NATURAL TEXT LINKS - LINK BUYING STRATEGIES

There are several factors to consider when developing a text link strategy. A few concepts to consider…

• Reciprocal links vs. One-way links
• Link relevancy
• Deep links
• Unique IP addresses
• Variety of back links with regard to PageRank
• Number of outbound links
• Location as a cost factor

Reciprocal links

Many sites use reciprocal links, also known as link sharing. Regarding this strategy, websites agree to display each other’s links (commonly attained through link exchanges) in an attempt to increase the number of back links that register with search engines. While seemingly an effective way to increase a site’s rank, there are a few drawbacks to this strategy. Generally, attaining links through link exchanges can prove time consuming. Also, Google discounts reciprocal links as an unnatural attempt to boost a site’s rank. Search engines value one-way links over reciprocal links and also penalize sites that have an excessive number of outbound links (links to external sites). Google considers all these factors when determining search rank.
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One-way links

In contrast to reciprocal links, one-way links are considered more natural. Again, this touches upon Google’s view of link development being a natural process the more closely it adheres to democratic principles. For example, websites voted upon by other websites (via non-coerced one-way links) are considered to have more natural links compared to websites that take part solely in link exchanges.
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Link relevancy

When Google first developed PageRank, it was thought links from sites with similar content (relevant links) were more highly valued than links from sites whose audience was interested in a different subject. That is, relevant back links were seen as having a greater chance at reaching the target market. Interestingly, current analysis indicates the search engines do not place increased importance on relevant links.

However, there are a few reasons why relevant links are important, regardless of the search engines’ methodologies. As mentioned previously, relevant links provide greater access to the target market. Also, it is likely the search engines will begin to incorporate link relevancy into their search algorithms when determining search rank.

Some sites have taken advantage of this perceived flaw by farming links out to numerous unrelated sites. Search engine penalize these “link farms” as sites that unnaturally inflate page rank. In fact, sites that buy links from link farms are often penalized as well. This underscores the importance of purchasing links from quality sites.
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Deep Links

It would seem an effective strategy to purchase thousands of one-way links, from relevant sites, using the same anchor text. However, these are not considered naturally occurring links. Varied anchor text registers as more natural than back links that use the same keywords. Natural link patterns include the use of phrases such as “click here” or “product name”. Many successful companies use variations of keywords on sub pages throughout their website. The result of this is that other sites inherently use varied anchor text to link to these sub pages. These type of links, also known as deep links, register as being more natural, as well as targeting other competitive keywords.
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Site-wide links

Google also considers the quantity of back links from the same domain when determining whether links are natural. When sites develop naturally, they tend to have a high percentage of single page links from different sites. It might seem an effective technique to have thousands of links from a few sites in order to increase the quantity of and ease of access to back links, but Google considers such a tactic to be unnatural and one that unfairly subverts the PageRank methodology. Furthermore, Google uses an algorithm called Hilltop that looks for relationships between sites and can determine if links have common IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. The address provides a unique identification to a computer connected to the Internet.

As mentioned previously, Yahoo and MSN place importance upon the quantity of links as opposed to the quality and therefore do not currently penalize sites that have an excessive number of site-wide links.

Another important concept to consider is authority pages, which are sites that have back links from many unique, relevant sites and are considered high quality as a result. Back links from authority pages help to increase PageRank.
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Variety counts

Similar to purchasing links from different websites, it is considered more natural to have back links from sites with varied PageRank. As sites develop naturally, they tend to have back links from sites that encompass the PageRank spectrum. Google considers sites with only high profile back links to be suspicious and the site’s PageRank suffers accordingly.
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Outbound and inbound… where are the links pointing?

It is recommended that a page have no more than fifteen to twenty outbound links. Additional links dilute the benefit derived from that site and also increases a site’s risk profile. Fewer outbound links equate to increased value per link.

Again, inbound links are another term for back links. Simply put, links can be broken down into two main categories – outbound and inbound. Outbound links point to external web pages, while inbound links are those pointing at the website in question.
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