Improving Link Popularity through Awards
The last two month's I've discussed various ways to increase the number of sites linking to your own Web site:
http://www.webposition.com/mp-0500.htm#ONE
http://www.webposition.com/mp-0600.htm#SIX
As you may recall, increasing the number of links to your Web site not only increases your traffic, but can be a crucial factor to improving your rankings on many search engines. If you've updated the content of your Web site to match the advice in the Page Critic and are still not ranking well, most likely you are being pushed down the list by external factors like your link popularity.
One effective way to increase the number of links to your site is to offer an award, or recognition to other Web sites. You've probably seen sites that proudly list the logos of various Web site, product, or company awards they've received over the years. Most of these logos also include a link back to the site that presented the award.
In many cases, the whole reason the site offered the award was to gain brand name recognition and to increase the number of links back to their own Web site. The cost involved is minimal. Generally you just send an e-mail congratulating them on receiving the award and attaching an award logo and link they can place on their Web site.
The idea of offering an award to gain brand recognition for your own business is not new. Companies have done it for years, long before the Web was born. Unfortunately, some sites have cheapened the concept by offering "Best Web site of the Day" or even "Best of the Hour" awards that have no real criteria for winning.
Take the higher ground and actually review the Web sites you consider for the award. Require it to meet specific goals before giving the award. Outline WHY the recipient's site won the award when you send your e-mail. This will add credibility to your award and reduce the chances of someone mistaking it for spam. Include specific details so the recipient can recognize that you really visited their Web site before presenting the award.
In addition, make sure your award logo looks sharp. Make it important and impressive looking so that the receiver of the award will be proud to display it on their site. We've received a number of awards for www.webposition.com that were so cheesy looking that I'd be embarrassed to display them to our visitors. Make sure your award links to a page on your site that describes who you are and the criteria the recipient had to meet to win. This further reinforces the credibility of the award.
This article is copyrighted and has been reprinted with permission from FirstPlace Software, the makers of WebPosition Gold. FirstPlace Software helped define the SEO industry with the introduction of the first product to track your rankings on the major search engines and to help you improve those rankings. A free trial of WebPosition Gold is available from their Web site.
Link Building / Popularity articles
Link Building: Where to Start?
SEO Tip: The Power of Cross-Linking
Do's and Don'ts for Building Your Site's Link Popularity
How to Gain Links from Major Industry Associations
Improving Link Popularity through Awards
Link Popularity: How to Check it and How to Improve it!
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