How And How Not To Generate Traffic For Your Site Via Linking

The key aim in SEO is to drive increased traffic to a website, and this is done through a variety of methods involving linking. As most computer users find websites via search engines it is imperative that a site is optimised to be as highly ranked by search engines as possible. Doing so massively improves the chance of users finding the site and as a result can increase the sites popularity.

Search engines have a complex ranking process which judges sights by a variety of factors including; meta-tags, relevance to the searched topic and internal and external links. Internal links are generated within the site itself to create structural strength and in turn improve its ranking in search engines. External links on the other hand are one of the most vital players in raising a sites profile as they are a key factor in how search engines judge the quality and hence the ranking of a site. As a result site promoters have undertaken an array of methods (some good, some bad) to increase the number of external links to their site.

Link Baiting is the ideal method of gaining links. The most important thing about getting a website noticed is to provide interesting or invaluable content. That's what websites are all about. They should always offer some kind of valuable information or service. Hence, if a site has some good information there is a good chance it will get noticed and users will create links to it in forums and blogs. In turn this will organically bring up the sites ranking and popularity.

On the other hand, viral advertising has sprung up as a successful way of marketing and generating links. What viral advertising has in common with good content is that it relies on others to generate its sights strength. The difference is that viral videos may have nothing to do with the sites content. They are created to be funny, entertaining or shocking in order to provoke reaction and debate from web users. These web users in turn post links which benefit the site.

Micro sites are a somewhat more controversial method of attaining links. Also known as link farming, this involves the creation of smaller orbital sites with links directed to the main site. In theory this should generate greater link strength and hence ranking for the parent site. However, search engines such as Google often pick up on and disregard these sites rendering them worthless. Furthermore it could be more prudent for companies to spend their time strengthening the content and internal linking of the main site than creating micro sites.

Alternative methods such as directory submissions can provide useful linking and improve awareness of your site. What is most important overall is to know your market and tune your site toward this. A reasonable amount of research and the use of tools such as Google Analytics will assist in assessing the proper website design and how to fine tune SEO.

By applying the right methods to promote your site and generate links you can increase traffic and improve rankings the way you want.

By: Alistair Summers

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Sam Qam has achieved a good level of the right traffic to his site through a combination of good SEO and website design.