The following advice is offered by and based on the experiences of Fatpublisher website optimisation consultants. Our advice has gained good results in the past however it should not be assumed that following this advice will gain results in the future.
A Good Link
There is often some confusion over what makes a good link. Much of the confusion arises when a website owner receives either a link exchange request from another website or is offered a link from a directory site (in return for payment or otherwise).
Link Exchange Requests
Website owners are often approached by other website owners requesting an exchange of links. Do link exchanges work? The short answer is no… website owners should spend more time focussing on building inbound links rather than a two-way exchange. If however the website requesting the link is a reputable website with a higher page rank than your own (preferably with a page rank of at least 3-4) than a two way link can be helpful. I talk more about page rank below.
Directory Submissions
Website owners are also often approached by directory sites where in return for a small fee, or for free, they offer a link to your website. It is believed that links from directory sites can be helpful however you should only seek links from directory sites that relate to the products/services/information your website offers and that has a page rank greater than your own. Website owners should not seek too links from directory sites as this may be regarded by some search engines as a breach of its guidelines. A link from a highly regarded, established and related directory site will help, it won’t hurt.
So tell us!
A good link should carry the following basic characteristics:
- originate from a website that has a higher page rank than your own. To obtain the page rank of your website download and use the Google toolbar. The Google toolbar has a page rank indicator on it
- originate from a page that relates to the products/services/information you offer
- include link text that relates to the products/services/information you offer
- originate from a website that is geographically close to you
- be located near the top of the originating web page
- be located on an originating web page that is updated regularly or regarded as a definitive source of information
The perfect link – good question!
The perfect link would be a link from Google, but really, what chance do we have of that? A great link would be a link from a very high page rank website (ie > 6) to a web page on your site that you want to rank highly, with link text that relates to both the topic of the originating web page as well as relating to the page you want to rank highly. Ideally the originating link would be on a site that is located in the same country as your own. Go digging!
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