Overview of Link Strategies

To Link or Not To Link

To link or not to link and who to link to are tactical questions you will need to consider when building your web site. Links have two functions - raise your search engine rankings and foster referrals between businesses.

Types of Links

Let's first discuss the types of links.

Links into your site: This is when someone lists your site on theirs and provides a link back to you. These type of links are known as backlinks.

Links from your site: The ones that you list on your site that go to other sites.

Reciprocal links: Reciprocal links are the ones where you make a deal with someone else and you both list the other on your pages; a kind of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.

Reciprocal links are identical to referrals except in an electronic form. The carpenter that you always recommend, sends his customers to you. Same thing, now it's just electronic.

Reciprocal and Backlinks are the most valuable links with regard to search engine rank. They also become part of your marketing strategy. Reciprocal and backlinks provide customers with an introduction to your company and obtaining these links should be the cornerstone of any link building strategy.

Links & Search Engines

What is Search Engine Rank?

Having links to and from your site can boost your search engine rankings. Search engine rankings are what makes one web site be listed sooner than others on sites such as Yahoo, Google, AOL, or any of the other places your potential customers seek information.

Having a higher ranking will put you higher up the list and will increase your chances of being found by new customers. That said, the obvious option would be to link to anything and everything that you can find; right?

There's no such thing as too much...

Wrong! Linking to anything and everything will most likely help you to lose ranking points. This laundry list method is called a link farm, and search engines see them akin to SPAM.

Search engine rankings are based upon the value of the links as well as the ranking of the sites being linked to or from. Some search engines will also give extra points to reciprocal links as they lend an air of credibility to your site.

So your idea of linking to IBM or GE will probably not help you unless you sell their products. Regardless, good luck getting IBM to put a referral link to you on their page.

Even online it's all about word of mouth.

Linking to another business in your community that has a good amount of web visitors can help people find your site. Someone researching a community may turn from vacationer to customer. You already knew that, so when it comes to linking remember where your word of mouth referrals may come from.

It is also important to note that whoever you link with will also become an ambassador for you and your site. That specialty shop could have a beautiful web site and could even agree to have your brochures on the counter. But if the staff is unfriendly and being in the physical shop is not a pleasant experience, your prospect will assume you are of like stuff. Likewise a pleasant experience with a helpful and courteous staff suddenly leads to a reliable source for good referrals.

Engraved invitations to leave or smart business?

When deciding who you wish to link to you must consider that every link is essentially an engraved invitation to leave your site. At first glance, providing a link to the local area Chamber of Commerce may look like an opportunity to provide your visitors with detailed content that you do not have to maintain as well as link to a site with a high search engine ranking for your community.

If you haven't been before, visit your area Chamber's site. Look at the member areas. Who's listed there? ALL of your competition is who is listed there! Hmm, and just maybe your Chamber lists everyone in alphabetical order and also provides links to their web sites. Is your last name Abel or Zimmer? Unless you are the only provider of your product or service in town, perhaps this link is useful for incoming traffic, but could be disastrous as an outbound link.

Another common link mistake on websites where the competition for clients is keen among employees (think real estate, insurance, brokerages, etc.). Your company may have a web site set up for the entire office. A link that leaves your site and takes the visitor to that site now introduces them to all the other agents in your office. As a added bonus they now have in front of them the general phone numbers to the front desk. If they decide to call and ask a question, do you feel confident it's your turn in the office lottery for the next cold call?

In Summary

There are numerous books and free web resources on links and search engine rankings and optimization. This article is purely intended to get you to think about what you want from your links.

Think about area businesses that can compliment your services and know the ones who can lead your shiny new prospect to a competitor. And with all things in life you might have to strike a balance. If the biggest hotel in town offers reciprocal links with all the companies in town, you probably should be listed also and put the hotel link on your pages. But if a useful incoming link does not require a reciprocal link and it could lead your customers elsewhere; leave it off your list and take advantage of the incoming traffic.

The last word and the most often overlooked. Any time someone follows a link out of your site, the potential for them not coming back will be there. There is so much interesting content on the web that you know how easy it is to get sidetracked and not return to a site you had intended to.

I suggest that you have your links open in a new window. You still may lose some folks, but this ensures that the window your web site was displayed in is still available to them. You've done it and so have I; followed a link, did not like the site and quickly closed the window. The referring site will be in History, but how often do YOU bother going back?

A note about the author:
Articles appearing on www.yourmessageconsultant.com were written by Michele Tway. Michele has almost 20 years of experience as both an IT and writing professional. She has worked with publicly traded, private and government organizations, and now offers her services as Your Message Consultant. While this article is not available for reprints, she is available to write similar content for your website, newsletter, blog, or print publication.