Linking websites

Posted by Goloh (217 days ago)

I understand search engines are more likely to add a website to their list if that site is linked to other websites. Judging from the huge number of results that come up for nearly any Google search entry, it's impossible to believe that everyone who has a website does this. Can anyone explain how this works, and also how to go about finding "friendly" websites to link to? It's not like I can send off a letter to any site, like Asiaxpat, and say: "excuse me, do you mind if I link with you?" (Sounds like a pickup line in a bar.)

(I am based in Hong Kong)

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Posted by Ed (217 days ago)

My understanding is that - and I am not an expert by any means - is that there are many factors that determine search engine positioning.

Google takes into account the sites that are linking to you however I believe that your position will only be influenced if major web sites are linking to you. Obviously this is not easy to do as big sites will not simply link to your site for free.

In light of this I wouldnt spend a lot of time on trying to get sites to link to you - your best bet is to make sure that whoever puts your site together does it in a manner that is conducive to search engine positioning... some companies will try to scam you into paying a monthly retainer to provide ongoing search engine optimization - dont buy into this. Google and others do not change their algorithms frequently enough to warrant ongoing changes to your web site.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Goloh (217 days ago)

Point taken. Thanks.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Starlionblue2 (217 days ago)

Remember keywords. On every page you can specify keywords in the metadata. When the Google spider comes along and samples your website, it checks all the words on the page, but also the keywords. So if your web page is about airplanes, make sure it has the keywords "plane", "planes", "airplanes", "airplane", "aviation". You get the idea.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Goloh (217 days ago)

Yes, sure. Not long ago I made a post about whether keywords are to be separated by, or not to be separated by, commas. The advice was good, but there is a 50-50 split (when I dig deeper into Google about this) on the right way to do it. Many people also say that single keywords like "airplanes," "aviation," etc., are useless because they generate so many millions of entries. Re your example, let's say "Cathay Pacific Boeing 767 postcard" as a keyword would be more effective than any of those terms individually. As one other person advised me, the keywords also have to match the actual content. (What's my point? The learning curve on this can be steep.) Thanks ... I'm still not sure I know which end is up.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Starlionblue2 (217 days ago)

Great post Goloh. I guess it would also depend on the content. If your page is very specific, e.g. "Cathay Pacific Boeing 767 postcard" it's one thing, if it's more generally about "aviation" it's another.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Joe-GZ (216 days ago)

Currently, Google does not put as much weight in your sites rank when it comes to sites you link to. They use to but it was abused by people who would set up thousands of fake domains and just cross link them all, thereby artificially increasing their ranking. (They were called link-farms in the SEO industry.)

Now Google pays more attention to the quality of ONE-way links coming to your site. If it is a reciprocal link it has less weight. Also, if the link coming your way has a low page rank, then it stands a chance of bringing down your sites page rank as well. (But only a little depending on the number of incoming links.)

Of course, spammers have figured ways around this as well and Google will most certainly do a major change their algorithms in the near future. Actually, they are constantly tweaking and changing the base algorithms all the time.

And if you want to link to someone, just go ahead and do it. There really is no need to ask permission. It is nice to ask, but it is not required.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by Goloh (216 days ago)

Gosh. To paraphrase the old expression, I don't want not to see the forest because of the trees. The end objective is to get people to visit the website without massive (and expensive) advertising. As I plow through this process, it has come down to two intrinsic factors--linking and keywords, as well as the content itself. Because I don't believe that everyone who opens a website sits around "linking" all day, I want to give more weight to the keywords and content. So I will focus on that, use commas, refine the keywords, and hope for the best. It's new to me that I wouldn't have to ask someone if I can link to their site, but then why should it be a surprise after all. As a side comment, it does look like anyone who lists anything on eBay gets picked up by search engines right away. Thanks everyone--this has been helpful.

(I am based in Hong Kong)

Posted by Joe-GZ (216 days ago)

Depending on the type of merchandise you wish to sell, the best form of advertising is going to message boards where people have an interest in that type of product (if such sites exist). Become part of those communities, offer advice and leave a discreet link to your site with every post (if the admins allow it).

When you do that you will get very targeted advertising rather than just trusting the search engine gods to send money your way.

There are lots of tricks to making a successful e-commerce website (or any type of website for that matter) and only a few of them have anything to do with search engines.

Here is a great tip. If you have a product line that you really like to write about, start a blog. Then have a nice prominent link in each post to your main e-commerce website on each post.

Search engines show a lot of love to blogs. And it is a good way to bring a targeted community of buyers to you as they will start to look at your site as the place to go for information on your products.

(I am based in Guangzhou)

Posted by Goloh (216 days ago)

Don't even get me started on "how to start a blog"!! Seriously, yes, excellent tip. I need to try to be methodical about this or it will eat up 95% of my time. I'd bet I can Google "starting a blog" and get walked through the process easily. Thanks again.

(I am based in Hong Kong)