Backlinks
Posted on 24. Sep, 2007 by ComCorp in Search Engine Optimization
Backlinks are any links that come into a web site or web page. In a wider sense, backlinks are any connections between an outside web page, domain, web directory or web site. Backlinks are also called inward links, in links, inbound links or incoming links. Search engines, particularly Google use the number of incoming links as one measurement of the importance or ranking of the page. Google’s algorithm is called PageRank. Other search engines tend to place less emphasis on the backlinks and more on other factors such as page content.
Most search engines, including Google provide a way to view the number of incoming links on most web pages. Backlink data is generally not tracked for password protected pages or for dynamic pages due to the difficulty of implementing programming for such information.
In using backlinks, some study must be given to the concept of link popularity. Some backlinks are better than others. Originally, when Google first stressed the importance of backlinks, many web designers thought to increase page rankings by simply increasing the number of backlinks that appeared on the web pages in question. Then it was realized that so-called link farms were selling their services. These e-businesses sold links as a product.
Thousands of links unrelated to the product on the individual web page was worthless information and the algorithms were adjusted to disregard links to obvious link farms.
So, in adding backlinks to your web pages, you should consider the following points. First, every page should have at least one backlink. An incoming link implies that the page is important enough to create interest by other web sites in the same or similar industries or fields. Many incoming links would seem to indicate that your web page is recognized as an authority on the subject.
Again, not all incoming links are rated the same. An incoming link from a major directory will have a higher rank than will a backlink from an obscure home page.
One-way links, incoming are generally considered to be more important that reciprocal links. Indeed, too many outgoing links can reduce the page rating. By the same reasoning, a backlink with a web page that has few outgoing links is considered to be a better link than a backlink with a web page with many outgoing links. The major concept is to create the impression that other web pages treat your link as important; that it’s not necessary to have many links if they have your page.
Your backlinks should be anchored with relevant text. The search engines need to be able to see that there is a good reason for the backlink; the incoming link came to your web page for specific information found in your keywords, and found the information on the landing page.
Some web masters create multiple domains in order to use multiple backlinks for their clients. Unfortunately, these methods to increase web page ranking can backfire on you and result in a lower web page listing rather than a higher one.
