Link Popularity Explained

Link Popularity
1.)Why don't all my links show up when I use the link: command?
A. At this moment Google is only showing a sampling of the total links to you. As far as numbers, it is only important to remember it is a sampling and to just continue your link building strategy. To see a much more accurate figure please login to your google webmasters account and use the link tool there.

2.)How come I get a different amount of links when I use www.example.com
and example.com?
A. In the search engines eyes, these are two different domains and therefore have
different amounts of sites linking to them. So you should 301 redirect one version to the other.
If your site is hosted on a linux server you may do the following:
Open your .htaccess file(in the root directory of your site), if you don't see one create a .htaccess file and add the following:
Code:
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^domain.com [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1 [r=301,nc]
Of course you will need to change domain.com in both instances to your domain name.
Make sure if you are creating the .htaccess file you save it as .htaccess or it will not work.

3.) What's a Link Farm?
A. A set of web pages that have been built for the sole purpose of increasing
the number of incoming links to a web site. This is done in order to increase
link popularity and search engine rankings. Link farms usually require a reciprocal
link from sites seeking listings. Link farms are a known spam tactic and sites
that participate in them are likely to be penalized or banned from the major search
engines.
Please keep in mind that links from these sites do not harm you, what harms your site
is you linking OUT to these sites NOT them linking in. However these types of links
will not benefit you either so don't waste your time with them.


4.) What is "Anchor Text"?
A: Anchor text is the text that you use within a html link.
For example
The anchor text that you use, should reflect the keywords of which you are trying
to get a higher listing for. It should also accurately describe what information
will be found on the next page if you click on the link.
Your anchor text should be varied, you should not use the same
anchor text for all your links(that you control), if you use a variety of
anchor text your overall link strength will be stronger and you
will rank for many more phrases than if you focused on only one keyword.

5.) What is an "IBL"?
A: An "IBL" is an 'In Bound Link'. When a site links to yours, that
link is called an IBL. The same thing as a BL (Backlink).
Backlinks play a major role in ranking a site in the search engines
specifically Google and MSN. Google also puts a great deal of value
on the quality of the links, where it is placed, is the site related to yours?
A link on a content related page is going to be worth a whole lot
more than a link on a links page.

6.) What is Reciprocal linking or link exchange?
Link exchanging or reciprocal linking is where two sites
exchange links. Usually this occurs when a webmaster
sends an email to another webmaster requesting a link
on their site.
Because of how easy it is to get a link this way Google
has greatly dis-valued these types of links. They are still
worth something but not as much as they have been in
the past.
Some tips if you do exchange links...
-Only exchange links with related sites, don't reciprocate
with sites who are irrelevant even if they have a high PageRank.
-Don't reciprocate with sites who link to anything, only exchange
links with sites who are particular about who they link to.
-Don't reciprocate with sites which have categories for every
industry or hobby ever invented. Again keep it relevant.
-Don't reciprocate with sites whos link pages contain hundreds of links.
-Before reciprocating view the source of the page(CTRL + U for FF | View > Source for IE)
and check that NONE of the links on the page contain a nofollow tag.
A quick way to check is to use the find tool and search for "nofollow"
-Also goto http://www.domainnameofsite.com/robots.txt
That way you can see if they have excluded the links pages.
Also do a search in google for cache:domain.com/linkspage
to see if the page your link will be placed on is indexed.
Those are tips you definitely should follow if you do decide
to exchange links.

7.) What is Linkbait?
Linkbait is when you create a tool, write a articles or many articles
or otherwise do something that works as a link magnet.
Website owners start linking to your pages without even being
asked, many times the sites linking to you are authorities in
your industry so a good linkbait can have a an extremely
large positive effect on your rankings.
How do I create a linkbait?
-Talk about a hot subject - preferably before anyone else has
written extensively on it.
-Take a recent event in your niche and write a extensive article
detailing what it is about, what is good and bad about it etc.
-Be controversial - Perhaps one of the best ways to create
a link bait.
-Be contrary... take a point that most, almost all of the experts
in your niche agree on and disagree with it. Preferably provide
evidence that you are right. If you do it should create quite a buzz.
Some good tips can be found here:
http://www.seobook.com/archives/001936.shtml

8.) What is cross linking?
A: When multiple sites link to each other for the purpose of increasing link popularity.

9.) How long after I am listed in DMOZ should I start to gain the search engine benefit?
A: The days of DMOZ Search Engine Ranking are over. Submit and forget but don't expect any search engine value from the listing if you do get it? If you can get in that’s great but if not don't sweat it..


10.) Would I be penalized if a "Link Farm" or a "Bad Neighborhood" linked to my site?
A: No, you have no control over who links to you and this would be an easy way for a competitor to sink your site. What you SHOULD be careful of is if you are linking to them. This CAN hurt your site and should be avoided.

Don't be afraid to link out to sites that are related to yours
but never link to a site because they guarantee search engine value if you do.
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