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SEO 101: Looking at Links

ArticlesSEO 101: Looking at Links

Links are critical to your SEO efforts. This article is aimed at folks who are only beginning their journey into the realms of search engine optimization (SEO). If you’re an advanced SEO professional, you’ll find this article basic. Or, perhaps you’ll find it a refreshing reminder of some basic SEO best practices. Either way, we hope you find it helpful.

What Exactly Are Links?

The term “links” is short for hyperlinks. Whenever you click on a word, a phrase, or a picture and access a new webpage or document, you’ve clicked a link.

Let’s imagine the World Wide Web as a universe. It’s full of websites, images, and sources of information. Human readers and search engine “crawlers” can navigate from one site to the next via links.

Both human readers and search engines appreciate links that:

  • Work — few things are more frustrating than clicking on a link and getting an error that this page doesn’t exist anymore.
  • Are accurately named — because no one wants to feel tricked into visiting a page they have no interest in seeing.
  • Lead to quality information — rather than “spammy” sales pitches or “noisy” advertising.

Now that we have a clear understanding of what links do let’s think about how they affect your position in search engines.

Different Types of Links Have Various Values to Search Engines

From a search provider’s (i.e., Google’s) perspective, links help clarify reading material and show how valuable your website is. The three most important links for search engine placement are:

  1. Inbound links — links to your website from other sites. Lots of inbound links prove the value of your information.
  2. Outbound links — links to quality information outside your business. These help your audience complete research or inspire them with new ideas.
  3. Internal links — links from one page within your website to other pages, like “contact us” or “pricing” links set into your text.

If this is your first look into search engine optimization for your business website, it becomes clear that you should start by checking every link on your site. Make sure they work and that they lead to quality information.

If you’re interested in learning more about quality links for SEO and other professional SEO services at Drum Creative, please contact us.

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