The big "plus" of one-way links is that you don't have to worry about linking back to a "bad neighborhood". If your
site has links pointing back to sites that serve as "link farms" or "free-for-all" sites, you may not gain, and could
actually lose page rank. These sites are rarely focused, and tend to have links to and from all different sorts of
sites. Since there is no particular topical emphasis here, it is clear to Google and the other search engines that
the sole purpose of these sites is to artificially increase the number of links pointing to your site. Since there
is no value added for the search engine's users, they in turn give no value to these links.
Another advantage to these focused, one-way links is that they will tend to stay in place. A website that features a
link to your site probably does so because that site's owner thinks that their visitors will benefit from the content
your site has to offer. Rather than simply trying to manipulate search results, they want to add to the experience
of their visitors; you benefit from having a long term link in place. Sites featuring reciprocal links may simply
drop your link when it no longer suits their linking strategy.
How Do I Obtain Natural Links?
Building good content helps interest your visitors and keeps them on your website. By becoming an authority on your
topic, you will attract more visitors. When another website in essence "votes" for the quality of your website by
placing a link pointing back to it, you are obtaining natural linking. The more you can build upon helpful articles,
FAQs and white papers, etc., the better reason for visitors to link back to your website because of the quality
content.
One-Way Linking Sources
There are a number of ways to get links from other sites back to yours. The most important principle to keep in mind
is that you will get the most links when you offer something significant to link to. Think of what you can provide
that people will want to link to:
- Natural links given from topic-related websites that like your website
- Providing free content, such as access to articles, e-books, FAQ's and white papers
- Directory links, listed under the category related to your topic
- Business directory links, listed under the category related to your topic
- Blogs, submitted to a blog directory and archived online
- Business associations, listed under the category related to your topic
- Newsletter text ads promoting your business, archived online at topic-related websites
- Original articles, submitted to and archived online at topic-related websites
- Original press releases, submitted to and archived online at topic-related websites
- Original newsletters, submitted to and archived online at topic-related websites
- White papers, submitted to and archived online at topic-related websites
- E-books, submitted to and archived online at topic-related websites
- Free software tools provided with required link back to website
For each of these types of content, you will want to have an active link pointing back to your site. Of course,
when creating your own original content, always archive your own work on your website to build your content and
increase your own link popularity by growing the number of pages on your website.
The extra value of one-way links is the fact that you are also promoting your website from the listing as well as
the active link. Articles, newsletters, white papers, directory and business association links may bring in traffic
from visitors who are interested in the description of your website listing.
How Do I Know The Links Are Valid?
To gain the most benefit from your links, the link back to your web page should be one that can be followed by the
search engine robots. Plain old text links and image links usually can be followed by the search engine robots.
More exotic types of links, like JavaScript links, cannot typically be followed by the search engine robots. When
you provide suggested linking code, the simpler the better. Don't be afraid to suggest linking formats to owners of
sites that link to you. The types of links that serve your purposes best will generally provide their visitors with
the best experience as well.
Check to see if the page where the link will be located can be found in the search engine results. You can search
via the entire website or by individual page. Different search engines use different syntax in looking for individual
pages and links; refer to the advanced search function for each search engine for details.
Google Search Example:
Shows indexing of all pages listed in website
site:www.websitedomainname.com
Shows indexing of a specific web page in website
info:www.websitedomainname.com/pagename.html
If the page is listed in the search engine results, this means the page has been indexed by the search engine
robots. This means the web page is valid for indexing and that your link will be picked up as well.
Research And Quality Content Equal Success
One-way link building means hard work and long term determination to achieve good link popularity. By improving
the quality of your website, you improve the chance to obtain good quality natural links. Spend a set amount of
time each week to seek out quality one-way links to achieve your goal. By using this long-term game plan you will be
able to safely build links for optimum link popularity success.
About The Author
Daria Goetsch is the founder and Search Engine Marketing Consultant for
Search Innovation Marketing, a Search Engine Promotion company serving small businesses. She has specialized in
search engine optimization since 1998, including three years as the Search Engine Specialist for O'Reilly &
Associates, a technical book publishing company.
