Posts tagged serp
PageRank Unraveled
Oct 29th
PageRank (PR) is a word often revered by many in the SEO community when launching link building campaigns. When you are a site owner for instance, you would want to obtain high page rankings. As in a competition, the higher the rank, the better you are compared to the rest.
PageRank is an overused term that describes how your site is faring in terms of link popularity and exposure to search engines. Although it is common knowledge now that PageRank is not the only factor the affects a site’s link popularity, as there are quite several of them, site owners and people involved in a link building campaign need to get a glimpse of how PageRank is calculated. The better you understand PageRank, the more effectively you will be able to handle any link building effort.
What is PageRank?
PageRank is a numerical value that is assigned to a site for the purpose of measuring its importance or relevancy. PageRank was developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The concept was inspired by citation analysis conducted on scholarly journals or articles to measure its credibility. The more times a paper gets cited, the more important or credible it is to its peers.
PageRank computes the probability of finding a web page if a person randomly surfs the Internet. Google uses the mathematical formula,
PR(A) = (1-d) + d(PR(t1)/C(t1) + … + PR(tn)/C(tn)), where:
A = Linked Page
tn = Linking Page
C/(tn) = Number of outbound link on v
d = damping factor, normally set to 0.85
Despite its intimidating appearance, the mathematical formula has several implications for obtaining the link popularity of a web site:
- If a web page links to another page, it is essentially casting a vote in favor of that page.
- If several pages link to a web page, it means it has more votes and deserve a higher rank.
How does Google assign PageRank?
Google PageRank is highly dependent on the quantity of backlinks. An experiment conducted by SEOWatch concludes that the more backlinks a website has, the higher the PR will be. This is logical since the PageRank was designed as a type of balloting system among Web users where site owners “vote” by linking to a particular page to show support. This explains why PR is often referred to as a measure of link popularity.
However, because mere reliance on quality of links have made spamming and search engine manipulations a link building tool in order to influence a site’s positioning, Google’s algorithm includes the quality of backlinks associated to a website in its calculation. If the pages linking to your site have high PR and are considered “high authority” sites, then your page shares a piece of their reputation and improves its link popularity.
Google PageRank considers other factors in assigning values to web sites. These include site age, back link duration and back link relevancy. The fact that Google considers back links’ relevancy helps warn site owners: bad sites can harm your overall total PageRank and your link popularity.
Is there only one type of PageRank?
There are variations of PageRank used by Google in order to measure importance or relevancy.
Google Toolbar PageRank. This feature projects a page’s PageRank as a whole number ranging between 0 and 10, 10 being the highest. In order to restrict and disallow search engine manipulations, the accurate procedure on how Google calculates PageRank is not disclosed. However, there is always stress on the quantity and quality of backlinks to produce higher PR and higher link popularity.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) Rank. Link building campaigns are built around this type of ranking. It returns the actual result produced when a search engine responds to a keyword query. A web page’s SERP rank is indicated by a link’s placement on the SERP. If the page can be found on the top positions in a SERP, the higher its SERP rank. It must be noted that while PageRank plays a vital part in SERP, a myriad of factors are included in its computation. Any link building campaign should be geared towards achieving the highest SERP ranking for a website or websites.
In order to deter search engine manipulation, Spamdexing, and spoofing, as a means of building link popularity, Google is mum on how factors influence PageRank specifically.
What are some tips to improve PageRank?
The encouraging thing about being able to understand PageRank is that webmasters, site owners, or a link building company can determine how to adjust some factors in order to optimize PageRank and improve link popularity. A high PR to add to other link building methods will drive you ahead of competitors. There are three basic areas to consider when optimizing PageRank:
- The quality of links you choose to have link to your site. The link you choose and the effort you put in to acquire them are essential in PR optimization. As explained before, quantity and quality of links are important considerations in PR and link building. Choosing link farms and banned sites to link to you would prove disastrous to PR and link popularity.
- The site you choose to link out to from your site. In using outbound links, there is one golden rule: ‘Keep PageRank within your site.’ Linking out will decrease your total PageRank compared when you decide not to link out. However, if you choose to link out as part of your link building campaign, experts advise to choose pages that has both a low PR and a lot of links to your site.
- The internal quality of your site. Your site’s navigational components and linkages must be able to distribute PageRank within the whole site. To accomplish this, Google’s algorithms must consider as much content in your site as worthy of being indexed. Developing quality content creates more PageRank and boosts link popularity.
While PageRank is a valuable tool, achieving link popularity through PR optimization must be combined with quality visitor experience. Gaining higher PageRank will not amount to any significance if users could not find content to enhance their experience when navigating your site.
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Web Directories With Price Tag Value
Oct 29th
Submitting to Internet directories remain a viable link building method that will greatly aid you in improving your site’s link popularity and alter your SERP rankings for the better.
Site owners who are serious about getting top rankings and enhancing their site’s link popularity need to come up with a concrete link building campaign composed of effective and diverse link building techniques. Directory submission contributes to link popularity because it focuses on increasing the number of backlinks that are pivotal in the SERP rankings. If you pursue high quality link building using other methods and increase inflow of backlinks by submitting your URL effectively to Internet directories, the greater your change in breezing ahead of your competitors.
The successful use of directory submission to boost link popularity and rankings depends on the number and quality of directories you submit your website to. The importance of “quality” in directory submissions, as in other link building methods cannot be overemphasized. Algorithms in Google and other major search engines favor sites listed in high quality directories.
Are Free Directories Worth It?
There are thousands of possible directories that you could submit your website to for your link building campaign, but screening out thousands into a group of high quality directories will take time. When time is an issue for you, you can hire a link building company to handle directory submissions for you.
High authority directories are the most popular go-to directories for site owners who are gunning for top spots in the SERP rankings. An important option you need to consider if you intend to submit a URL to an Internet directory for enhanced link popularity is The Open Directory Project at DMOZ.org. The Open Directory Project feeds content to search engines like Google, Lycos, Hotbot, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves and Netscape, among others. Listing your site at DMOZ is helpful to your link building campaign since this allows your information to be found on several smaller search engines and directories on the Web.
Moreover, DMOZ is considered to be among the free higher authority directories that are guaranteed to build link popularity. The downside with DMOZ however, is that its free listing feature subjects sites to very strict quality control procedures before submissions are accepted. Hence, acceptance is not easy and turnaround takes a considerable amount of time. Despite this, site owners must consider submitting to DMOZ and other free quality directories for link building. They must also submit to paid directories listings for site inclusion.
Paid Directories
Why do you need to pay fees to be included in the directory listing? According to Matt Cutts of Google, the purpose of the fee in a high quality directory is to compensate the time and effort of someone (an editor) doing a genuine evaluation of a URL or site. There have been concerns that Google’s rejection policy of URLs with paid links would render listing into paid directories useless in link building efforts, but Cutts has explained it clearly that Google does not penalize directories requiring minimum fees for editorial reviews. What Google blacklists are directories that sell links for link juice, passing PR and purely for profit with no regard for the end user.
If used effectively, directory submissions as a link building method guarantees a high return on investment (ROI). By increasing the number of backlinks to your site, directory submissions help you gain link popularity and a better placement on the SERP rankings. Directory submissions are a long-term advertising technique that can directly send customers at your doorstep. Since it acts like an online phonebook of sites, having your site listed in many quality directories means a greater likelihood for prospective customers to view your site and obtain contact information.
In the group of paid Internet directories, there are major differences in payment options. Some charge a lifetime or one-time fee and others charge an annual or recurring fee. Depending on your ROI goals, you need to evaluate the payment guidelines and review payment options before selecting the directory to submit to. Here are definitions to guide you:
- Paid web directories. These are Internet directories that charge site owners a fee for their site inclusion on the directory. They are also called premium, commercial, or pay-for directory listings. Among the high authority paid directories include Yahoo! Directory, Skaffe, Joeant, Abilogic, eLib, and BOTW Directory.
- Annual fee web directories are directories that charge site owners an annual fee to get listed on the directory. They are also referred to as recurring fee, recurring membership listings, or recurring fees.
- Permanent fee web directories require a one-time charge for directory listings. This means that you pay a lifetime fee for site inclusion.
There is some debate on which payment option is best. Some prefer the permanent fee listings since it is more economical, but others question the quality of services in one-time listings. Recurring or annual fees are usually paid in order to maintain directories. As submissions increase, the larger the directories become, so Internet directories deem it fitting to charge site owners to maintain the directories and pay for editorial costs to ensure effective and sustained indexing for Google rankings.
The choice is entirely left on the discretion of the site owner. A rule of thumb: do not pay too much for submission to paid directories. Submit to free directories and suggest your site only to high quality paid directories that guarantee ROI.
A Simple Guide to Link Exchanges
Oct 29th
Link exchanges count among the most convenient and popular ways of building link popularity and ranking high on the search engines. In launching a link building campaign, the value of link exchanges cannot be discounted.
A link exchange refers to either a) the practice of exchanging or trading links with other website owners or b) the confederation of websites where site owners exchange links. A link exchange operates much like a web ring with all member sites registering under a central organization. In a link exchange, unlike the web ring where only navigational hyperlinks are traded, HTML code containing banner advertisements are swapped and participating sites display this on their web page.
Link exchanges are an easy way of creating link popularity, defined as the quantity and quality of the inbound links pointing to your site. By swapping links with other site owners, you increase the potential targeted readership of your site, thereby giving it more exposure. Since getting noticed by the search engines require the quantity and relevancy of incoming links leading to your site, a link building campaign must incorporate link exchange as one of the methods used for gaining link popularity. However, like all off-page optimization strategies, there are pros and cons, and points to consider when leveraging the power of link exchange to boost your link popularity and search engine rankings.
What can be expected from link exchanges?
A big advantage from link exchanges is highly targeted readership, a pivotal factor in building link popularity. By focusing on exchanges with relevant links or doing thematic exchanges with other sites, you can attract a large, quality and highly targeted traffic your way, increasing exposure for your web site. If you can get an authority website that enjoys huge traffic to link to your site, some of that traffic will undoubtedly come your way.
Link exchange remains an important part of the link building process because it still is a leading factor in improving search engine placements. It is the easiest way to increase your site’s link popularity, which leads to higher traffic, and ultimately, a better position in the rankings.
What are the types of link exchanges?
There are several forms of exchanging links: one-way, reciprocal, and three-way.
- One-way link exchange. This is the most favorable type of link exchange that enhances link popularity because major search engines place great importance on inbound links when evaluating page rankings. When performing this type of link, the output link becomes: Mysite1 -> Mysite2
- Reciprocal link exchange. This is a mutual link performed by two websites aimed at generating mutual traffic. Reciprocal links create permanent back links for partner sites. SEO experts typically frown at reciprocal links in general but recommend doing so-called relevant linking, which is a derivative of reciprocal linking that links only to relevant and quality sites. The Output Reciprocal link here is: Mysite1 <-> Mysite2
- Three Way link exchange. This is a variation of reciprocal linking that is advantageous to all parties and attempts to replicate organic link building for the search engine rankings. The Output Three way link becomes: Mysite1-> Mysite2 -> Mysite3 -> Mysite1
Pointers for performing link exchanges:
If done properly, link exchanges can deliver excellent results for your link building campaign. Here are a few pointers:
- When exchanging links, always consider the Google mantra: “quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating.” Delimit your exchanges to links that are relevant and high quality.
- Stay away from link farms and link trading hubs or networks because the possibility of exchanging links with off-topic link partners will prove disastrous to your link popularity and your rankings.
- Search for relevant websites on search engines. Use Yahoo or Google and search your targeted keyword/s. Target the sites on the upper part of the search results. Visit these pages and ask the owner to link to your site, but do not assume that everyone will say yes. If you succeed, you get inbound links from pages that rank well in the eyes of the search engines, a very advantageous thing for your link popularity. If simply asking for a link does not work, you can offer incentives such as commissions or free advertising.
Link exchange is the most popular method to acquire link popularity, but for large web-based promotional campaigns, exchanging links can be very tedious. Fortunately, you always have the option of hiring a link building company to handle your link exchanges or your link building campaign for that matter.