Link Development Consulting

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The value of inbound links

Links from other websites are valuable for numerous reasons. In the eyes of search engines, they help establish credibility for your site. From the vantage point of web traffic, a strategically placed link may help draw in more prospective customers to your site.

However, improper link development can severely damage a website's reputation and even lead to penalties placed on it by search engines (resulting in lower SERP rankings and, thus, decreased organic traffic). Proper link development takes time, creativity and energetic intent.

User Friendly Content

The best links are those naturally placed by 3rd parties on their websites, be they blogs, business, education or government sites. To attract these 3rd party links, you will need to create content on your site that is of interest and which these individuals/organizations will deem of value to share with friends and coworkers. An excellent means of doing this is through a corporate blog.

Viral Marketing

Some companies develop creative web videos (subtle commercials) or free web/computer applications which, when inserted into the web community may self propulgate, providing back links simultaneously to your site.

Quality Directories

Submission to high quality directories can provide a good boost to a starting entrepreneurial business. These directories typically charge a fee ($30-$250), part of which is paid to the human editor who individually looks over your submission, examines your website, and determines if the site is eligible for inclusion. Search engines attribute higher confidence in selective directories such as these in contrast with the myriads of spam filled link exchange directories.

Good Neighborhoods/Bad Neighborhoods

When developing a linking campaign, it is always vital to look carefully into the 3rd party site where you would like to have a link. If you've invested time, funds & energy promoting your website in "bad link neighborhoods," then you should not be surprised if a penalty is levied against your site, decreasing your positioning in SERPs.

If you've exchanged links with every spammer who has emailed you, you are essentially casting a vote in favor of that person's website. It pays to be careful when developing linkage--both off site and on site. The value of a complimentary link on a well trafficked, high ranking 3rd party website can be of immense value to your site's positioning.

On Site Linking

Link development is not only off site; it also takes place right on your website(s). From the links in your navigational structures to hyperlinks within your textual content, every link matters and can contribute to how a search engine "understands" your site's subject matter.

Rich Text Hyperlinking

When developing links, it is far more beneficial to hyperlink a relevant phrase (e.g. custom flash drives) rather than hyperlinking the domain name (e.g. www.cfgear.com) or even the company's name (e.g. CFgear). Search engines note the text in hyperlinks and attribute that text toward their overall understanding of the page or site that text is linked to.

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