Basic SEO activity

Top Search Engines
• AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, Bing (MSN), Google, Yahoo! Search


Pay Per Click Search Engines
• Google AdWords, MSN adCenter, Yahoo! Search Marketing

Meta Search Engines
• Dogpile, Excite, Mamma, MetaCrawler, WebCrawler





"Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images."

Text Links
* What are text links?
* What do text links have to do with search engines?
* How do text links improve search engine rankings?
* How do I get people to link to my web site?
* What is link traffic?
Here are some examples of the underlying HTML code for a text link:
homepage
Google
text links help search engines understand the topic of a link destination. Search engines spiders doesn't recognize text contained in images. Although there are ways to help spiders understand the content of image links (as explored in the Image Links guide), text links are the preferred method.
What is link traffic?
Link traffic is traffic generated by links to your website. So getting people to link to your website isn't just about improving search engine rankings. It also generates traffic.

Anchor Text (Variations, misspellings)
* What is anchor text?
* Should I vary the anchor text?
* Should I include misspellings in my anchor text?
* Britney Spears Spelling Correction
Anchor text is the visible, clickable descriptive text of a hyperlink, located in between the HTML anchor and tags.
For example:
anchor text
Should I vary the anchor text?
Yes, you should vary anchor text. This is because as search engine optimizers have learnt that anchor text helps improve search engine rankings they inevitably built incredible number of webpages that link to their websites using identical anchor text.
It may seem odd but it's actually a good idea to include misspellings in your anchor text, especially if the anchor text isn't easy to spell correctly.

Image Links (image maps, alt text)
* What are image links?
* What is "Alt Text"?
* What are image maps?
* Should I stay away from using image maps?
What are image links?
An image link is a graphic image that typically links to another online document, such as a webpage, PDF file, video, Excel spreadsheet, etc. Like text links, image links can also point to another location on the same page.
What is "Alt Text"?
Alt text is "alternative text" that is placed in the code for an image. It is displayed when the mouse cursor hovers over the image (fig. 1). The text is also visible if an image is unable to load (fig.2). Alt text is especially useful to people using screen readers.

What are image maps?
An image map is a graphic image containing one or more invisible clickable regions, called hotspots, allowing several hyperlinks from a single image.
For example, an image could be a map of the World with each continent split into different clickable hotspots. When a visitor clicks on one of the hotspots, they are taken to the respective online document.
Should I stay away from using image maps?
Many search engines will not crawl links inside an image map because of the potential for spam abuse. But that doesn't mean you should stay away from using image maps. To ensure search engines crawl the links contained with an image map, you should also duplicate the links as conventional text or image links somewhere else on the page and/or a sitemap.


PageRank (increase PageRank, attribute)
* What is PageRank?
* Are all pages in a website given the same PageRank?
* How do I check my website's PageRank?
* How do I increase a webpage's PageRank?
* Can I buy PageRank?
* What type of links increase PageRank?
* What type of links don't increase PageRank?
* What is the attribute?
* What is PageRank leakage?
* Should I use the to preserve PageRank?
* Are there links that can actually decrease PageRank?

What type of links increase PageRank?
PageRank is passed onto a webpage if the page with the outbound link uses HTML code that has a direct link to the link destination.
For example:
Outbound Link
What type of links don't increase PageRank?
PageRank is not passed on if the link doesn't point directly to the link destination. Examples of links that don't point directly to the link destination include most affiliate links, traffic tracking links, links that point to a webpage on the same website as the outbound link which then redirects the user to the link destination (this is often used to hide the real URL of the website it is linking to), and so on.
Other links that don't help increase PageRank are links from webpages that either has a PageRank rating of zero (for example, new webpages), or doesn't have a PageRank rating because Google's spider cannot crawl and index it. These include dynamically generated pages, such as search engine results pages (including paid inclusion pages), online databases, and password protected pages.
What is the attribute?
Adding the attribute to a hyperlink instructs search engine spiders not to crawl the link. The attribute was introduced in 2005 to help combat blog comment spam. The organizations that support the technique include, Blogger, blojsom, Blosxom, Buzznet, Flickr, Google, MSN (MSN Search, MSN Spaces), Scripting News, Six Apart (TypePad, MovableType, LiveJournal), WordPress, Yahoo! Search.
For example the following link:
This is a great site
Becomes:
I link to this site, but I'm not endorsing it
Be wary of websites trying to deprive you of PageRank by including the attribute in their link to your site.

Are there links that can actually decrease PageRank?
Yes! Google recommend that you avoid linking to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the web, as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.



Link Popularity (authority pages, link quality, quantity, relevancy, reputation)
* What is link popularity?
* What is link quality?
* What is link relevancy?
* What is link reputation?
* How do I check my website's link popularity?
* Why do Google, Yahoo and MSN backlink stats vary so much?
* How do I increase link popularity?
* Should I get deep links to subpages?
* What are authority pages?
* What type of links don't increase link popularity?
Link popularity is a measure of the number of links pointing to a webpage, without any regard for the quality of the links.
What is link quality?
Link quality refers to the quality of a link which takes into account a number of factors, including the importance (i.e. PageRank) of the linking webpage, the relevance of the anchor text, and whether the linking webpage is of the same topic as the link destination.
What is link relevancy?
Link relevancy refers to getting relevant sites to link to yours. Here's what the Google Webmaster Guidelines recommends, and I quote:
When your site is ready:
• Have other relevant sites link to yours
Sounds obvious, right? Top ranked sites have hundreds, if not thousands, of links to their site. How many does yours have?
What is link reputation?
Link reputation refers to the quality or "importance" of the webpage providing the link. In general, PageRank could be used as a measurement of the reputation of a webpage.
How do I check my website's link popularity?
You can actually check the link popularity of every webpage in your site. The simplest method is to go to a search engine and enter "link:" followed by the URL you wish to check.
For example:
link:http://www.yoursite.com
link:http://www.yoursite.com/subdirectory/
link:http://www.yoursite.com/subpage.html


How do I increase link popularity?
You can increase link popularity by getting more websites to link to yours. Easier said than done, right? Well, try these link building strategies. Click on a topic for more information:
• Sitemaps - XML, Google, generators, Yahoo!
• Linkbait - create content and web tools to attract links
• Link Seeding - plant links in forums, blogs, web directories
• Sponsored Links - buy advertising on other websites
• Link Exchange - exchange links other websites
• Affiliate Links - set up a direct linking affiliate program
• Link Brokers - buy text links on other websites
Should I get deep links to subpages?
Yes. Every link to a webpage, be it the homepage or a subpage, is a good link. They all help increase PageRank, and drive traffic. Sometimes, it's more relevant for another website to link to a subpage so deep linking to subpages should always be welcomed.
What are authority pages?
Authority page are webpages that are considered an "authority" on a particular topic. In theory, links from authority pages are considered more valuable than links from other pages.
What type of links don't increase link popularity?
Similar to PageRank, if a link doesn't point directly to the link destination, search engines don't crawl and index the link and therefore don't count the link popularity. These include dynamically generated pages, such as search engine results, some web directory links, most affiliate links, traffic tracking links, links that point to a webpage on the same domain which then redirects the user to the link destination (to hide the real URL of the link), online databases, and password protected pages.


Sitemaps (XML, Google, generators, Yahoo!)
* What are sitemaps?
* What are HTML sitemaps?
* What are XML sitemaps?
* What is Google Sitemaps?
* Which sitemap formats does Google support?
* What is a sitemap generator?
* Can you recommend a sitemap generator?
* How do I validate my Google sitemap?
* How do I submit a sitemap to Google Sitemaps?
* What are text sitemaps?
* How do I submit a sitemap to Yahoo?
* Which sitemap formats does Yahoo! support?
* continue top of next column >>>

Sitemaps
* ...Sitemaps continued
* How do I submit a sitemap to MSN?
* Do sitemaps guarantee my webpages will be included in a search engine?
* Do sitemaps improve search engine rankings?
* Does the position of a URL in a Sitemap influence its use?
* Do I need to remove session IDs from URLs?
* Should I include the frameset URLs or the URLs of the frame contents?
What are sitemaps?
DEFINITION
Sitemaps and Site Maps are used interchangeably.
Sitemaps are used by webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. Search engine spiders usually discover webpages from links within a site and from other sites, but they sometimes don't index all pages, especially if a site has a large number of pages. Sitemaps supplement this data.
What are HTML sitemaps?
NOTICE
This page primarily discusses XML and text sitemaps that are supported by the major search engines; Google, Yahoo! and MSN.
A HTML sitemap is a collection of hyperlinks, sometimes with descriptions, on one page or spread across several pages. Sitemaps help visitors to find what they're looking quickly, while at the same time helping search engine spiders crawl and index all the pages within the site.
What are XML sitemaps?
In its simplest form, a XML sitemap (see Google Sitemap Protocol) is a XML file that lists URLs for a website. It may also include additional metadata about each URL (date of last update, how often the pages are updated, and how important it is relative to other URLs in the site) to better help search engines more intelligently crawl and index the website.


What is Google Sitemaps?
Google Sitemaps is a suite of webmaster tools offered by Google to provide webmasters a free and easy way to make their site more Google-friendly. Google Sitemaps shows you how Google crawls and indexes your site, and specific problems it might be having accessing it. You can also discover which search queries drive traffic to your site, and which version of Google is driving that traffic.
DEFINITION
RSS and Atom are XML formats for sharing content on the Web.
Which sitemap formats does Google support?
Google supports XML, RSS (Real Simple Syndication) 2.0, Atom 0.3 feeds, OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting), and a text file containing a list of URLs.
What is a sitemap generator?
You could create a sitemap by hand by following the sitemap protocol, but it would be a really tedious task, and you will probably miss a few links. A better method is to use one of the many sitemap generators available. Google offer a free sitemap generator but it is probably too complicated for most people to install. The installation instructions certainly put me off giving it a try. Luckily there are plenty of downloadable and online sitemap generator tools offered by third-parties.
Can you recommend a sitemap generator?
I've only tried a few free, downloadable sitemap generators, but here are my opinions on those I've tested:
• G-Mapper is a Google and Yahoo sitemap generator for static website's of all sizes. The main problem with G-Mapper is that it doesn't give you the option of adding filters. You have to manually delete URLs after they've been crawled which is a real pain.
• Gsitemap is another sitemap generator tool. The main problem with Gsitemap is that it only generates Google sitemaps. It doesn't generate sitemaps for Yahoo!.
• GSiteCrawler is the sitemap generator I ended up using mainly because it offered all of the basic features, including Google sitemap and Yahoo! URL text file generator. But what sold me were the extra features that made it easy to use. For example, the "Import Robots.txt" feature meant I could quickly filter out all unwanted directories and pages with one click.

The other nice feature is that you can edit the metadata of one or more (individual or group) URLs at the same time, which is something not available in some of the other sitemap generators I tested. GSiteCrawler is free, although it does display a nag screen asking for a donation every so often.
The above applications are all for Windows computers only. Mac users may like to try Map-IT SiteMapper ($19.95 and also available for Windows) and RAGE Google Sitemap Automator ($29.95).
I found the above sitemap generators in Google's Sitemaps Third Party Programs & Websites guide. For a full list of the third-party sitemaps programs & websites, visit the Google page.
How do I validate my Google sitemap?
You can validate your Google XML sitemap with the Google Sitemap Validator by Validome. I'm glad I did as I discovered that the links to the Sitemaps.org XML schema in the sitemaps generated by GSiteCrawler were returning 404 not found errors. As a result I switched to the XML headers in Google's Using the Sitemap Protocol guide.
How do I submit a sitemap to Google Sitemaps?
Log in, or sign up, to Google Webmaster Tools with your Google Account, and add your sitemap URLs.
What are text sitemaps?
A text sitemap is simply a text file with a list of URLs, one on each line, and is supported by Yahoo! Site Explorer. Unlike XML sitemaps, it does not allow for metadata about each URL.


How do I submit a sitemap to Yahoo?
Submit your sitemap to Yahoo! Site Explorer.
Which sitemap formats does Yahoo! support?
Yahoo! supports RSS 0.9, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3, and a text file containing a list of URLs. The filename of the URL list file must be "urllist.txt". The filename for a compressed file must be "urllist.txt.gz". Site Explorer recognizes files with a .gz extension as compressed files and will decompress them before parsing.
Source: What kinds of feeds do you support?
How do I submit a sitemap to MSN?
Good question! No one seems to know. The best bet is try submitting your sitemap URL to the Windows Live Search URL Submission form.
Do sitemaps guarantee my webpages will be included in a search engine?
No. Sitemaps do not guarantee that webpages will be included in search engines, but they should help search engine spiders do a better job of finding and indexing every page within a site.
Do sitemaps improve search engine rankings?
No. Sitemaps will not influence the way your pages are ranked by a search engine. However, it does help to get them crawled and indexed, which gives your pages a better chance of being ranked.
Does the position of a URL in a Sitemap influence its use?
No.
Do I need to remove session IDs from URLs?
Yes. Session IDs in URLs may result in incomplete and redundant crawling of your site.
Should I include the frameset URLs or the URLs of the frame contents?
Include both URLs in your sitemap.
This document was written with the help of Sitemaps.org, the official sitemaps website sponsored by Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft. Visit the site for more technical information on sitemaps.


Linkbait
* What is linkbait?
* Is linkbait just about attracting links?
Linkbait is the internet marketing equivalent of fishing bait. Linkbait is simply content or web tools created specifically to entice people to link to from their website or blog, or tell others about it.
All content and web tools are linkable content you might say. Yes, to a certain extent that is true. But linkbait content is different. Linkbait content has to be better or different from the usual content to attract more than the usual share of links.
Examples of good Linkbait content include:
• Viral content, such as the hilarious Evolution of Dance video that's been viewed 36,758,020 (Dec. 13, 2006) times on the YouTube website.
• Controversial content
• Useful web tools, such as Alexaholic which allows you to compare the Alexa traffic rankings of up to 5 domains simultaneously. According to Yahoo!, Alexaholic has a whopping 17,493 links pointing to it (not including links from the Alexaholic domain itself), and the domain was set up as recently as February 2006.
• "How To" articles
• Top 10, 30, 50 lists
• 101 tips
• Inside knowledge
• "Cool" stuff

Is linkbait just about attracting links?
Yes and no. Links usually equals traffic, so attracting links is the main reason for creating linkbait content. But many web surfers don't actually have a website to post links to. As such, they might bookmark or tell others about it via an online bookmarking service, such as Digg or Del.icio.us.


Link Seeding (link spam)
* What is link seeding?
* Where can I seed links?
* What is link spam?
What is link seeding?
Link seeding refers to the process of proactively surfing the Web planting links in websites that allow direct linkage back to your site, in the hope of attract PageRank, as well as traffic from those sites
Where can I seed links?
You can plant free links in web directory listings, forum posts, forum signatures, blog posts, blog comment author links, discussion boards, product testimonials, guestbooks, and wikis.
You can also submit your links to search engines purely, but they will only attract traffic. The links won't provide any PageRank because search engine result pages are dynamically generated, and Google doesn't allocate PageRank to dynamically generated webpages.
DEFINITION
Link Spam is also known as Blog Spam and Comment Spam.
What is link spam?
Link spam is a much publicized form of spam that mainly targets blog commenting systems, but also forums, guestbooks, wikis (often called Wikispam) - in fact any website that allows people to freely post links.


Link Exchange
* What is link exchange?
* Should I exchange links with other websites?
* What type of websites should I exchange links with?
* What type of websites should I avoid exchanging links with?
* How do I find websites to exchange links with?
* Can my competitor harm my Google rankings by pointing thousands of links to my site, from a penalized or banned site?
* How do I know whether link exchange partners are still linking to my website?
* What are one way links?

Link exchange is the process of exchanging links with other websites.
Should I exchange links with other websites?
That depends on a number of factors. Before you decide on starting a reciprocal link exchange campaign, you must ask yourself these questions:
• Can I find more efficient ways to attract links to your website?
• Do I have the time and resources to commit to a link exchange campaign?
• Do I want to commit to a short-term or long-term link exchange campaign?
• How many links am I looking to exchange?
• How am I going to manage all of those link exchange partners?
What type of websites should I exchange links with?
The best websites to get links from are those with a high PageRank, and/or are of a similar topic to yours, and with few outbound links on the page. However, this is more difficult than it may sound. High PageRank sites typically don't exchange links - they don't need to.
That means websites similar to yours becomes the next most desirable sites to swap links with. Again this causes problems. It doesn't make sense to exchange links with your competition. After all, you don't want to send your visitors to their website, nor do you want to help improve their PageRank, and consequently search engine rankings!
You can still exchange links with sites that are similar to yours, but make sure they're not in direct competition with you. For example, if your website sells oil paintings, don't swap links with other sites that also sell oil paintings. Instead find art museums, water painting sites, art colleges, home decoration sites, etc., to exchange links with.
What type of websites should I avoid exchanging links with?
The main category of websites you should avoid swapping links with are what are commonly referred to in the SEO community as "bad neighborhoods" - sites which have been penalized or banned by the search engines.
There is no official source of "bad neighborhood" sites. But they do often fall into a number of categories, including:
• a PageRank rating of 2 or less -- Use the Google Toolbar to check a site's PageRank rating.
• the website is not indexed by the search engines -- To check if site has pages indexed in a particular search engine, simply go to the search engine and enter the following query into the search box:
site:www.potentiallinkexchangepartner.com
If no pages are found, then that could be an indication that the site has been penalized or banned by the search engine.
• the domain is 6 months or older -- Conduct a Whois search to find out the age of a domain. Relatively new sites can be forgiven for not having a PageRank rating or indexed by the search engines. But if a domain is 6 months or older, and it has a low PageRank and isn't indexed in the search engines, then it "could" mean that the site has been penalized or banned for some reason.

Having said all that, it is difficult to conclusively say whether a site has been penalized or banned by the search engines. The pointers above are simply a guide to whether you should exchange links with a site. The bottom line is that if a site looks genuine and you are happy to exchange links with it, then by all means go ahead. Don't take the advice given here as the deciding factor.
How do I find websites to exchange links with?
There are five main methods to finding reciprocal link partners:
1. Proactively surf the Web searching for websites to exchange links with. This is not the most practical or efficient method, so isn't really recommended. But if you really want to try this method, the easiest way to find link exchange partners is to approach all the sites that link to the competition. And you can find out who they are simply by going to a search engine such as Yahoo! Search and Microsoft's Bing Search and entering the following query into the search box:
link:www.yourcompetitorswebsite.com
The search engines will return a list of websites that link to your competitor's site. All you have to do is contact each site and either ask them to link to your site or, if they require a link back, a link exchange. In case you're wondering, you could also try the search in Google. The reason I didn't mention it above is because Google's filtering algorithm seems quite strict and pretty much filters out the majority of links.
2. Install a link exchange script on your site and wait for potential link exchange partners to submit their link exchange requests. This is the poor, lazy person's method of exchanging links. It's definitely worth trying if you can't afford the time or to outsource the link exchange campaign.
3. Use a link exchange software program to help you find and manage link exchange partners. This is probably the most popular method of finding link exchange partners as the software does much of the grunt work for you. All you have to do is instruct the software which types of sites you're looking for, decide which of the sites discovered by the software to email a link exchange request to, and add their link if they accept your offer. My favorite link exchange software program is Arelis, which has now been incorporated into the Internet Business Promoter suite of SEO tools.
4. Use an online link exchange database to find and manage reciprocal link partners. This is similar to the software method, except the number of link exchange partners is limited to sites who have signed up to the same service. Generally I would not recommend link exchange databases.

Also be careful to avoid link exchange services which create link pages that automatically include all the other sites within a category or links to sites unrelated to yours. The chances are you will end up with link pages with the same links as all the other sites using the service. This could get the page removed or even banned by the search engines for link spam.
5. Outsource the link exchange campaign to a professional link exchange company. This is the rich, lazy person's way to link exchange heaven. Simply find a company you like and purchase the link package that suits your budget. Make sure you tell them exactly the types of websites you want to exchange links with. Also set a deadline.

Can my competitor harm my Google rankings by pointing thousands of links to my site, from a penalized or banned site?
According to Google:
"There's almost nothing a competitor can do to harm your ranking or have your site removed from our index."
Note that Google doesn't rule out the possibility that a competitor could harm your site. As far as I know another website cannot harm your Google rankings simply by pointing links to your site. Imagine the havoc it would cause it was possible for someone to get a site penalized or banned in Google simply by pointing hundreds or thousands of links to it.


Sponsored Links (PageRank)
* What are Sponsored Links?
* Do Sponsored Links increase PageRank?
* Which websites offer Sponsored Links?

What are Sponsored Links?
Sponsored links are any links where the sponsor pays for placement. These advertisements are typically displayed above, and to the right of, search engine results or content. But they sometimes also appear below search results.
Google AdWords ads are labeled as "Sponsored Links", as shown here:

Yahoo Search Marketing ads use the "Sponsor Results" label:

While MSN Live Search ads use the "Sponsored Sites" heading:

Do Sponsored Links increase PageRank?
Sponsored Links such as Google AdWords, Yahoo Search Marketing and MSN ads use long and sophisticated tracking links which don't get crawled by Google. As such no PageRank is passed along the link.
However, many websites sell sponsored text links which use short links that link directly to the sponsor's website. These types of links are usually crawled by Google and therefore do attract PageRank.
Which websites offer Sponsored Links?
Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and MSN AdCenter all offer Sponsored Links. Link brokers, such as Text Links Ads, also offer Sponsored Links, but of a different sort. Link brokers sell simple text links that link directly to your site, and therefore attracts PageRank. The linked anchor text is usually the keyword phrase you're trying to get top rankings for. However there is no accompanying description next to the link so they don't do as good a job of persuading people to click on your link.


Affiliate Links
* What are affiliate links?
* Do affiliate links increase PageRank?
What are affiliate links?
An affiliate link is the hyperlink code given to members of affiliate programs. The affiliate link is displayed in webpages, emails, text ads, etc., and used to track referrals.
Do affiliate links increase PageRank?
Generally no, because the majority of affiliate links point to an affiliate program script, which in turn redirects the user to the final landing page. PageRank is only passed on in direct links.
Here is an example affiliate link. If you click on it, you'll notice how it redirects you to a different website.
http://linkconnector.com/traffic_affiliate.php?lc=002143001313002778&atid=tlgaflk
In recent years some affiliate programs and affiliate networks have introduced a new type of link that links directly from affiliate websites to the merchant's site.
These "bare" links meant that affiliates would link directly to the merchant's website, thereby passing on any PageRank benefits to the merchant's landing page.
This is great for affiliate program owners, but gives affiliates nothing in return. Generally I would recommend sticking with standard affiliate links, if available.


Link Brokers (RON, ROS, Text Link Ads)
* What are link brokers?
* Should I buy text links via link brokers?
* Is it better to buy text links that are displayed on one page (usually the homepage) or across an entire site?
* Is Text Link Ads a reputable link broker?
Link brokers are websites that promote the buying and selling of text links. Technically speaking, text links are leased for a monthly fee, not bought. Link brokers make money by taking a cut of the leasing fee.
Should I buy text links via link brokers?
That depends. Link brokers offer a number of benefits, including:
• a large selection of websites
• websites sortable by various variables
• relevant site information available at a glance
• only having to deal with the link broker, as opposed to several website owners
• fixed prices - no negotiating skills required
Of course, there are downsides too, including:
• some useful site information, such as traffic and pageviews, may not available at a glance
• higher prices than you might pay if you purchased a link directly from a website
• you can't negotiate prices - they are fixed
• search engines "may" penalize sites that purchase links from sites within the network
You have to weigh up the pros and cons and decide for yourself whether you feel link brokers are a good place to buy text links. If you have limited time, or don't wish to go through all the trouble of finding sites and negotiating lower fees, then I think purchasing links via link brokers is a good idea.
The one real downside could be that search engines "may" put a penalty on sites, or outbound links from sites, within the network, thereby reducing the link popularity or PageRank benefit. Obviously, you still get the benefit of any traffic generated from the links.
DEFINITION
Run of Site (ROS) and Run of Network (RON) refers to advertisements appearing on all pages of a website, and network, respectively.
Is it better to buy text links that are displayed on one page (usually the homepage) or across an entire site?
That's a good question! Generally, the more backlinks the better so it makes sense to buy links that would be displayed on every page of a site, especially if it only costs a bit more than a single homepage link. However, this could be a waste of time, never mind money. Why? Let me explain.
Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote for page B, by page A, as stated in the PageRank guide. But this is an unnatural occurrence. No one would naturally "vote" for a page hundreds of times. So if Google finds hundreds (even thousands) of links from one source, it "could", and probably does, consider those links as an attempt to inflate the site's link popularity numbers, and as a result remove the PageRank benefits of all the links from the source.
If you check the link popularity of some websites that have obviously purchased a text link on a website as it appears on hundreds, even thousands, of pages, you'll probably notice that Google seems to index only a small percentage of all the links. Yahoo! Search and Microsoft's Bing Search on the other hand seem to index a far greater number of such links, as illustrated in this backlink screenshot.
As such, you may be better off simply buying one link, typically on the homepage, rather than run of site. I certainly think so.
Is Text Link Ads a reputable link broker?
Yes. Text Link Ads are one of the most reputable text link brokers around, with clients ranging from Fortune 500 firms to individual website owners. They offer thousands of text links for sale from hundreds of websites, starting from just $2 per month. Text Link Ads is a member of the Better Business Bureau and also a circle member of SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization). I have heard nothing but good comments about Text Link Ads.



Natural Linking (artificial linking, link triangles, www or non-www)
* What is natural linking?
* What is artificial linking?
* What are link triangles?
* Is there any difference between linking virtually hosted domains and domains on dedicated IP addresses?
* Should I link to the www or non-www version of my domain?

result of website content creators trying to add value to their website.
Natural links:
• are surrounded by relevant text
• include a mixture of anchor text
• include a combination of homepage and deep links
• are usually built up slowly over time
• are from a wide variety of sources
• have a high ratio of links from subpages
• are not reciprocal

What is artificial linking?
Conversely, "artificial linking" are irrelevant or disguised links that add value to the link destination site, instead of the sites providing the links. These include paid links, link exchanges, "powered by" and "hosted by" links.
Artificial links:
• are surrounded by little or no relevant text
• are surrounded by navigation links
• typically have a high ratio of identical anchor text
• often are not in context with the webpage content
• typically point to the homepage
• spring up over a short period of time
• often come from a large number of webpages in a small number of sites
• have a high ratio of links from the homepage of websites
• are often reciprocal
• are at the bottom of the page

What are link triangles?
A link triangle is a concept devised to evade the detection of reciprocal linking patterns by search engines. With a link triangle, page A links to page B, page B links to page C, and page C links to page A, as illustrated below:

It is certainly an interesting concept, and one that may well fool the search engines if implemented properly with natural linking strategies.
Is there any difference between linking virtually hosted domains and domains on dedicated IP addresses?
None whatsoever according to Matt Cutts, head of the Google's Webspam team. Matt says, quote, "Links to virtually hosted domains are treated the same as links to domains on dedicated IP addresses."
Source: Myth busting: virtual hosts vs. dedicated IP addresses

DEFINITION
URL Canonicalization is the process of picking the best URL when there are several choices.

Should I link to the www or non-www version of my domain?
I would recommend picking the www version and always use that in internal and inbound links.
Do not think that www and non-www version of a domain is the same. For example, most people would probably consider these URLs to be the same:
• www.yoursite.com
• www.yoursite.com/index.html
• yoursite.com
• yoursite.com/index.html
Technically they are all different. I have often encountered the dreaded "cannot find server" error message when entering the non-www version of a domain name into a web browser, only for the site to appear when I try the www version.
Make sure your webmaster sets up your site so that it appears when someone visits either the www or non-www version of the domain.
I often come across internal homepage links pointing to various URLs, including:
• index.html
• yoursite.com
• yoursite.com/index.html
• www.yoursite.com/index.html
Stick to one URL, such as www.yoursite.com, instead of all those variations above.
Source: SEO advice: url canonicalization


Broken Links (link rot, broken link testing)
* What are broken links?
* What is linkrot?
* How often should I check for broken links?
* What are the most popular broken links testing software?

Broken links are text hyperlinks that typically links to another online document, such as a webpage, PDF file, video, Excel spreadsheet, etc. which when clicked doesn't lead to the correct destination.
Broken links can include clickable image links and links to images.

DEFINITION
Link Rot and Linkrot are used interchangeably

What is Link Rot?
Link Rot is the process by which links on a website become irrelevant as webpages and files being linked to disappear, change content, or redirect to a new location.
How often should I check for broken links?
Probably every day in an ideal world. But that would take up too much time. I would suggest you check for broken links at least once a month
What are the most popular broken links testing software?
My favorite tool for finding broken links is Xenu's Link Sleuth, which runs on Windows PC and is 100% free. Link verification is carried out on normal links, images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image maps, style sheets, scripts and Java applets. It displays a continuously updated list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria.
Additional features include:
• Can re-check broken links (useful for temporary network errors)
• Supports SSL websites - https://
• Detects and reports redirected URLs
• Creates site maps
• Reports can be emailed
• Partial testing of FTP and gopher sites
If you would like to recommend similar broken link checkers, which is also free, especially one for Mac users, please post it below.