Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [184]
Figure 16-2: Anchor text structure
Links Show History
The age of a link can show the longevity of a website. The date that the link was first found and recorded can show that a website has been around for many years or only a few weeks. Similar to evaluating a vendor’s business longevity and history, the age of links to a website counts for experience.
I often equate this to the decision of where to eat and comparing a new restaurant opening in town to one that has been around for years where you always know you will get a great meal. People tend to trust their experiences more than they are willing to be the first to try something new. Often, salespeople have to be prepared to answer how long they have been in business, how many and what types of clients they have, how many employees they have, and other types of information that help establish both their longevity and their credibility. If a business has been around for many years, they must be doing something right. This carries over to the online world as well. If a website has been around for years (especially considering the relatively short history of Internet marketing), then there is some credibility. Older domains tend to be trusted more than new domains.
Some people theorize that Google gives favor to older sites—this “sandbox” theory says that Google prevents newer sites from ranking well until they are “proven” with quality links and success. I don’t subscribe to this theory; instead, I see the apparent favoritism toward older sites as a matter of supply and demand. If someone creates the thousandth Viagra website on the Internet, there is no reason for Google to immediately provide the website with any credibility or favor. In fact, there is every reason that site needs to prove that it is able to compete and bring something new. The economics of search engines will favor sites that bring something new to the market and focus on a specific niche that is unfilled. In these cases, there is not a long wait for gaining a foothold in the rankings, because the market demands this new information.
It is in the search engine’s best interest to incorporate the most information and as many web pages as possible into their index. Excluding pages is not in the interest of search engines, because their job is to provide access to information and provide relevant results. Acquiring as many pages as possible is critical to their competitiveness. In a competitive market, redundant sites are not necessary; new sites that provide new information where there is demand are necessary and will find visibility faster. Older sites have more links and are trusted more. Bringing a new domain to the market means that you will have to work hard to gain visibility and to achieve near-term success. It will be necessary to establish your credibility.
Links Identify Communities
One of the most amazing phenomena of linking online is the ability to track conversations and patterns among certain websites. As news articles are generated, people’s interest in articles is based on certain likes and interests, and as a result, certain articles seem to be passed along via linking among communities of similar interest. In this way, search engines can track how certain information is valuable to a community of sites. In addition, there are those sites that are “bridge” sites. They may be a member of more than one community, and so articles and referrals will cross community boundaries and have relevance in other areas.
These linking patterns help search engines determine the importance of subject matter to specific sites and develop both relevance and importance of these communities. It also helps the search engines identify artificial linking communities designed solely to create the illusion of relevance for low-quality sites.
Delve Deeper into the Value of Links
Mike Grehan’s work (at www.searchvisible.co.uk/Link_Equity_Explained.pdf) showcases