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Introduction to the "Popularity" Element

For a search engine to find out which pages on the Internet are the most relevant to search users it is simply not enough to look at the content on each web page. Most search engines today analyze both link structures and click-streams on the Internet to determine the best websites and web pages for any given query.

Getting people to link to your website is not something you do overnight. It takes time. By implementing a strategy to improve your link-popularity, you can gain a long-term advantage, but it's not a quick solution to better rankings. It is like building a good reputation, a trusted brand - it takes time. But once you have that "trust," the value is high.

Getting the right and relevant websites to link to you will not only be good for your link-popularity, as measured by search engines, it will also most likely lead to many good visitors coming directly from the referring websites.

Tip:
The following list can serve as an inspiration for where to look for relevant links:

• All the major and local directories, such as Yahoo, ODP or LookSmart
• All trade, business, or industry related directories
• Suppliers, happy customers, relevant sister companies, and partners
• Great combinations (if you sell knives and he sells forks, then link to each other)
• Related but not competing sites
• Competitors (some companies link to all major competitors)

You can learn more about link popularity by reading the following articles:

• Introduction to Link Popularity
• Introduction to Internal Link Popularity
• Introduction to Click Popularity

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