Last time we talked search engine optimization (SEO), we talked about how keywords relate to SEO. Today let’s take a look at links (the HTML anchor <a> tag) and how they factor into ranking on Google and other search engines.
Links matter for a couple different reasons. The first is the general assumption that the more different sites which are linking to your work, the more useful it must be. As a content creator, there’s no single way to get your work noticed and linked, but it’s good to keep in mind that the more links you get, the more likely that Google, Bing, and other search engines are to rank your site higher in results.
The other thing to know about links is that the text used for the link (between the <a> tags) matters. In general, it is preferable to have the link text be the keywords or phrase that is on-topic for your website. For example, if you’re a wedding photographer in Boston, your potential clients are likely to search for “boston wedding photographer” and having inbound links using that phrase would be excellent for your search ranking.
This matters in a couple scenarios. When creating links internal to your own website, use descriptive words for your links (for example, at the beginning of this post I linked up “keywords relate to SEO”). Don’t just link to “gallery”, but link to your “Denver wedding photography gallery” or such. Outside of your own site, when you’re leaving a message on a forum or a comment on a blog and you’re linking to something on your site, use appropriate keywords in that case as well. Don’t link to “tips”, but link to your “best Flickr tips” – see the difference there?
Don’t be spammy. Don’t use keywords or links that don’t naturally fit into the flow of the message you’re posting. Nobody wants to see someone show up only to promote their own work. If it makes sense in the context of the message to leave a keyword-loaded link, go right ahead, but if it doesn’t read like a natural sentence, you’re probably crossing the line.
Have any other great tips for SEO and links? Leave a comment below…
Photo by *clairity*, used under Creative Commons licensing
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