C Shaffstall

I’m sure you’ve heard about link-building campaigns. A link campaign is when some other web site creates a link to your site and you reciprocate with a link to their site.

In very simple terms: A search spider is a computer application that wanders the internet and takes note of the content of web pages. This is called indexing. Spiders, or robots, as they are sometimes called, index not just the text on the page but also the images that you have used, alt[ernate] tags for images, meta tags you have identified, and any links (whether to other places within your site [internal links] or to other sites [external links]).
The most important criteria for a search spider are the “validity” and “relevancy” of your content.

If someone uses Google to find a product and the search-engine results (SER) are not relevant to the reader, then they may try a few other phrases to come up with a better match, or they may try another search engine. This is the worst possible scenario for a search-engine manufacturer. Their advertising dollars depend upon users reading their pages, so to lose a reader to a competitor can ring the death knell.

To make sure this does not happen, search-engine manufacturers send these spiders out to index your pages and then the application ranks your pages depending upon how valid and how relevant it feels your pages are on the topic at hand. You can help validate your pages using link exchanges with other companies that can support your claims. It is not helpful to randomly link to thousands of other web sites that are not supportive, so avoid those requests you receive each week (or maybe even each day) from other companies that offer a service for creating a link-exchange campaign for you.

You probably do not need someone else to do this for you — but a lot depends on how much time you have to dedicate to this type of project.

Here’s a quick start: Ask your clients to link to your page and you will, in exchange, link to theirs. You should make this easy for them. Create a banner or a bit of text worded exactly the way you wish, and provide them the URL of the landing page where you would like their customers to visit. Be specific when you ask for a link and request a page in their site that you feel is relevant.

You could also ask your customer for a professional endorsement. On their site, you could request something along the lines of, “we confidently endorse XYZ Company,” with a link to their endorsement within your site.

There are other ways too:

• Offer a linking site’s customers a discount if you have a shopping cart on your site. Be sure to create a landing page specifically for the visiting customer with a personalized welcome. At your site, create a link that sends your customers over to referring site. Always send links to a blank page so that if they close that page, your web page is still open. This acts as a gentle reminder in case they were not finished touring your site
• Add an affiliates program for your customers.
• Create banner ads for reciprocating sites.

Let’s take Pridemark Billing Services as an example. This company provides a billing service to other companies that are in the ambulance business. They use the Zoll Data Systems’ product and they have partnered with Zoll for various aspects of the business. Zoll Data has endorsed Pridemark, and in turn Pridemark has endorsed Zoll. Pridemark has two entire pages at their site dedicated to explaining their relationship with Zoll; and Zoll has added content to their site talking about their relationship with Pridemark.

Now Pridemark Billing Services and Zoll Data Systems have reciprocating links in place, here’s what happens: A search spider comes along and indexes Pridemark’s pages. Along the way it finds a link to Zoll Data Systems. It follows the link and when it gets to Zoll’s web site, it indexes the page to which Pridemark has linked. Sure enough, as the spider has a look around, it finds content on Zoll Data Systems’ site that uses much of the same industry language, terms, and meta tags that Pridemark uses. This indicates to the spider that Pridemark Billing Services’ content is valid and relevant. This is good news to you and to the search-engine manufacturer.

Every search-engine works a bit differently, and this is simply a layman’s explanation of the process so that you understand the importance of having good links — as opposed to thousands of links that do not support you. A small handful of validating and supportive links will be much better for you in the long run and will prevent you from the dreaded blacklisting of your site as an indiscriminate link propagater.

Remember, even though the spider is critical to your placement on a search engine, the text on your site should be built for the reader. Links to other sites should further enhance the reader’s experience. If you build your site as though you are building it for your customer, the spiders will come, they will tell their friends, and they will tell the search-engine users.