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Link Popularity for the Unpopular, a Quick Primer for Today's Search Engine Landscap
By Casey Markee (c) 2006

So tell the truth, were you popular in high school? Did you have
a lot of friends, and a wide social circle? Were you an athlete?
Did your accomplishments extend far outside the halls of your
alma mater to neighboring schools and counties? If so, then
congratulations; you're probably in the minority of those
reading this article. What does this example have to do with
link popularity you ask; more than you think. Just as in high
school, on the World Wide Web, your website is known by the
company it keeps. Link to the wrong site or "hang with the wrong
crowd" and you could be ostracized by the search engine
community before you even begin. Achieve quality inbound links
from a wide range of popular kids on the internet, however, and
watch your site's online profile soar. Sounds simple, and it is,
if you know what to do to climb the online social ladder that is
Link Popularity.

But before we get to that, what exactly is Link Popularity?
Simply defined, Link Popularity is a measure of the quantity and
quality of other web sites that link to your site on the
internet at any given time. It is considered an off-the-page
criteria that is greatly utilized by search engines to determine
the overall importance and quality of your site to the online
community. Because of its impartial nature, a site with a very
high number of incoming links is usually viewed as highly
relevant to the online community at large and thus highly
visible within relevant search engine results. Whereas a
content-poor site will attract fewer incoming links and thus
hold little value to the same visitors.

What is the current link popularity of your site today? Take a
moment to enter your site url at popular free link tool
www.linkpopularity.com, then come back for the rest of this
article.....

Still there, good! The results probably weren't what you had
hoped for though, were they? Not to worry; probably the biggest
threat to you obtaining a high link popularity score for your
site is relying on old information. To that end, below is a
quick 10-step CURRENT process that can be implemented
immediately to increase your site's overall link popularity:

Step 1 - Submit Your Site To Open Directory (Dmoz) And Yahoo
Although neither of these sites are the 800 lb. gorillas they
used to be, any link from these sites is going to increase your
online profile immediately and very visibly. Find your
appropriate category in both sites and submit for free with DMOZ
and invest the $299 for a yearly indexing with Yahoo. Although
DMOZ is still incredibly slow in adding new sites, keep at it,
find the appropriate editor and send him cookies or flowers if
necessary (couldn't hurt?) then be patient.

Step 2 - Add Your Keywords To The Linking Anchor Text
When at all possible, try to have an on-point relevant keyword
phrase used as the linking text within any inbound link you
seek for your site. If all you can manage is your site name or
your url, that is certainly fine. But if you are selling
toothbrushes to Eskimos, then "Eskimo toothbrushes for sale" as
the linking keyword phrase from one site to yours is always the
way to go.

Step 3 - Write Articles And Submit Press Releases
Hey, look what I am doing right now! I could be watching ESPN,
but I am writing this article instead. Write articles and submit
press releases when you have a personnel change, introduce or
upgrade a service or product or when you have a topic of interest
you wish to share with the online world web community. Don't have
a blog? Get one! This is a simple way to get your articles and
press releases out for indexing and review. Make sure to include
links to your site where appropriate and watch your link
popularity grow and grow.

Step 4 - Find Out Who Links To Your Competitors
Go to Google.com and enter this into this search query:
link:www.yourcompetitor.com. Do the same for Yahoo by entering
linkdomain:www.your-competitor.com and site:www.your-competitor.com
into the search field. Seek out the sites linking to your
competitors and convince them to link to you instead. You win
TWICE with this approach. You gain a quality link and an
increase in your overall popularity while your competitor LOSES
a link and achieves a lower popularity score in return.

Step 5 - Create An Affiliate Program
Nothing generates quality, inbound links to your site faster
than an established, commission-paying affiliate program. Whether
your site is product or service-based, an affiliate program can
be just the thing that takes your site and its link popularity
to new heights. Visit www.CommissionJunction.com or
www.LinkShare.com to set-up a new affiliate program of your
design today and watch your online profile grow by leaps and
bounds.

Step 6 - Deep Link Your Site
This step is vastly overlooked by even the most savvy of online
marketers initiating a new link popularity campaign. Make sure
that links you seek out or solicit don't just link to your home
page, but ALL pages of your website. This process has numerous
benefits, including expanding your overall online link profile
as well as generating unique Google PageRank values for each and
every one of your site's pages instead of just your home page.

Step 7 - Sign Up On Guestbooks And Forums
If you don't participate in forums on your site topic or remember
to sign-in when visiting a new site for the first time, now is
the time to make such actions a habit. Always post a message or
participate in a forum thread whenever possible and include a
link to your site in your signature where appropriate. These
"sig" files do get indexed and really add up, especially if the
site forum in question is something highly regarded in your
specific industry.

Step 8 - Contact Reciprocal Links By Phone Not Email
You would be shocked how successful this really is. More people
are inclined to respond to your request when you introduce
yourself by phone and let them know that you were visiting their
site. Tell the person you are linking to their site, asking
permission of course, and then politely ask for a link back.
Cement the request by following up by email; then wait for the
links to roll-in (oh, and get rid of the form letters; they
don't work!).

Step 9 - Avoid Link Farms And Link Exchanges
Reputation on the web is more important than ever. Again, just
like friendships in high school, it's better to have fewer
higher-quality links to your site than hundreds of off-point,
non-relevant links that do nothing to enhance the overall
experience of the online community. Stay away, far away, from
companies promising you hundreds of links to your site overnight.
At best you don't need the links, and at worst, you could be
banned by the major search engines altogether.

Step 10 - Download The Google Toolbar
This very simple technique allows you to view all potential link
partners by the very important Google PageRank score (1-10) that
is viewable in this browser. Use the toolbar to keep tabs on
your own site's PageRank score, than seek out complimentary,
highly relevant linking partners that have a Google PageRank
score of 6 or higher whenever possible. Convince a handful of
high Google PageRank sites to link back to you and watch your
site take off.

Remember, just like in high school, you and your site will be
known by the company kept. Follow the simple, ten step plan
outlined above, and you will be well on your way to achieving
real, measured, lasting success online. Be the popular site on
the block today; it's easier than you think. Go ahead, be
popular!
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Casey Markee is president of San Diego SEO firm Media Wyse. He
has over 7 yrs. of experience within the online marketing arena
and holds graduate degrees in Marketing & E-Commerce. Contact
him today at http://www.MediaWyse.com with your SEO questions
or help on your upcoming campaign.
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