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Emulating Natural Growth in Link Building -
by Chris Boggs
Although many experts evangelize that content is the key
to getting pages ranked highly within search engine results, there is
little argument that inbound links also play a crucial role. In fact,
some would say that if "Content is King," then "Linking is Queen."
Research has shown Web pages that gain relevant and authoritative links
tend to perform better over time in the rankings than sites with similar
content and few inbound links. |
The idea of "natural growth of inbound links," also known as "organic link
gaining," reflects the true pattern experienced by fortunate Web pages as they
gain links over time. Natural inbound link growth can vary greatly by industry
or topic, and trying to establish a link building methodology that emulates this
type of increased interest in a Web page - on an accelerated timeline - is
something that is not simple to accomplish. Is it possible that there is a
silver bullet that can be used to circumvent the usual waiting process?
Link Building Basics
There are two very important considerations to keep in mind when trying to build
effective links. First, the most effective links come from pages that are
relevant to the pages to which they are linked. If you own a site that sells
gardening tools and you get links from a page that discusses current Tibetan
politics, the search engines will discover the worthless link and downgrade your
site in the rankings. Second, linking is a process that is page-centric, not
site-centric. Many linking experts would argue that building 10,000 links to a
combined 1,000 pages on a website is more effective than building 100,000 links
all to the home page.
Link building is a vital component of achieving search engine listings,
especially within the top pages. Google, in its detailed Webmaster Guidelines
states, "In general, Webmasters can improve the rank of their sites by
increasing the number of high-quality sites that link to their pages." Beyond
the creation of search engine friendly website navigation and content, building
links is the part of the SEO process that should be considered an ongoing
project - literally, for the life of a website.
One last basic to remember is that many valuable links to Web pages are actually
from other Web pages within the same site. As discussed, search engines look for
links between related pages. Building effective internal linkage allows the
creation of "instant links" that not only contain important targeted keywords
but also increase ease of human navigation. Naturally, this should be done in
moderation - 100 internal links to the same page of a 50-page site may look
suspicious.
What is Natural Link Growth for your Industry or Topic?
If you are presenting a topic about "Newton's Laws," it may take
months or years to build links as people discover the article from other
research and end up linking to it - unless of course you have somehow properly
refuted one of the Laws or added some groundbreaking new research.
In sharp contrast, when Hurricane Katrina struck the American south in August of
2005, there were very few if any websites or content about the topic. A search
in Google for "Hurricane Katrina" (with quotes) in November of 2006 yielded an
astounding 3.3 million results. When websites began presenting content related
to Katrina, aid organizations, blogs, news outlets and many other Web pages
began linking to those pages. This is an example of a situation where natural
link growth actually occurred in the span of days and weeks, as opposed to the
months that it would normally take.
Watching a page gain links naturally can be similar to watching grass grow,
unless you try to spur things along by embarking on a link building campaign. It
takes a special breed to have the patience needed to build links in a seemingly
natural pattern while at the same time ensuring they will help drive traffic and
rankings. The key is conducting research on the competition's links.
One could theorize that if the top sites for an industry have been around an
average of three years, and they have an average of between 10,000-15,000
inbound links to the entire sites, it is fair to estimate that the natural
growth rate for links in that industry is between 3,000-5,000 links per year.
Theoretically, the longer a site or group of sites is in existence, the more
accurate the estimated normal growth will be.
However, the main problem with this theory is that it is very difficult to
identify which links are really making the difference for those sites. Some
links may be completely useless, and it is possible the site may have been able
to rank just as high thanks to its content as well as only a portion of the
total links. One way to check is to look for the site that sticks out like a
sore thumb - with considerably less inbound links than the others. Chances are
this site has some very important links coming from what are known as "authority
sites." Or, they can even be listed highly because they link out to many
important related sites, classifying them as a "hub."
Hubs, Authorities and Possible Link Penalties
There are some excellent research papers on the subjects of hubs and authorities
when related to Web linking patterns. The most often cited is by John Kleinberg.
Essentially, the Internet is one large network comprised of many pages that link
to and from each other - hence the term "the Web." The pages with many links
from a variety of trusted pages can achieve the status of being an authority.
Thus, as you search at Google, for example, Kleinberg's paper should come close
to the top, since so many people have linked to it. A "hub," on the other hand,
has many outbound links to trusted sites. In some cases, hubs can actually be
comprised of entire websites instead of just pages.
Conversely, search engines are also known to devalue certain links to Web pages.
For instance, a "site wide" or "run of site" link to a Web page that appears on
every page of another site may be only counted as one link. So, getting 1,000
links from a 1,000 page website may not be the best way to try to jump the line
when trying to speed up the natural process. Other methods of rapidly gaining
links are sometimes easy for search engines to discern as well, especially if
the links are in a known network of sites that exchange links. It is especially
easy for search engines to identify these links when a link for a mortgage loan
appears on a website that promotes cosmetic surgery.
Going for the Buzz
Site content can be leveraged as part of link building to create buzz,
effectively increasing the viral marketing chances as well as driving
unsolicited links to the site. Internet publishers such as bloggers, news
writers and forum participants frequently link to desirable content. The term
"link baiting" refers to the practice of building content within a website that
will attract the links. Although some experts dislike the term, they agree that
the ideology is sound. However, "build it and they will come" only works after a
few people have seen the content and start virally promoting it through emails
or links. The idea and possible benefits of leveraging Web 2.0 and social media
websites would take another entire article to explain but can be very beneficial
if done correctly.
What Others Say
In a recent interview, Debra Mastaler of AllianceLink.com was very brief
stating, "Webmasters understand links carry value, they just fail to realize
that ultimately links support content rather than define it." Her wisdom is
evident as usual - you have to put the horse before the cart. Link building is
like any other marketing channel. As Patrick Moorhead of Avenue A | Razorfish
explains, "Channels should not drive decisions and execution. Rather, insights
into products and consumers will lead to unique messaging, which will naturally
indicate the correct channels to effectively deliver that messaging." This
defines how link building should support content, not the other way around.
Mike Grehan, author of Search Engine Marketing (search-enginebook.co.uk),
provided his usual matter-of-fact opinion: "Emulating natural growth in link
building is being led by the nose, as far as I'm concerned. When I worked with a
friend who opened a restaurant in London, we could have spent months trying to
emulate 'quality' linkage data using technology. But my mission was to get the
three most important online food critics in London to visit the restaurant.
Whether they reported online that the restaurant was good or bad - I knew we'd
still get the links! And we did, so it worked. Emulate or create? I'd rather
lead than follow."
Finally, the opinion which most mirrors my own on the subject, from linking guru
Eric Ward (Ericward.com) says that "If we are going to be truly candid about
natural link building then, frankly, natural linking can't be emulated. Emulated
natural link building is an oxymoron. The moment you attempt to pursue a link is
the moment it's no longer 100 percent natural. That said, your approach to link
building can be 100 percent natural in terms of target site identification, and
the resulting links obtained will, by extension, be counted as natural links by
the search engines. When I'm link building, I seek out links only from sites
that, content-wise, offer a logical, natural reason to link to my client"s
content in the first place, engines or not. This approach worked for me in 1994,
and it works for me today. Give yourself the 'Linking Acid Test.' If you knew
Google did not give you any credit for it, would you still want the link? If you
answer yes, you are on the right track. If you answer no, then watch your step."
Chris Boggs is a Search Strategist with Avenue A | Razorfish, creating and
managing search engine optimization and paid search advertising campaigns.
Read full article at websitemagazine.com