SEO CheckList

I’ve been mentioning backlinks quite often in many articles and I’m sure the experts need no more explanation. Every time I go to web master forums, however, I’m greeted with questions about linking so I thought it best if we tackle the basics of linking. First up — inbound links. The most widely known information about inbound linkage is — the more the better. It’s not always as easy or as straightforward as we want it to be. There are several factors which determine the value of inbound links to your web site.

1. Relevancy

As was mentioned before, if your inbound link comes from a Viagra or an online poker web site and your niche is, say for example, health, then sorry to say the links does your more harm than good.

2. Anchor Links

You will rank better for terms used to link to you. For example, if you have a domain to which others often link to using the term “weight loss” (because that’s your niche), you’ll rank higher for that phrase. The anchor links serve as the other web site’s vote for yours.

3. The Ranking of the Site Linking to You

Suffice it to say, the higher the ranking in the SERPs of the one linking to you, the more weight the search engines you give to the link. You’ll be surprised what a single link from the number 1 web site in your niche could do to your own ranking as opposed to a dozen inbound links from web sites from the lower half of your niche.

You will not always be able to control the web sites linking to you, of course. Even if there are many spammy web sites who link to you, what matters is that you’ve done your job and got links to reputable web sites in your niche.