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What is Link Popularity?  Link popularity is a measure of the quantity and quality of other websites that link, in the form of hypertext links, to a specific site on the World Wide Web. It is an example of the move by search engines towards off-the-page-criteria to determine quality content. In theory, off-the-page-criteria adds the aspect of impartiality to search engine rankings.

Link popularity plays an important role in the visibility of a web site among the top of the search results. Indeed, some search engines require at least one or more links coming to a web site, otherwise they will drop it from their index.

Search engines such as Google use a special link analysis system to rank webpages. Citations from other WWW authors help to define a site's reputation. The philosophy of link popularity is that important sites will attract many links. Content-poor sites will have difficulty attracting any links. Link popularity assumes that not all incoming linksare equal, as an inbound link from a major directory carries more weight than an inbound link from an obscure personal page. In other words, the quality of incoming links counts more than sheer numbers of them.

Link Popularity Strategies.  Here are some strategies that are generally considered to be important to increase link popularity:

 There should be links from the home page to all subpages so that a search engine can transfer some link popularity to the subpages.

 Appropriate anchor text with relevant keywords should be used in the text links that are pointing to pages within a site (technically, this helps link context, not link popularity).

 Getting links from other web sites, particularly sites with high page rank, can be one of the most powerful site promotion tools. Therefore, the webmaster should try to get links from other important sites offering information or products compatible or synergistic to his/her own site or from sites that cater to the same audience the webmaster does. The webmaster should explain the advantages to the potential link partner and the advantages his/her site has to their visitors.

 One way links often count for more than reciprocal links.

 The site should be listed in one or more of the major directories such as Yahoo!.

Types of Link.  There are 4 types of links to consider:

 Within the website (internal) - these are links from pages within a website pointing at other pages within the site. In some cases these can contribute to the link popularity of a website but need to be structured in an effective manner.

 Free - these are links that can be added to a third-party website, in many cases, for free.  These sites are usually building their own content to attract traffic and can do so by offering to list other sites for free. Example sites may be general information directories, business/shopping directories or subject specific sites that wish to provide a service to their visitors.

 Reciprocal -  two websites agree to link to the other so that both gain some benefit from the links between each domain. More and more sites are now requesting reciprocal links as the importance of links has become more widely recognised.

 Paid - there are a growing number of sites that will provide links but at a cost.

At Martlet Design we recognise the importance of link building as part of a search engine optimisation strategy and we offer a link building package to clients, if required. We can also advise clients on how to find and build links themselves.