Link Analysis

Link Analysis and Link Popularity are key areas of concern to internet marketing and Search Engine optimisation companies today.

If a web page features in the top ten listings, (also known as "front page listing"), for a particular keyword or keyphrase, it is more likely to be viewed than a page listed on page four.

As any search engine optimizer will tell you, achieving a front page listing simply doesn't happen by chance. Years ago, an optimizer could rank a page successfully for a set keyword or keyphrase by simply delivering the correct keyword density within the page content; but search engines soon changed their algorithms to prevent "keyword stuffing" as it had become known.

On top of the regular changes to their algorithms, search engines introduced link popularity as an additional way to rank a web page. Link popularity was calculated on the number of hyperlinks, from other websites, that pointed to your web site. The more links that pointed to your site, the easier that it was to gain a front page position on the engines.

Search engines had decided that link popularity was now a key factor in ranking and showing Relevance for web pages. The engines believed that if other web sites were using your site as a reference point, your site must contain more relevant Content than other sites with similar content, so your site received a boost in the search engine rankings. As the engines, at that time, were not analyzing the links, it really didn't matter where they came from - it was a case of quantity, rather than quality. Some Search Engine Optimisation companies and web marketers then set up link farms to get around the introduction of link popularity. Unfortunately, they overdid it, with the result that the engines were crowded with pointless links.

Link Analysis - The Solution

The search engines then introduced link analysis, as a solution to the pointless links issue. Now instead of simply counting the links to your web site, the search engines analyse the links to decide on the quality and relevance of the site's content. Subject Specific Popularity, as link analysis was originally titled, analyses each link to a site and ranks the site on the rank and number of same subject pages that are linked to it, rather than simply counting link popularity.

Keyword and keyphrase density is still an important factor in search engine optimisation, as it defines what you think your pages are about. Link analysis, on the other hand, defines your reputation and what other Web Site owners think that your page is about.

Link Popularity, why is it key to the success of your online business?

Until recently, search engine optimisation focused on building web pages using flat HTML and then doing extra optimisation work on areas of the page that were known to influence search engine positioning. With the addition of link popularity and link analysis to the search engine optimisation mix, SEO companies require a whole new skillset. Link popularity now plays a major role in achieving a first page ranking on the search engines. For a site to rank well, the optimiser must understand how content, link popularity, page reputation, and page importance work together in determining the relevancy of your web page or web site. Almost every web page has a link popularity score, based on the number of links that are pointing to them. If a site or page has no popularity score, it is usually because the site or page is new, has no relevant content or is under a search engine penalty for infringing search engines rules.