Link Popularity is becoming a very popular subject these days. What is it? How does it affect one's web site rankings?
Link Popularity Defined
Link Popularity is a score that can be given to a web site based on how many external and internal links are pointing or linking to any particular web page or URL. External links would include those that come from any other web site other than your own whereas internal links would be those that come from within the same domain name. Link Popularity is also based not only on the "quantity" of links but the "quality" of those links as well. Therefore to have a good Link Popularity score, it is not necessarily required to have a large number of links pointing to your site but rather a good number of quality links.
What Defines a Quality Link
In measuring Link Popularity, search engines have decided that the more people who link to any particular site, the more popular it must be. It is almost as if they are voting in favor of that site. On the other hand, few people will link to a poor site. Therefore in attempting to rank sites according to relevancy, not only are title tags, meta tags, actual content on a page, etc., etc., taken into consideration, but a search engine will measure Link Popularity or in other words try to determine how people have voted for a site.
What would determine a quality link or vote then? A quality link would be either from a site that already has a good Link Popularity score or a site that is related to your own in some way. For instance, a link from Yahoo, Open Directory or Looksmart would constitute a very high quality link because these sites are extremely popular and many people have already linked to them. Secondly, if you have a site about bass fishing and another site about bass fishing or even fishing in general links to your site, that would constitute a quality link.
By being able to either score a link based upon a linking site's popularity or related subject matter, search engines have thwarted the efforts of those who would try to abuse the Link Popularity system by participating in link farms, FFA (free for all) sites and the like. It is actually a very clever way to produce relevant results to a search audience because a.) they are presenting pages that have relevant content to what one was searching for and b.) people have voted in favor of it.
How To Measure My Link Popularity
How can you measure your own Link Popularity you might wonder. The best way is to download the Google Toolbar. This is an awesome addition to your browser which sits just below your URL address bar. It has many functions, the best of which is a PageRank scoring indicator. With this meter-like display, you can actually see how Google has scored any particular web page. Google will score it on a 1-10 level with 10 being the highest. The toolbar also has a "Backwards Links" function. Click on this when viewing any web page and Google will show you all the links pointing to it, both internal and external. Why is Google's scoring of your site important? Because Google is the pioneer of taking a site's Link Popularity into consideration when scoring relevancy and now many other search engines are following their lead. It is one of the reasons why Google is able to present such relevant search results.
There are other tools out there that allow you to check your links on other sites. Two such tools can be found at http://www.ineedhits.com/free/popularity/ or http://www.linkpopularitycheck.com/. Type in the URL you wish to check and these tools will check multiple sites for you.
Building Link Popularity
Ensuring you have a good Link Popularity score can be a tedious and ongoing project but most certainly can and should be done. First and foremost you should make sure your site is listed in all the major directories such as Yahoo, Open Directory, Looksmart and even Business.com. Links from these top directories will increase your Link Popularity score tremendously because they already have a great Link Popularity score themselves.
Secondly you should make sure your own site is inter-linked well. Each one of your pages should support a navigational structure whereby you can access all of your sub pages or at least the main sub sections of your site. Also make sure all of your sub pages have a link that points back to your home page. Basically this means all of the pages in your web site are linking to one another. This is not only important for Link Popularity purposes but so that your site presents an easy-to-use experience for the end user as well.
Thirdly, seek out links from similar non-competing sites. Industry related directories or portals are great sites to get links from. This can be a tenacious project but well worthwhile.
Finally, have great content! It can be assumed that if you have a great site that offers valuable content that people will naturally link to it. We own and operate such a site. It is called The Jesus Site and is a Christian resource site for sermon and study material as well as containing a variety of other useful information. We find that without any effort whatsoever on our part, people will link to it just because they find it resourceful. People will automatically link to yours as well if they find it a useful and enjoyable site. "But my site does not have a lot of good content," you say. Then fix it! Not only will you increase your Link Popularity by having good useful content, you will also create a positive user experience and if you are selling or promoting a product or service, will naturally generate more sales leads. We are always amazed here at SearchRank how many people initially call or email and are already "sold" on us because they have visited our site, read through all of the content we offer and were able to make a decision.
How Much "Link Popularity" Do I Need?
One might begin to inquire as to how many links pointing to their site they actually need to rise to the top of the search engines. The answer to that is fairly simple - just a little more than your competition. If you are in a highly competitive business such as telecom, you are going to need a good level of high quality links pointing at your site to come out on top. On the other hand if you are landscaper baser in Arizona, then you have a lot less competition and therefore will not need as many links pointing to your site. All you need is a little more and a little better quality links than your competition and you have a good chance to come out on top. This of course does not negate the responsibility to have good content and to make sure your site is optimized well to reflect your relevant keywords. A site that has great content, is properly optimized but doesn't have great Link Popularity can still beat out a site that maybe has better Link Popularity but poor content and optimization. The two go hand in hand.
Article written by David Wallace (May 2002; updated August 2003)


Handling Discount SEO Requests
Scottie Claiborne
It's a situation that most will experience sooner or later. The potential customer on the other end of the line has just made a plea for a discount. Your workload is fairly light and you want the business. Do you offer a discount or not?
Do You Really Want This Client?
More often than not, clients who start out haggling over price and trying to "grind you down" over fees will ALWAYS want a discount. When you give in and offer them a discounted price, you are doing just as much work for less money. In my experience, the people who are most concerned about the price rarely feel they are getting what they paid for and are difficult to satisfy. You often end up giving more to the people who are paying the least!
Another thing to consider is that when you discount your services, many people assume you must have been gouging them in the first place, otherwise you couldn't afford to discount.
Knowledge-based services are a tricky thing to sell, because you are selling your expertise. Don't sell yourself short!
Here are a couple of strategies for dealing with bargain hunters:

"Sorry, We Don't Offer Discounts."
This is the stand to take when:
You are already turning down business.
The project is complex and likely to expand.
They really want you to do the work.
Explain to the customer that you simply don't offer discounts. You are selling your time more than anything else, and you have a limited supply. Many clients feel they ought to ask for a discount, just in case. When told no, most will still retain your services.
Often however, there is a guilt card thrown in, such as when it's a church, school, or charity with no budget. If that's the case, try this:
"Please Apply for Our Community Service Program."
Set a specific number of projects you will handle for deserving organizations. Create an application and a timeline.
A sample plan:
4 charitable projects a year for half price or some other discount.
Applications are accepted quarterly.
Use each new charitable project as an opportunity to send a press release to the local and online media.
Your company accepts the applications and selects the ones that will bring the most exposure and meet other criteria, such as a cause that touches the owner personally. You set the timelines according to current workloads and utilize downtime by building your image and helping out a good cause.
A charitable project program shows that you aren't just a heartless mercenary out to make as much money as possible, but in fact a dedicated member of the community with an organized outreach program to give back.
It allows YOU to choose the programs that make sense for you to donate to, and prevents you from having to make snap judgments while under pressure from a client
.
Offer Something Extra
Take a hint from the cosmetic companies -- they don't get into pricing battles amongst themselves. They fight it out with extravagant gifts with purchase. For a $20 purchase, you get a free gift worth $50! Who wouldn't buy?
This strategy keeps you from eroding the value of your services through discounting while offering clients a reason to choose your service instead of a competitor's.
Consider separating your services into an a la carte menu: you can add on additional services that don't take much time (or might normally be included) at no extra cost. By setting a dollar value for each service you provide (as opposed to a flat fee for "optimization") you can create "packages" of services that include some specific items for "free."
"But Your Competitor Is $300 Less..."
Whatever you do, DON'T start badmouthing your competitors. Negativity rarely impresses a client. You can however, point out what makes YOUR service worth more. A higher price can actually work to your advantage. Simply state the facts -- whatever it is that makes you different and better.
We've been successfully optimizing websites since 199x.
Our service has a proven record; feel free to contact our clients for a referral.
Optimization is a knowledge-based service. We are confident our service is well worth the fees.
Company ABC will probably do a fine job for you, if your budget is limited.
Why would you recommend they call the other company? Well, if they really wanted to hire company ABC, they would have already done it! Instead, they are calling you back to try to get you to meet the other's prices...because they want to hire YOU, not them.
Many will call your bluff and hang up to call the competitor. More often than not, they'll call back and book you. If they really are shopping based on price alone, they'll book the competitor and leave you free to work with other clients.
Be Prepared
Sometimes a discount is appropriate and makes sense, other times you just need to be able to turn the request to your advantage. However you decide to handle discount requests, be prepared with a ready answer before they ask. It will prevent you from getting into projects that aren't profitable while ensuring that you get to work with clients who appreciate the value of your skills.
This article originally appeared in the High Rankings newsletter.


The Keyword Tools Trap
By Scottie Claiborne
When it comes to keyword selection, clients always want to optimize for the highest searched terms (according to keyword research tools) and those alone. It takes some convincing to get them to go after lower search volume, but more relevant phrases. It's become a regular part of the cycle with my clients, especially those who are learning about SEO and the process of optimizing a site.
Real Searches vs. the Numbers Game
Last week, a client wanted to know why I had suggested several phrases to them that showed 0 searches in Wordtracker. The reason? Those phrases were showing REAL referrals in their logs for several variations. People were actually using those phrases to search, and although they found my client's site, it wasn't doing a good job of focusing on these relevant searched-for terms.
The Keyword Research Process
I usually have the client provide me with the typical words they think someone might be using to find the product, service or information that they offer. We look at what competitors are optimizing for and then I look at their log files. When possible, I talk to the client's salespeople and a few customers about the words that describe the products or services.
Then I may play with Altavista to see what phrases it thinks are related (you see a list of related searches to the right of the search results in AV). Then I'll hit Wordtracker and the Overture suggestion tool to get an idea of how people are searching in that industry.
Other keyword research tools that may be helpful are:
Search Term Research by PrioritySubmit
Keyword Research Tool by Webmaster Toolkit
Keyword Suggestion Tool by DigitalPoint Solutions
Google Adwords Keyword Tool by Google
Keyword Suggestions for Google by SEO Chat
Keyword Generator by Espotting Media
(Thanks to "BobMutch" for the list of keyword research tools -- see more great info on his Free Seo Tools site .
These tools are a great help in suggesting possible phrases that you may want to optimize for, but they are limited. They aren't inclusive of all searches, and they can't foretell the future. Just because people searched on a term last week, doesn't mean they'll search for it next week.
Many people today simply run through Wordtracker, grab the results that have a high KEI, and set about optimizing for those phrases. Some of the problems with this tactic are:

They believe that general phrases are relevant because they show a high number of searches. However, general phrases often bring traffic -- but no sales. Specific phrases bring traffic that converts.
Wordtracker's KEI function doesn't tell you much. It doesn't really show how many other pages are competing for your phrases, and it doesn't really matter anyway. You are only concerned with the top 10 results!
Many keyword phrases are seasonal -- seeing what people searched for last month doesn't always tell you what they will search for next month.
Common Sense Keyword Selection
What many people miss is the common sense aspect of search; what words will people who want to find your goods or services use to search for it? Besides keyword research tools, your client, their salespeople and customers, here are 3 additional ways of finding out what people are typing in at the search engines to find what you offer:

Trade organizations or industry news sites
Usability testing/surveys
Log files
A note about log files -- they can be deceiving. If you have a high traffic phrase that is garnering lots of referrals, and you have a high exit rate from the page that is receiving those referrals, it's likely people aren't finding what they wanted. On the other hand, log files are a treasure trove of information. You can find some great search terms that are not very competitive and maximize them on your site.
Competitive phrases may not be as competitive as you think (check the top 10 search results to see) and the highly searched upon phrases may not be as lucrative as you would hope. People often refine their search 2-3 times before getting the results they expect.
The bottom line when it comes to keyword research is that it pays to know the industry. Use all the great tools available to help you come up with variations and alternate terms to target, but use common sense when targeting terms. Go for the ones that are going to convert!
This article originally appeared in the High Rankings newsletter.