Why Do Search Engines Look at Links
2010
Why Do Search Engines Look at Links
Why do search engines look at links is a question that arises quite often. Search engine companies have a large variety of methods that they utilize in an attempt to determine what company websites are credible and which business websites are less credible.
Call (832) 884-1330 to ensure that you have a diversified business marketing plan to show the search engines that your website is credible, worthy of being listed at the top of the search engine results pages and to ensure that you have call to action content that will actually be generating leads for your business so that your Internet advertising investment is not in vain.
Dangers of Link Building
First, let us discuss the dangers of link building in practical terms.
A link to your website is considered to be a vote of confidence in your website as being a credible and good source for information in connection with a particular word or phrase and so on. When you put a link from your website to another website, you are, in effect, giving that company your vote of confidence as well.
These “referrals” or links are still, despite the dismay of many search engine optimizers who think that content should be the only factor involved in search engine website evaluations, a very big part of what the search engines use to decide whether or not a company should be listed at the top. Links are not the end all / be all and they are not the most important part of search engine optimization, but they do play a significant role as a part of a good diversified business marketing plan.
Here is a link building illustration:
If Joe tells Margaret that Bob is a good guy, should Margaret believe Joe? How is Margaret going to decide whether or not to believe Joe?
Margaret is going to decide whether or Joe’s recommendation of Bob is at all valid based upon Joe himself. This means that if Margaret knows that Joe is a liar, a cheat and a thief, the Margaret is likely to be even more suspicious of Bob than she already was and Bob may even lose some of Margaret’s good opinion because if a liar, a cheat and a thief is the type of person that thinks Bob is a good guy….them maybe Bob might be a liar, a cheat and a thief too.
Is this fair? It might be and it might not be. That depends upon the circumstances. However, regardless of whether or not it is fair, Bob still is not helped in any way by Joe’s recommendation.
If, on the other hand, Joe is known to be a serious, trustworthy man who is always good for his word, then Margaret knows that there is a very good chance that Bob is also a good guy because Joe said so and Joe wouldn’t just say something like that casually. Joe would realize that his associating himself with Bob and giving him his vote of confidence would reflect badly on Joe if it were not true.
Now, as you may have already guessed, Margaret is the Search Engine Company, i.e. Google.
Joe is the site that is linking to Bob. Bob is the site that is receiving the incoming link.
A link from a website that has a bad reputation online, such as many link farms will deliver, does not help a website to build it’s page ranking or credibility in any way whatsoever.
The search engine companies realize that an individual website cannot control who does and does not link to them. However, if it is noted that too many of these “bad links” are tying to a business website, this will cause Google to perhaps be a bit slower in allowing that website to climb its way up the search engine result ladder.
Links should be relevant. Links should be from websites that do not have a bad reputation. Links are best when they come from websites that have a high Google page rank. This is a proven fact. This has not changed. This is what works best. Credibility begets credibility and so on and so forth.
Search Engines Look at Links
There are still a large number of websites on the World Wide Web that are established primarily for informational purposes. There are many websites that are extremely informative, but also sell stuff as well. These websites are making the most out of their Internet real estate, but are still providing very useful information to the consumer public.
When a website links to another, it is in a sense, stating to the entire online world that this is a good reference to check out, that it is informative and it may be of some use.
Google and the other search engines pay attention to the number of times other websites refer a website so that they can determine if it is popular enough that the regular Internet searcher would also find it helpful.
There are only certain types of links that are good. There are certain types of links that are bad. There are also certain types of links that are just kind of filler for helping in the growth progress and are at that time not phenomenal, but not bad either and grouped together in mass quantity that is built up over time, become very meaningful.
Be careful though! Do not have a thousand links sent to your site all at once. This is a very good way to get sent right into the Google sandbox where you are put on probation….just like a child that gets too rambuncious may be sent to their room for a “time out.”
Show that your website is valid and informative with a steady stream of internal links through SEO article writing and external links through Internet advertising methods that are credible and never, ever shady.
Call (832) 884-1330 to receive excellent Houston SEO Services to help your business grow and achieve increased credibility online.
Additional Houston SEO Service Resources:
Google’s I’m Feeling Lucky Button
Internet Advertising: Many People Still Don’t Get it!