by Thu Nguyen

Created on: September 19, 2010

Every time you read something online, there will be links which directs your attention elsewhere. Whether they are relevant or not, the point between them becoming a distraction or added research depends on how the writer has positioned them. Otherwise known as a backlink, it is always nice to link to someone else’s site when the topic is relevant. Furthermore, this shows appreciation without sounding like an effort meant to just be seen. This article then will walk you through what should and should not be done with links to another article.  

Positioning of Links

The rule of thumb when it comes to mentioning a link is very similar to implementing an SEO keyword phrase in an article. You don’t want to overdo it. In fact, the best place to showcase what you’re talking about is introducing the site in the beginning through a keyword, and once again at the end. Any more then the reader will feel overwhelmed with where to start. Thus, the article should explain more of what a certain topic is and through the link the why can be answered.

Links In Pictures

Another way to insert the link is through a picture which should also be tagged through the ‘alternate text’. Also known as an anchor text through text, backlinks build through pictures can be more beneficial than text as they may be compelled to ‘click here’ when it’s on the picture. That isn’t the same for text as the ‘anchor text’ should confirm to the backlinking efforts through describing what the site is not ‘here’ which says nothing about it.

Are They Dofollow?

Finally when linking to a site, it is best to determine if the site offers you to let you link to them. Otherwise known as ‘dofollow’, your link building efforts might not be worthwhile to know that it does nothing back. Therefore, you’re not building links to grow but building links with no benefits. That’s almost like shooting blank bullets. You don’t want that to happen.

So the best way to find out if a site is dofollow is through installing a toolbar called SearchStatus. Then through your Firefox browser, ‘Highlight Nofollow links’ on the site you want to link to and if the highlight informs you that it doesn’t offer link juice, your efforts are worthless. It’s better to find some other site to link to that does offer you link juice to build backlinks with then.

Furthermore, backlinks are the backbone of every successful page, site or content. Knowing how to effectively position links so that they will be seen but most importantly reciprocate link love to, can help a writer be seen. Not only that, the sites of the relationship the writer is building links with will also be better too in terms of search engine ranking.

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