Search Engine Optimisation
Website Marketing and Promotion

Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing

All About Backlinks

Lawrence Page, the founder of Google, found that Search Engines that took into account the relationships between Websites produced better ranking of results. And Google was born.

Incoming links are referred to as Backlinks. The reason to have quality Backlinks is to increase traffic to your website. A quality incoming link will contain Keyword phrases in the anchor text (the text between the <a> and the </a> tags) of the hyperlink. Web Pages with the most quality Backlinks will have high rankings for the Keyword Phrases.

Nowadays, the Backlinks to a Website are just one of many criteria in determining rankings.

Some Tips on Backlinks

• Paid links are of little or no value.
• Do not have phrases like "click here" in the anchor text of the hyperlink – use relevant Keywords.
• Getting quality Backlinks involves creating content that people are interested in.
• Submit quality articles that include links back to your website.
• It is important to target only quality Websites – that is Websites that are trusted and related in content.
• Do not get many links all at the same time – add the links gradually. You may be penalised for a spike in the number of links.

What are your competitors doing?

It is instructive to see how your competition achieve high rankings. A search on a Keyword phrase will allow you to list your competitors. Ignoring the paid entries, select a few of your competitors and analyse their page content.

Then use the free tool from SEOmoz called Open Site Explorer. This will allow you to see the number of Backlinks of any Website and the quality of each Backlink.

Backlink Abuse

The creation of Backlinks can be abused with the use of

• Hidden links
• Automatically generated pages
• Reciprocal linking
• Too many links between your own Websites
• Link farms

These techniques will soon have a Website penalised.

Popular Listings

Here is a list of Websites that will accept suitable articles:

• Google Knol: Knol allows you to create and publish web content.
• Wikipedia: A free collaborative encyclopaedia
• Yahoo Answers: To find and share information
• eBay: All about buying and selling
• Craigslist: Free community postings

Hubpages and Squidoo

The Hubpages and Squidoo Websites provide users with a webpage that can contain any topic. The sites rank high with the Search Engines.

Article Marketing

Article marketing is an effective method of creating links. As well as building links, you will be also selling yourself and your product.

• EzineArticles: Allows expert authors to get exposure in exchange for the submission of quality articles.
• GoArticles: This is a free content search engine and article directory.
• Isnare: This is one of the largest and free article directories.
• Ideamarketers A free content directory and online article site
• Buzzle: This is research-based web portal, with news and articles.
• SubmitYourArticle: Article submission service.
• Site Reference: Free article submission service.

Social sites

Create a Profile for your Website.

• MySpace: Find friends and classmates, meet new people.
• FaceBook: This is a social utility that connects people.
• YouTube: Share your videos with friends, family, and the world.
• Twitter: Social networking and micro blogging service.
• Digg: This is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web.
• Linkedin: Strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts
• Yahoo! Buzz: The Web's most remarkable stories (top news, videos, photos, and blogs), determined by users.

Social network sharing buttons

Add the free AddThis bookmark to your site. It lets visitors bookmark your site in any of the major social media sites.

Google Alerts and Links

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest results based on your choice of Keyword phrase. Add the phrase that you have selected, and Google will send you email whenever a new Web page containing the keyword is created. Go to that page and if it is a blog, add comments with a link to your Website.