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Buying Text Link Ads
by Dane Lyons
It is widely agreed that SEM (search engine marketing) is one of
today’s most cost efficient and effective methods of marketing a web
site. One of the most important aspects of SEM is obtaining link
popularity. For example, if you expect to rank high in Google for
the search term “search engine optimization” it is important to have
other sites link to you with “search engine optimization” within the
text of the link. This is called anchor text. Generally the more
sites linking to you with your target keyword within the anchor text
the better. However, it should be noted that not all links are of
equal value. There are two primary factors to consider when
assessing the value of a link.
1. Link WeightAn established site that has already obtained a fair amount of link
popularity is generally a more valuable location to park your link.
The Google Page Rank is a general assessment of the link popularity
of any given page. If a page has PR5 it is considered to have above
average link popularity. For each 1 point increase in PR the link
popularity is increased by about 7-10 times. So a PR6 link should
theoretically be as valuable as 7-10 PR5 links but there is more to
the story.
The weight of a page is distributed evenly to each link within the
page. Lets say we have two PR5 pages. One page has a total of 10
links, the other has only one link. In this case it is about 10
times as valuable ,weight wise, to park your link on the page with
only 1 link. It should also be noted that a PR6 page with 10 links
is roughly equal to a PR5 page with only 1 link.
Many webmasters only take into account the link weight when
purchasing a text link. Link weight in itself is not worth much.
Link weight when combined with link relevance is another story
entirely.
2. Link Relevance
Link relevance is fairly straight forward in principle. It is more
valuable to park your link on a site that is relevant to the search
term you are optimizing for than one that is not. Large search
engines closely guard their ranking algorithm for determining link
relevance and placement. People have been able to reverse engineer
the PR equation but for something with as many factors as placement
and relevance it is next to impossible. Therefore we can only
speculate as to which terms are close in relevance and which are
not.My opinion on the subject is you can’t go wrong with a page that is
optimized for the exact term or even slight variations of the term
you are optimizing for. However, if you are considering optimizing
for a term like “xbox” and you find a site to host your link that is
optimized for “games” there is risk in believing these terms are
relevant. Of course it can be inferred that these terms are
relevant. After all, xbox is a major gaming platform but we have no
idea how close in relevance the search engines consider these terms
to be.
To be safe value exact terms and variations of the term to be highly
relevant. All other terms within an industry such as items, buzz
words…should be considered relevant. All other terms should be
considered non-relevant.
Now we basically know what to look for in determining the value of a
potential link. There are many ways to go about building your link
popularity. I am going to focus on a few of the paid methods.
1. Paid DirectoriesThere are a ton of link directories that will host your link for a
fee. Some work on a month by month basis but most are either 6
months, 1 year or permanent. Yahoo is an example of a paid
directory. They cost $299 for a 1 year listing. This may seem
expensive and it is. Yahoo is a high end directory which is quite
valuable in comparison to other directories. However, there many
smaller directories that are more cost efficient. Usually
directories are only relevant to your search term assuming you are
listed in a relevant category. Some niche directories can be
considered highly relevant.
2. Link Brokers There are several link brokers out there who gather potential
websites willing to display your link. This is an excellent method
to obtain highly relevant links. The only downside is the brokers
will generally charge a listing fee to the website so they must sell
the links for more than they would otherwise be willing to sell them
for to cover expenses. If you are checking out a broker see what
their listing fee is before you purchase any links. I wouldn’t buy
from a broker that charges more than about 20% of the value of the
purchased link.
3. Directly contacting webmastersThere are literally millions of sites out there more than willing to
display your link for a fee. In my opinion the best method of
purchasing text links is to get out there and contact webmasters for
price quotes. Its certainly not hard…if you are optimizing for the
search term “SEM” simply type it into google and find the top 10-20
sites listed for the term. Then either email or better yet directly
call them to get price quotes from each site. Then decide which
sites offer the most value and spend within your budget. It is also
a good idea to ask for quotes for a 6 month and a 1 year term in
addition to the standard 1 month term.
Some webmasters will see you are competition and will refuse to list
your site. This is perfectly acceptable, thank them for their time
and move on.
Note: Building link popularity is only one aspect of SEM. If you are
not familiar with SEM or SEO basics then I advise you to read up on
keyword research and on-site optimization before you start
purchasing links.
About the Author
Dane Lyons
Lyons Craft http://lyonscraft.com
Article Archives http://7seeker.com
I can be contacted at duilen@gmail.com for freelance SEO or web
design.
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