WHERE TO LINK

After reading a few articles on nofollow and Pagerank I found out it is rather important to use nofollow on some things on your website. Why?

The mathematical equation to find out your Pagerank takes into consideration several things. Two of those things in less detail are inbound links and outbound links.

Not all links add up to the same value. Some links weigh more then others in the point system of PR. Anchortext plays a big part in this. We can talk about that some other time. For the purposes of this example I will keep it to inbound and outbound links.

Lets say the equations for ranking from a search engine is PR=I/O

PR = Page Ranking
I = Inbound
O = Outbound

*This is not the actual equation. My example is a crude, but it makes a point. To view the actual believed formula read the article from Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page's paper The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine.*

Lets say Page Ranking was this easy. Without figuring out the math. You can tell that an excess amount of outbound links from your website or pages would hurt your ranking.

This is the very reason to use nofollow on those outbound links that give no value to your website.

My website comes up as #864 on the organic search for the keyword phrase "Where to link". Since reading about PageRank I made all links not part of content, blogroll, or reciprocal links "nofollow". This reduced my outbound likes by about 100 or so links. All this is in hopes of improving my organic ranking or PageRank. How much this will improve or if it will improve my ranking is unknown. I'll keep you informed of the results.

Probably the most common place to use nofollow is on the comments section of a site or blog. Why?

Let say your website is PR4. Each time someone posts a comment on your blog you give them a little link juice. Not a bad thing to an extent. When people abuse it we have to plug the hole.

I believe that too many outbound comments from lower PR pages will lower your PageRank. After all it is a outbound link on your site. Give the example earlier. Too many outbound links will reduce your PR. So if you are wondering why sites don't want to share the link juice that is why.

Not that I have any link juice, but I did remove the nofollow on my comments. I'll have to check and see if this a violation of blogger's rules, but for now comments are dofollow.

Hope everyone enjoyed the post. Thanks for visiting Where to Link.

Here is another tip on where to link.

Dofollow lists work like a dream boat. I have somewhat changed my mind about linking on only sites that pertain to your content or niche. Well, when it comes to comments. My thought behind this is if you read an article or post you should make a comment. That would just be rude not to. Link Building is a two way street. It helps them and it helps you.

The more comments they have the more appeal they will have with the search engines resulting in increased popularity and higher pagerank points. It helps us beginners in the same manor. We are just starting at a much lower level. Not a bad trade off if you ask me. Manni Karthik at dailyseoblog.com gives great advice and suggested readers take a look at Whydowork.com's dofollow list. I must add it was great information.

Check the search engines with the keyword phrase "dofollow list" for more lists.

I may add a dofollow list to my site at a later date. I want to ensure the list is of good quality before adding it.

Hopefully this tip helped in your link building campaign and provided yet another source in where to link your website. As always thanks for visiting!

Some directories out there are not playing by the rules. Be careful! This is probably nothing new to most of you, but just in case. Here are some tips on checking to see if the directory is of good quality.

- Read the section "About Us" on the website. They should say something about who they are, where they are located, and how long they have been in business.
- Read the Privacy Policy. This is very important. You don't want them to do whatever they wish with your information.
- Read the Terms and Conditions. This is a basic what we will do for you and what we expect from you. There may be some mention of copyright policy.
- Check for external links. See where they go. Some directories use Blackhat techniques to boost there website popularity or pagerank of the linked website.

Not all directory lists are friendly. You don't want to associate with these false directories. Doing business with these type of directories is not good for business especially when they are manipulating the search engines. This could get your website penalized for simply association without knowing they are bad for business.

Another tip in where to link or should it be where not to link.

Comments are the links that you post on blogs, article, or some other content that has a comment section. A few things to consider while posting comments.

General Tips *Read the Article*
You can custom your name on most comments. Use a keyword this could help out the website you are posting on and by linking an anchor text for your site. You can always use your real name. The comment should be about the article or post content and not about off the wall stuff. Also make sure the website would complement your websites content. Use your URL in the comment section if there is not another place for it. Your comment could get deleted if you spam or post a negative comment. So choose your words so you don't offend.

dofollow
This is a code in the HTML that allows spiders to see and follow the comment URL. The benefit of this is you get a link pointing directly to your website. These count toward link popularity and points for pagerank. Although you will not see these on Google for a "link:mywebsite.com". Google will only show PageRank (PR) 4 or higher. I am still not convinced that they will only show PR4 or higher, but that is what my research suggests.

nofollow
This is another code in the HTML text that says just that DO NOT follow the outbound link. How do you know if a site has nofollow on? My guess would be to do a quick view of the source code and search for nofollow. If they have this in relation to comments then this tells the spiders to skip over it.

Someone may want to use the nofollow term if they were getting spammed a lot. Blogging websites usually have a limit on the number of comments to prevent spamming. I am not sure how many people use the nofollow, but if I knew they had nofollow on comments chances are I would not post.

Everyone wants to know the secret ingredient to link building. Well here is the best kept secret in link building. Come on in a little closer, so I can whisper it in your ear. “The secret is, its, there is no secret.” Disappointed? Lots of people think there is some secret sauce to getting quality links pointing to their website. The truth of the matter is how to link, knowledge of link types, and where to link are really all you need to know. The rest of the secret sauce equation is work multiplied by work squared multiplied by time.

Link building is a challenge to say the least. It is a never ending process that evolves.

Society is so spoiled with having everything now. This is one thing you can not have now. If you want instant results get your checkbook out it will cost you, and even then there are no guarantee the search engines will give you love.

So here is my advice. Stop looking for the secrets; there are none. Where to link is a fundamental question that we all face when staring out a link building campaign. Stick with the basics first. Yes, there are several more link types that are not covered in links, but these will get you started. Be patient! Link building takes hard work and time.

Authority Link
An Authority Link is your website link on an already trusted website. The key word here being trusted. Trusted means the search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, or Ask) has determined that the existing site is popular and has good CONTENT. A search engine sorts by Link Popularity for a given keyword or keyword phrase. Not to say you have to reach for the top, but it is a goal. Work your way down the list to determine who you could get to link your website. Learn more about Authority Links.

Where to link and how to get links. Some sites my charge a fee or they may like your CONTENT and link it for free. I like free! Ask them to link your website. They can only say no. Link exchange with that other site. You scratch my back I'll scratch yours. These type of links are not done by a program it usually involves direct contact with the webmaster via letter or email.

Directory Link
Directory link is a submission of your URL with a description to any number of directories to increase visibility to your website. The major search engines use directories to find webpages for keyword searches. This also creates inbound links to your website. Part of this process involves Deep linking.

Deep Linking involves submitting specific pages or a specific post on your blog to directories. Read the directory rules before posting. The rules may require only posting the home URL. When used correctly Deep Linking can be very effective in getting more traffic or higher ranking. Each page or post has a unique URL. Posting these unique URLs can give you an added edge on the competition. Keywords play a pivotal roll in everything from URL, CONTENT, and Directory Link descriptions. So ensure you are using keywords in everything. Each Blogspot post title is an extension of your home URL. Try it out. Click on Intro or Links on this page and look in the URL area on your browser. It is always good to have those keywords in your post titles, description, and anchor text. Choose your post and page title wisely so you can Deep Link the URL.

Where to link and how to get links. Submit to directories. Visit my directory list as a start. Do a search on a search engine to find more. During the submission process ensure you post in the most accurate directory for what your website is about. Submission amounts to filling out a few lines of data to include a description of your website. Some directories post it right away and some go through a review process, so check your email. Others require you to post a link on your website to be posted.

Reciprocal Link
A Reciprocal Link is an agreement between two webmasters to post each others links on their website. The real difference between Authority Links and Reciprocal links is that word trusted. Trusted does not really apply here. Meaning you are not dealing directly with the big boys. There are other webmasters like yourself that are just trying to build a link campaign to increase Link Popularity. Make sure the linked website has CONTENT significant or complementary to your website. It is not recommended to put links on your website that are not relevant to your CONTENT. Keep in mind these types of links require a backlink.

Where to link and how to get links. You get these from link exchange service and link exchange forums where you can trade with others. Services charge fees, so do your homework. Take a look at the Link Exchange and Services on my site, most are free.

One-Way Links
Probably one of the best types of links are One-Way links. These are links added to websites that point to your pages, but does not require a backlink. Search Engine spiders like to see these kind of links. Get enough of these and you can boost your pagerank significantly.

Where to link and how to get links. Social Bookmarking, Article Submission, and good CONTENT. Adding quality anchor text to these will work wonders.

More where to link methods
1. Post your URL on advertising websites. Kinda like directories, but it may only be advertised for 30 days. Take a look at the website rules before posting.
2. Leaving comments on articles, forums, and blogs that pertain to your website.
3. Submit your site on Group Discussion Websites related to your site.

Summary
Applying these basic techniques will improve your link popularity and ultimately get your pagerank higher. Learning where to link is an important process of search engine optimization that can not be overlooked. Running a quality link building or link campaign will increase your opportunity for success.