Generating Incoming Links to Blogs, Websites
Writers, Bloggers Increase Traffic, Revenue & Page Rank With Links
Jan 29, 2009
Websites, bloggers and web writers can increase page views and traffic, while improving revenue by generating incoming links.
Unfortunately, many internet users don't know how to create incoming links, nor do they understand why incoming links are important when it comes to the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of a website.
What are Incoming Links? And How Do Incoming Links Affect SEO?
Incoming links, also called "inbound links" are links that lead to a website, blog or article from other sites.
More inbound links leading into a website, means more website traffic and page views. Improved website traffic and increased page views means additional revenue for retail websites, monetized blogs, and articles or other web pages that display Google AdWords and other advertisements.
But the benefits of incoming links extend beyond increased blog traffic or website page views.
Incoming links are also taken into consideration when determining the page rank of a website, web page or blog. Page rank is a number from 0 to 10 that, in part, determines how a website or blog performs in Google search results.
A website with a page rank of 8 is more likely to appear higher in the search results, while a website with a page rank of 2 may appear lower in the search results, thereby making the site less apt to get traffic.
In short, incoming links increase website, web page or blog traffic both directly and indirectly by improving page rank.
How Do I Generate Inbound Links for My Blog, Website or Web Page?
There are many ways to generate inbound links.
Most bloggers and web writers are familiar with social bookmarking websites like StumbleUpon and Digg, and while these websites can generate incoming links and increased traffic, there is a limit on how many links any one user can submit from a particular blog or website. For this reason, social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon have limited use as a long term source of incoming links.
Viable sources of incoming links on a more long term basis include the following websites' social bookmarking tools:
- Mixx.com
- Xomba.com's Xomblurbs
- del.icio.us
- Ask.com
- Reddit.com
- Google Bookmarks
- Yahoo!
For bloggers and web writers, inbound links can also be created in a few other ways:
- Create a lens on Squidoo.com and link to the blog, article or website.
- Write how-to articles for websites like eHow or Bukisa and include links to the website, blog or webpage under the "resources" section.
- Answer questions relating to the blog entry or article topic on Yahoo! Answers and other free answer websites and include a link to the blog or web article as a resource.
- When using photos from websites like Stock Xchng, post a link (in the comment section) to the blog or article where the photograph was used.
- When mentioning a company, website, organization or another blogger in an article or blog entry, contact the organization, website, etc. and provide a link to the article; many will post the link on their blog or website.
- Participate in link exchanges with other bloggers who write about a similar topic; include the links in a special section under a heading like "Readers may also enjoy..."
In addition, bloggers and website creators can also include a link to their website or blog in an e-mail signature that's automatically affixed to all outgoing e-mail messages.
More Tips for Bloggers and Web Writers
For more hints on how to promote a blog or website, visit the Resources for Writers Page, which includes articles like Using Xomba to Promote Blogs and Web Writing, along with How to Use Google Alerts - For Web Writers.
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