Links within content linking to content

It has always been the case that links within content can give a real boost to the search engine rankings of the target site. Most of us have just been ignoring it until now because the mantra for links in recent years has been quantity before quality. Get as many links as you can pointing at your site, no matter what the quality is. A site-wide link from anywhere on a page, even at the bottom of each page in nearly invisible text was the ideal situation. If you could get them you suddenly had hundreds or thousands of links pointing at your site.

After that, the clever linkers made sure that their main search term was in the anchor text for the link. It worked well too, hundred or thousands of instances of a single term relating to your site worked wonders on putting your site at the top of the search results.

Then came the blogosphere and it has redefined linking theories. A typical blog post will have an outgoing link in it, pointing directly at the related information mentioned in the post. The link is usually right in the middle of a paragraph and is often anchored on a particular phrase relating to that article. The link is never wasted by pointing to the top level of the related site, rather it goes directly to the page containing the relevant information.

Many SEO's keep a blog and they would be the first to notice that these links within content were powering their sites to the top of search engine results. So the word was out and it was time to take notice. The old style of linking is fine - but just not as efficient or as productive as the new style. I say new style, but of course I mean even older style - this was the original way of navigating round the web - following hyperlinks within content. Now we're all waking up from our link quantity induced slumber and should be looking for ways to get people to link to us from their content.

Here's an example of how the old style link would look on a page:

OutdoorScotland.co.uk Camping Equipment Shop
Outdoors gear store selling camping equipment, tents, walking gear and outdoors accessories. Free delivery available.

The link above applies only to the title and links only the the site home page. With the new style of content linking you would be aiming at something like this:

Camping in the UK?
Camping in the UK can be a fickle affair with invisible biting insects and the threat of rain at any time. It can make your camping trip a lot easier if you have the right equipment. OutdoorScotland.co.uk can provide this gear with their large selection of camping equipment. Look at the cheap tents for your shelter. For sleeping you'll need a good sleeping bag and a comfy camping mat. And for protection from biting insects you should try the midge head net and insect repellent.

If the entire page that this paragraph was placed on contained other similar information and links then you have an expert page about camping or outdoors gear. Combine that with the anchor text pointing directly at the products and you have an expert page giving your site kudos with exactly the search terms you want to be found for. Search engines will then take note.

Spend your time working on links like this and your site rank really should improve in leaps and bounds.

3-Nov-2005