Do Inbound Links Matter?

I would like to spend one more posting on basic search engine optimization. My first article involved “behind the page” optimization hints…my second article in this series discussed “on the page” criteria and this article will spend some time on “off the page” ideas. Of course, this is the one where we have least control as well. One of the most powerful means of increasing our visibility on the search engines revolves around inbound links. Again, this is especially important to Google…so much so, in fact, that without them it is difficult to show near the top of the rankings…which is where we would all like to be. In the old days, we tended to exchange links with others (reciprocal linking) and that gave us inbound links. This was good…especially if they were quality links of related business similar to our own. One never knows what search engines build into their algorithms (their individual recipes for trying to rank web sites better than then the other engine), but it now appears that it is better to build good, related, one-way, inbound links. It seems like they carry much more weight. How would you do this. Well, 1) write some good articles and then have them posted online (with a mini-bio and link to your site) to an appropriate e-newsletter or the like. Good articles are always in demand. 2) Perhaps pay the $25+/- per year that some of the real estate directories charge for inclusion. 3) Blogs appear to also be finding favor with the search engines. So for example, if I should refer to my site at www.agentsupportcenter.com from within this blog article, with all the target words that it contains, it might help my site. That is how articles published on the web can help you. And, 4) any public interest articles that wind up in any of the newspapers online (ie. The Kitsap Sun) could have your domain name noted in it as well.
So, from the articles I have published in this 3-part series (although there are other tweaks we can make and I’ll try to cover a few more that are within your capabilities…especially if you have a GraphicalData site), we have looked at Titles and Meta tags “behind the page”, we have looked at quality content “on the page” (good quality, relevant, honest verbiage), and today we have looked at how inbound links can benefit us “off the page”. Remember everything you can do helps stack the cards (rankings) in your favor. But, a final word, don’t get so obsessed with rankings that you lose track of your real purpose…working with people like we always have…face to face…with all the other lead generating methods that are available to us…and show and sell :~)