The purpose of search engines is to highlight the most relevant sources of information for words and phrases searched for in every web search. The content on a page plays a crucial factor in determining the most authoritative information sources, however this is not the only factor to take into consideration.
If the quality, context, structure and volume of text were used to determine search engine result positions (SERPs) then the top 10 results would regularly be made of academics or authors, not brands or broadcasters.
The number of high quality inward links that are contextually relevant to the subject matter is used by search engines to identify popular and respected sources of information.
Each quality inbound link to a page can be seen as a ‘vote’ for that page. It is therefore essential when conducting an SEO strategy to secure enough inward votes to position the page as an authority for information compared to similar pages.
However, all votes are not equal the sheer volume of inbound links or ‘votes’ is not enough to secure a high ranking. It is important to secure inbound links that have a number of attributes:
1. Links from authoritative sites.
2. Links from pages that don’t have many outbound links. The quality of a link is diluted if a page links to 100 other pages so it is important to secure links from pages that do not link to many other pages.
3. Links from contextually relevant pages. Search engines regard links from similar subject matter as a factor, so spending time generating links from irrelevant sources is a waste of resources.
Prior to commencing a link building strategy it is important to do a number of tasks:
1. Study the competition. Look at the pages in competitor sites that rank highly for the terms you wish to rank for. Identify the links that have helped establish that page as an authority in the subject.
2. Build links gradually. Search engines will spot activity that does not look like natural organic progression. Securing 10,000 new inbound links overnight will look suspicious and draws unwanted attention to your SEO strategy.
3. Secure links from a variety of sources. There are many sources of inbound links, so ensure that the link strategy looks natural.
For more information on our SEO services please call on 0161 743 0980 or email Dan.