounts of key words. Typically, key word density in the entire body of the text should be no greater than 1.5 percent to 2 percent. 3. List your Web site with key directories. There are many effective online directories where you can register your Web site. The most valuable directories are:
Open Directory Project or ODP (www.dmoz.org) -- hosted and administered by Netscape Communication Corporation. It provides core directory services for some of the most popular portals and search engines on the Web, including AOL Search, Netscape Search, Google, Lycos, DirectHit and HotBot.
AllTheWeb.com -- This search engine operated by Fast Search & Transfer ASA (FAST), a leading provider of real-time search and filter technology. Both of these directories are definite musts for listing your Web site, and both are free. 4. Other avenues for listing your site. In addition to directory listings, you also can list your site on the following: main search engines; industry Web sites and sponsored/pay-per-click sites.
Main search engines. For a fee, some companies will submit your Web site to the top search engines. However, beware of companies making promises that sound too good to be true. Here are two of the more reputable companies operating in this space:
Submit It -- This site will submit your Web site to 20 main search engines for one low fee. They also offer useful tools for checking your Web site and tracking your submissions.
Self Promotion -- This is a useful site and it's free, although the owner of the site has suggested donations, which are given to the Salvation Army.
Industry Web sites. These Web sites are either specific to your industry or industries you would like to target. Check with the industry sites that you use to find out how to get listed.
Sponsored links or pay-per-clicks. Next time you're searching the Web, take note of the sites that pop up first in your search. Often you'll find indicators that the site you've found is a "sponsored" link. These sponsored links are essentially paid advertising or pay-per-clicks. In an attempt to get your Web site to the top of the search list, there are a handful of companies that offer sponsored advertising, in which you pay for every hit to your Web site generated through your sponsored link. Thus, every time a person clicks on your sponsored link you are billed. This is a fast, cost-effective and simple way of attracting users to your Web site. We recommend using:
Overture
Sprinks 5. Place Web site address on print media. Don't overlook obvious avenues to promote your Web site. Be sure to include your Web site address on all print media, including business cards, stationery, literature, e-mail signature, company newsletters and all marketing material. 6. Tune up and test your existing Web site. Once you've implemented one or more of the above suggestions, wait approximately three to five weeks, then take a moment to assess your Web site's ranking -- additional adjustments can be made to "fine tune" your Web site. There are several useful tools to assist in checking your Web site's ranking, thereby allowing you to compare and contrast your Web site with those of your top key word competitors. Useful tools include:
Self Promotion
Web Position
For the more technologically advanced: The technologically savvy user also can take advantage of these additional tips to increase their search engine ranking:
Write a descriptive page title bar.The page title bar is the horizontal title bar you see in the uppermost left corner when viewing a web page. It contains a description of the Web page you currently are viewing. To further SEO, make sure your page title bar includes key words or phrases related to your industry. The page title bar is what your audience will use to identify you on the search engine, so make it enticing. Other tips include:
The page title bar is the horizontal title bar you see in the uppermost left corner when viewing a web page. It contains a description of the Web page you currently are viewing. To further SEO, make sure your page title bar includes key words or phrases related to your industry. The page title bar is what your audience will use to identify you on the search engine, so make it enticing. Other tips include:
Page title needs to be descriptive for each page
Five to eight words per page title
Remove "filler words" such as "the," "or," "and," etc.
Key words and/or phrases in your key words meta tags.While the meta tags are not required when creating a Web page, they do identify the contents of a Web page. Meta tags contain such things as a general description of the page, key words for search engines and copyright information. The following is a meta tag example: META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="halloween, search, links, lookup, seek, find" The meta name is the designation of the type of meta tag. The content is where you would insert your key words or phrases. As in the example above, both the corresponding meta name and content need to have quotation marks. Other resources:
Search Engine Forum -- Useful site for answering frequently asked questions.
Search Engine Watch -- Excellent site for those interested in keeping on top of trends, as well as tips, helpful tools, etc. regarding SEO.
Both Wessam Sabry & Bronson Tang are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Bronson Tang has sinced written about articles on various topics from Internet Marketing, Business Marketing and Computers and The Internet. Bronson Tang is an associate of Etomicmail, LLC a San Diego-based Corporate Email Protection and Security firm that specializes in researching and developing products that help companies and their employees save time and increase their productivity.. Bronson Tang's top article generates over 880 views. Bookmark Bronson Tang to your Favourites.
