How To Increase Your Search Engine Ranking Using Backlinks
The various search engines have different procedures in order to establish which website appears higher in the SERPS (search engine ranking pages). Search engines such as Yahoo and Bing still rely mainly on on-page factors such as correct html, meta data and copywriting, however, Google - the search engine heavyweight - places a major emphasis on the importance of backlinks (links from external websites pointing to yours).
Google uses PageRank, which is a link analysis algorithm, named after Google co-founder Larry Page (pun intended). PageRank is Google measure of 'importance' of the webpage and has a numerical value assigned between 0-10 with 10 being the greatest possible page rank. For example, the New York Times currently has a PageRank of 7, whereas a new website will usually have 0.
In order to increase the PageRank of your website, you'll need to adopt a backlink strategy.
Here are some different methods used to obtain backlinks, plus their potential merits and drawbacks.
Link Exchange - Link exchanges have been around for many years, with numerous programs designed to blast out emails to every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane, asking for link exchanges. A link exchange is basically when a webmaster requests a backlink from your website in return for a backlink from theirs. A few years ago this method was effective. Today, however, links of this nature hold little weight, and therefore your time is better spent looking at other methods of link building.
Article Marketing - Article websites such as Ezine Articles publish unique articles that you've written, and in turn, you may have two self-serving links in the Authors resource box. This is a great way of building links because it can also constitute potentially viral content. If your article is compelling enough, people will blog and use the article elsewhere, thereby virally increasing the number of links obtained from the article. Remember, the article must be original and informative otherwise it may not get published, and even if it does it could have a detrimental effect on your business if the content is no good.
Blogging - We all know what blogs are and how effective they can be. The idea here is to start your own blog (Blogger or WordPress are the two main blog sites), make sure you update it regularly and create interesting and engaging content. A blog can then get a life of its own, earning PageRank and ultimately allowing you to create backlinks to your website.
Social Bookmarks - Social bookmarking websites like Del.icio.us, reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon (there are lots of others) basically allow users to bookmark pages on the Internet that they are interested in. Social bookmarks are public, therefore the more people that bookmark your website the more popular it will become, ultimately increasing your rank.
Got any of your own tips for enhancing your SERP? Share it with me in the comments section below!
