cross linking

SEO Tip: The Power of Cross-Linking

Many engines tend to score keywords found in the hyperlink text higher than words appearing in the body area. Even more helpful is to have links containing keywords that link to your page from other domain names. Therefore, you may wish to consider logically dividing your content across more than one domain name and then cross-linking the sites using keywords in each hyper-link.

Make sure each domain name has its own IP address and preferably is in a completely separate IP address range. One way to ensure this is to host each domain name with a separate hosting service.

You must also make sure that each domain has multiple pages on it, preferably no fewer than five pages. Search engines do not like to see Web sites with very little content.

Group your pages by topic or "theme." Some search engines prefer to see a common theme to a Web site. If they can establish one, then keywords falling into that theme are more likely to be ranked higher.

Lastly, it's a good idea to create your page names based on your best keywords. That way you'll score a little higher for the search engine that indexes the page name portion of the link tag. However, avoid using names like "digital-cameras-for-google.htm." Search engines naturally become suspicious of pages that are optimized for a particular search engine. To avoid calling unnecessary attention to yourself, use a more subtle type of coding system to identify pages that you may have fine-tuned for a particular search engine.

How to Gain Links from Major Industry Associations

Most industries have major associations and user groups whose recommendation carry a lot of weight. These are excellent Web sites from which to obtain links for gaining both targeted traffic and for increasing link popularity. However, they sometimes are the most difficult links to obtain. Saying, "I'll link to you if you link to me" often does not cut it if you're a smaller company.

One excellent link building strategy is to offer an affiliate program that pays the company a percentage of any sales resulting from the link. There are numerous affiliate programs and services on the market to help you do this. However, some of the most respected publications and associations shy away from joining affiliate programs. They fear that collecting money from their recommendation might taint their reputation for unbiased reporting.

However, many of these groups are also looking for ways to add value to their services. Some charge yearly membership dues, and therefore are always trying to find new ways to offer benefits that justify those dues.

One excellent industry example is the non-profit AAA automobile club. Starting out as a way to offer automobile discounts and services to its members, AAA now offers discounts on everything from shoes and eyeglass prescriptions, to discounted theme park tickets. Other industries have their own associations that also offer member discounts from time to time.

You'd be wise to approach these types of organizations and show them the products and services you could offer their members or readers. Propose setting up a Web page to offer their members a special discount of 10-20% off your products or services. Tell them if they'll agree to link to your site, or mention you in their newsletter, you'll provide this discount for free. They can then pass along special savings to their customers and the organization looks like a "hero" for negotiating such a great discount for their members.

If that doesn't peak their interest, try offering them a cut of the profits too. Tell them you'll provide a 10% discount to their customers and a 10% commission to them. That way everyone benefits. If the organization is particularly large or important, offer them some kind of "exclusive" bonus or benefit that they can pass on to their customers. Every company likes to offer something exclusively that no one else can offer.

Improving Link Popularity through Awards

The last two month's I've discussed various ways to increase the number of sites linking to your own Web site:

http://www.webposition.com/mp-0500.htm#ONE
http://www.webposition.com/mp-0600.htm#SIX

As you may recall, increasing the number of links to your Web site not only increases your traffic, but can be a crucial factor to improving your rankings on many search engines. If you've updated the content of your Web site to match the advice in the Page Critic and are still not ranking well, most likely you are being pushed down the list by external factors like your link popularity.

One effective way to increase the number of links to your site is to offer an award, or recognition to other Web sites. You've probably seen sites that proudly list the logos of various Web site, product, or company awards they've received over the years. Most of these logos also include a link back to the site that presented the award.

In many cases, the whole reason the site offered the award was to gain brand name recognition and to increase the number of links back to their own Web site. The cost involved is minimal. Generally you just send an e-mail congratulating them on receiving the award and attaching an award logo and link they can place on their Web site.

The idea of offering an award to gain brand recognition for your own business is not new. Companies have done it for years, long before the Web was born. Unfortunately, some sites have cheapened the concept by offering "Best Web site of the Day" or even "Best of the Hour" awards that have no real criteria for winning.

Take the higher ground and actually review the Web sites you consider for the award. Require it to meet specific goals before giving the award. Outline WHY the recipient's site won the award when you send your e-mail. This will add credibility to your award and reduce the chances of someone mistaking it for spam. Include specific details so the recipient can recognize that you really visited their Web site before presenting the award.

In addition, make sure your award logo looks sharp. Make it important and impressive looking so that the receiver of the award will be proud to display it on their site. We've received a number of awards for www.webposition.com that were so cheesy looking that I'd be embarrassed to display them to our visitors. Make sure your award links to a page on your site that describes who you are and the criteria the recipient had to meet to win. This further reinforces the credibility of the award.

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This article is copyrighted and has been reprinted with permission from FirstPlace Software, the makers of WebPosition Gold. FirstPlace Software helped define the SEO industry with the introduction of the first product to track your rankings on the major search engines and to help you improve those rankings. A free trial of WebPosition Gold is available from their Web site.

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