• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 730 0

are many links like this around the Internet, they simply link to a page by its URL address. There is no context to the reader other than the surrounding content and the context of the URL itself. The second option provides the context of the content on the linked page. It is developed by the author of the linking site to convey an additional level of meaning to the link by presenting it with intent and purpose, in relation to the content of an article. This type of linking provides more information to both the user and the search engine. The user sees and understands the intent and the context. The search engine finds the pattern of keywords being used to provide “outside” context to a page through using anchor text.

Content Links

Some factors the search engines use for evaluating links are the types of the link that is being used on the linking site and the surrounding content around the link on the page of that site. Essentially, they ask, where is the link to the site on the page? What part of the page contains the link, and what is the surrounding text? Is it a navigational link, an editorial link, an advertisement, or a comment link? Different types of links are given different values. Editorial links tend to be valued very highly, because they are links that fall specifically under the word-of-mouth category.

Purchased or advertising links are assigned very little value, because the advertiser can control the link text, and the link is purchased as advertising, rather than part of the natural content of the website. Banner ads and other advertising links that are purchased through an advertising server do not count toward link popularity. They are simply a method of advertising and considered a separate type of link.

Image or Text Links

Search engines also view the type of link to determine whether it is a text link or an image link. Text links count very highly, so many optimizers opt for text-based links. However, image links contain a product image or some other eye-catching graphic. Using alt attributes, as explained on Tuesday, will enable the search engines to determine the context of the image link and apply that to some level of link popularity benefit. However, it is generally agreed that the level of value of an image link from the alt attribute is not near the value of a text link. Although by itself an alt attribute does not count for much, it is one of those hundreds of tiny factors that add up over time.

There is still much debate about the value of a text link compared to an image link containing an alt attribute—which is most effective for SEO, and which is most effective for persuading visitors toward action? Of course, since websites vary, the answer to this debate is to test different methods for your site. Some ecommerce websites have tested using text links and image links (and various combinations). The surprising result was that their visitors clicked image links more. Even though they held little SEO value, they attracted more attention and gained more sales. While this may work for one website, it may not work for others. This is why measuring the results is always more profitable than measuring rankings. Decisions like this should only be made on a case-by-case basis after measuring the outcomes. Sometimes, site managers decide to scale back SEO in order to do things that might result in higher sales. This should be done based on testing and not rash decisions. These types of decisions need to be carefully weighed.

Association Links

Another factor of link assessment by search engines is the reciprocity factor. In the day when more links equaled more success, this was effective. Website owners would link to each other with the typical “I link to you and you link to me, wink, wink” understanding that they were assisting each other in building links.

Now, the sheer quantity of links is not valued; the quality of that quantity is the most important factor. Because of this, reciprocal linking (“I link to you and you link to me”) is not valued as much as a simple, one-way, incoming link