The first commercial search engines that we are familiar with today started to appear in the mid 90's - Yahoo Directory in '94, LookSmart in '95, Ask Jeeves in '97 and Alta Vista in 1995. Google was launched in 1998.
The more profile a site had the more people visited - clicks tuned into cash as the internet became money orientated through advertising revenues, e-commerce and other commercial opportunities. As website owners began to recognize the value of having their sites highly ranked, so they sought to engineer ways by which their sites would appear at the top of search returns. In so doing they created what has since become the multi million-dollar Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) industry.
Over the last decade SEO techniques used to ensure top positions in search results have changed repeatedly, as have the search engines and the ways in which they determine which website is relevant to any given query. It's a game of cat and mouse, with the search companies working hard to keep ahead of ever-resourceful webmasters and SEO marketeers. Whereas many websites simply live for traffic, playing a 'throw enough mud at the wall and hope some of it will stick' numbers game, search engines live for relevance - providing the most useful return to the user's search.
In the first decade of the Internet, search engine optimisation comprised mostly of using descriptive file names, page titles, and meta descriptions, the search engines believing these indicators would return high value results. As search algorithms advanced in an effort to maintain integrity, page factors such as Keyword Densities became more important. Subsequently Page Ranking based upon the number and strength of inbound traffic evolved in importance. As each of these search criterion became used and abused so the algorithms evolved. It's a running battle and in their ongoing efforts to stay one step ahead of unscrupulous web masters, the search engines now use sophisticated and extremely complicated algorithms that incorporate in excess of 200 factors to determine site ranking.
It is a commonly shared belief these days amongst SEO professionals that honest and strategic linking could very well be the single most important influence on search engine optimisation. It could be even more important than keyword density and position, with all of the major search engines using Link Analysis as an important part of their ranking algorithms. The main reason for the importance of linking is that it is extremely difficult for webmasters to "fake" good links in the same way that they might try to spam search engines by manipulating the words on their web pages. Consequently, link analysis gives search engines an effective tool in determining which pages are appropriate for particular topics and search terms, determining which sites and pages are relevant. Sources include affiliate, online directories, press releases, blogs and social media.
Quantity AND Quality
All links are not created equal. In addition (and in fact preferable) to a large volume of links you will also need some quality - you'll need some link juice. 'Link Juice' refers to the quality of links that a website has to it and plays a vital role in getting better ranking for the website. There are different concepts at work including page ranks, link votes, backlinks, inbound links and outbound links. If you manage to get sufficient 'Link Juice' then you will earn authority; the weighted respect of different search engines whose algorithms acknowledge that other good quality authoritative websites link to your websites. Without doubt this has a positive effect on your website and its ranking.
At SEO Consult, we are experts in developing powerful link strategies. Strategies that serve the dual function of not only significantly increasing traffic in its own right, but also improving search engine rankings.
Although it takes time and expertise to successfully develop effective SEO Linking strategies, there are numerous and long terms advantages to be had. Effective linking might also be regarded as a way to stabilise your online presence, acting as an insurance against losing ranking should Google adjust its search criteria.
Whilst many site owners and SEO companies focus on getting links to just the home page, we aim to attract traffic to targeted content on as many other pages of your web site as is appropriate through the cultivation of deep links. Not only will this lead to the spiders accessing larger areas of the site, but if Google sees 5000 links to your homepage and just a few links to other pages they'll query the authenticity of your link campaign and you may be penalised. It is important to clearly show the search engines that your site uses real, natural linking.
The tactical deployment of deep linking is inextricably related to the SEO Consult mantra of 'content, content, content.' Google is looking for good content because it adds editorial value to their own content and offers the opportunity of delivering relevant search returns. We insist that a critical component of any SEO strategy is Quality Content across the site - the perfect environment in which to nurture deep linking as part of a link strategy to drive traffic, authority and high search engine positioning.
Stuffing the home page with all the main keywords dilutes its effectiveness. It's better to create pages of content including only a handful of keywords or keyword phrases. Content should be generated around particular keywords to increase the chances of that page ranking well for that keyword. Authority is earned throughout the site.
A site that contains deep links to other pages gains high rankings because it has more depth than web sites that just have links pointing to the home page.
Web users want to find the most relevant information as quickly as possible. They don't want to spend time searching all over the Net. By providing the most targeted information possible through deep linking, you will attract and retain those visitors thus generating more SEO Traffic to your site.
Contact SEO Consult today to find out how we can expertly develop a successful traffic link strategy for you.
