Votes For Your Site Are Important

I can't stress how important links from other relevant websites are to your website's standing with Google. Every link from another website is seen as an independent 'vote' for your website.

The more votes you get, the more Google likes you. Simple. Not quite. Google also cares where these 'votes' are coming from. If you have a friend that is a Plumber and you link to him from your High End Audio Visual Retailers; Google is not stupid, and it's not only going to ignore it as irrelevant; BUT, it may even knock a teensy weensy bit off your ranking.

Also, don't use Automatic Link Building Farms. Google knows if you have used one. They can smell it a mile off; and they will DEFINITELY mark you down for that one. If it was that easy, we'd all have pages and pages of website links and no useful information or content; and it's the sites with useful information and content AND 'votes' for that information and content that gets Google excited.

So how many links from other websites do you have ? To find out go to www.google.co.uk to get Google's Homepage.

In the search bar type Links:{your site} So for example for my own HW Marketing site, I would type Links:www.hwmarketing.co.uk Don't forget the colon after 'links'. If the site has any links at all, you will get results that display each of the site pages that link to you.

If your results return something similar, then you can see immediately what sites, and how many, link to your site.

If you have very few links, then get your website on as many free business directories as you can, this will not only give you a whole new bunch of links; but if those sites rate higher than yours, then there is a great chance you'll get found through them because THEY are on Page 1. Google 'Local Free Directories' and start adding.

Here is one HOT tip on linking that can put you just that little bit further ahead.

You see, although Google likes links to your site it's not all that keen, well I say not all that keen; consensus is that you get a lower score, marginally for Reciprocal links. What I mean by that is that for example is that if you have a website that is say a Hairdressers and your business friend the Tanning Booth Shop links to your site; from what I've said, that's a good relevant vote for your site, but the catch is that your friend is going to want you to link back in return. Ok . Now you've both got relevant votes from each other. That's a good thing right? I just said so earlier on. Yes it is. But Google knows that it is likely this is an arranged 'vote' and marks it ever so slightly lower than if the link is not reciprocated. That's because it knows that the vote is likely not an 'independent vote'.

To swing the ever so ever so slight marking the other way you could set up an incoming link arrangement. This requires at least three participants. Your hairdresser links to the tanning booth, the tanning booth to a local nail parlour, the nail parlour to the café next door, the café next door to a fashion boutique and they to you. No reciprocal links, everybody has an independent vote, and there's a basis for relevance all the way through.


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Neil Holley-Williams runs HW Marketing UK, a company providing marketing advice businesses. HW Marketing UK also provide affordable website design and SEO for small and medium sized businesses. Neil has worked for over 25 years as a freelance for companies such as IBM, Carnival UK, Invesco Perpetual and Skandia Life.
For more free information visit http://www.hwmarketing.co.uk