Difference between revisions of "Learn/Keep-Track-of-Inbound-Links"

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Why should you keep tabs on the number of links your site is generating?  
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You probably know that getting [[Learn/Get-Good-Backlinks|inbound links]] to your website from good, reputable sites can [[Website-Visibility-Report|help your site appear higher in search results]], and get you more visitors. You may also have heard it's important to keep tabs on the number of links to your site - but why?
  
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Reputation management. View any new links that Google finds. If it’s on a blog or a news site where you can comment, drop a quick “thanks for the link!” Also, address any questions posed by linkers, and they may be more willing to link to you again.  You’d be amazed how far a little courtesy travels in cyberspace.
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Reputation management. You want to know who's linking to you, and what they're saying about you. You also want to know whether the number of links to your site is increasing or declining over time. Below, you'll find instructions for checking inbound links to your site in Google Webmaster Tools.
  
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Also realize that a bad link isn’t necessarily a “bad” link. If someone links to your site as they bad-mouth it, search engines do not “dock” your website because the discussion isn’t all positive.  In some cases, any publicity is good publicity.
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===What Should I Do with Links When I Find Them?===
  
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However, you do want to make sure your site isn’t linked from a porn site or other bad actor on the Web. We’re all known by the company we keep, and the Web is no exception. You don’t want to be part of a bad neighborhood – it could ruin your website’s rankings and reputation.  
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If you find a new link to your site from a blog or news site where you can comment, drop a quick “Thanks for the link!” Read the blog post or news article - and the comments - for any questions posed by the author or commenters. Addressing those questions in an open, honest and friendly way enhances your reputation and could make bloggers and article authors more willing to link to you again. You’d be amazed how far a little courtesy travels in cyberspace.
  
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[NOTE: What should someone do if they’re linked from a bad-actor site? Should we leave in the paragraph I added above? Let’s discuss.] I like the paragraph you added. It’s definitely true.
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You may regard some links as “bad” - but don't disregard these links. If someone links to your site as they bad-mouth it, search engines will not downgrade your site just because the discussion isn’t entirely positive. In some cases, any publicity is good publicity. Just remember that you can contribute to the discussion, too, by [[Learn/Reputation-Management:-Neutralize-the-Bad-with-the-Good|adding constructive remarks, answering questions, and offering to put right]] any bad experiences someone has had with your site or your business. Again, you could be surprised by how much you gain from acting in good faith and being courteous.
  
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Monitor your links – they should be increasing over time. Any website owner who wants to increase traffic should be creating new, compelling content on a regular basis. If you’re doing a good job of alerting people to your new content, and the right audiences are finding it, you should see an increase in inbound links over time.  
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All that said, you do want to make sure your site isn’t linked from a porn site or other bad actor on the Web. We’re all known by the company we keep, and the Web is no exception. You don’t want to be part of a bad neighborhood – it could ruin your website’s rankings and reputation. If you see a link from a site you don't want to be associated with, write to the site owner or webmaster and '''''politely''''' ask them to remove the link to your site. Don't tell them you think their site is bad for you - just make the request without making any negative remarks about their site.
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Monitor your links – they should be increasing over time. Any website owner who wants to increase traffic should be creating [[Learn/Good-Content-Vs.-Spam|new, compelling content]] on a regular basis. If you’re doing a good job of alerting people to your new content, and the right audiences are finding it, you should see an increase in inbound links over time.  
  
 
If the number of inbound links to your site is decreasing, you should take a step back and re-evaluate your website strategy. Key questions you should consider are:
 
If the number of inbound links to your site is decreasing, you should take a step back and re-evaluate your website strategy. Key questions you should consider are:
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1) Am I creating new and interesting content?
 
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2) Am I letting the appropriate audience know of this new content? Key avenues include social media, press releases, industry resource sites, etc.
 
  
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Keeping tabs on what your inbound link number is and[Note: don’t understand this bit: the diversity of how links are pointed to your site] will ensure this part of your SEO strategy is not the “weakest link.”
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1) Am I creating new and interesting content?
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2) Am I letting the appropriate audience know of this new content in the appropriate venues?
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* Social media sites such as [[Learn/Getting_Started_With_Facebook_For_Your_Business|Facebook]] and [[Learn/Use-Twitter-To-Engage-Your-Customers|Twitter]]
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* [[Learn/Build-Links-and-Visibility-with-Press-Releases|Press releases]]
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* Online industry publications
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* Notifying [[Learn/How-To-Work-with-Bloggers|influential bloggers in your industry]] when you have content that could interest them
  
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===Are Your Inbound Links Coming from Diverse Sources?===
 
Diversity bit: with inbound links, Google likes seeing links coming from multiple sources; not a whole bunch of links coming from a handful of sources. That’s why I added the “diversity” part. Really, it’s a concept that isn’t even touched on in the article and I can totally understand why it may be confusing
 
Diversity bit: with inbound links, Google likes seeing links coming from multiple sources; not a whole bunch of links coming from a handful of sources. That’s why I added the “diversity” part. Really, it’s a concept that isn’t even touched on in the article and I can totally understand why it may be confusing
  

Revision as of 17:59, 16 February 2011

By [[User:|]] on

You probably know that getting inbound links to your website from good, reputable sites can help your site appear higher in search results, and get you more visitors. You may also have heard it's important to keep tabs on the number of links to your site - but why?

Reputation management. You want to know who's linking to you, and what they're saying about you. You also want to know whether the number of links to your site is increasing or declining over time. Below, you'll find instructions for checking inbound links to your site in Google Webmaster Tools.

What Should I Do with Links When I Find Them?

If you find a new link to your site from a blog or news site where you can comment, drop a quick “Thanks for the link!” Read the blog post or news article - and the comments - for any questions posed by the author or commenters. Addressing those questions in an open, honest and friendly way enhances your reputation and could make bloggers and article authors more willing to link to you again. You’d be amazed how far a little courtesy travels in cyberspace.

You may regard some links as “bad” - but don't disregard these links. If someone links to your site as they bad-mouth it, search engines will not downgrade your site just because the discussion isn’t entirely positive. In some cases, any publicity is good publicity. Just remember that you can contribute to the discussion, too, by adding constructive remarks, answering questions, and offering to put right any bad experiences someone has had with your site or your business. Again, you could be surprised by how much you gain from acting in good faith and being courteous.

All that said, you do want to make sure your site isn’t linked from a porn site or other bad actor on the Web. We’re all known by the company we keep, and the Web is no exception. You don’t want to be part of a bad neighborhood – it could ruin your website’s rankings and reputation. If you see a link from a site you don't want to be associated with, write to the site owner or webmaster and politely ask them to remove the link to your site. Don't tell them you think their site is bad for you - just make the request without making any negative remarks about their site.

Monitor your links – they should be increasing over time. Any website owner who wants to increase traffic should be creating new, compelling content on a regular basis. If you’re doing a good job of alerting people to your new content, and the right audiences are finding it, you should see an increase in inbound links over time.

If the number of inbound links to your site is decreasing, you should take a step back and re-evaluate your website strategy. Key questions you should consider are:

1) Am I creating new and interesting content? 2) Am I letting the appropriate audience know of this new content in the appropriate venues?

Are Your Inbound Links Coming from Diverse Sources?

Diversity bit: with inbound links, Google likes seeing links coming from multiple sources; not a whole bunch of links coming from a handful of sources. That’s why I added the “diversity” part. Really, it’s a concept that isn’t even touched on in the article and I can totally understand why it may be confusing

Links to your website from other sites – referred to as inbound links – can help your site rank better in search results. [link to Learn/Getting Good Links] So creating website content that’s good enough to earn links should be an important part of your SEO strategy.

You’ll also need to keep tabs on the number of links per page of your website. Google Webmaster Tools (LINK HERE: http://www.google.com/webmasters/) offers a good tool for this, and I’ll explain step by step how to use it.

Checking Your Inbound Links at Google Webmaster Tools

1) Log in to your account at http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home. Haven’t created one yet? Go to [link]. 2) Click on your website URL 3) At the bottom left side of the main dashboard, you’ll see an area that says “Links to your site.” Click on “More >>” Behold, your inbound link headquarters! This page contains these sections: • Who links the most – This means which sites link most often to your site • Your most linked content – This tells you which pages on your site have the most links from other sites • How your data is linked – This shows you which actual words are used in the links to your pages. The linking words are called anchor text. All three sections on this page are important.

Who Links the Most

This page shows you the domains [link to Glossary/Domain-name] that link to your website. You can even drill down further to discover which specific pages contain a link to your site – just click the plus sign beside the domain that interests you.

Your Most Linked Content

This page shows you which pages on your website have the most links from other sites. Again, click the plus sign beside any page to see more details.


How Your Data Are Linked

This page shows you the most popular anchor text for links to your website. Unfortunately, you can’t do much with this information. It would be great to see Google expand this reporting to include which website is using each piece of anchor text. This way, if you feel as though you would like to have some keywords you’ve used in your SEO strategy as anchor text for your links, you can contact each website to see if they could change the anchor text. Until Google does this, however, you can sit back and enjoy viewing the creative (and not-so-creative) ways websites link to you.


[write a nice conclusion]





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