The Dwindling Value of the Link (and What You Can Do About It)

Is the power of the link dwindling?The opinions vary greatly, but some of the best in the industry give their opinions on what we all need to know about links...

Is the power of the link dwindling?

The opinions vary greatly, but some of the best in the industry give their opinions on what we all need to know about links and the future.

Just to clarify, inbound links (i.e. links that lead to pages on your website via pages on other websites) are one of the main evaluating criteria that Google uses to determine PageRank, and thus your ranking in search engines. Basically, the more quality inbound links that exist on the web that lead to your website, the better chance you will have in ranking well in search engines for related keywords / key phrases.

This article on WordStream has 13 experts comment on a video released recently by Matt Cutts that confirmed Google has tested internal versions of its search engine that functioned entirely without links. What does it mean that Google has tested an internal version of the search engine that functions without links? It basically confirms the fact that Google may be working on a version of the PageRank algorithm that doesn’t value inbound links as heavily, if at all. What this also means is that if your website depends solely on inbound links to get it to rank in Google, particularly if they are low-to-medium-quality links, there might be a storm brewing in your website’s future.

How can you fortify your website from an algorithm change that doesn’t value inbound links?

If Google does suddenly do a major overhaul to its PageRank algorithm that devalues inbound links there will likely be an uproar as big (if not bigger) than that which was seen during the first Google Panda updates. But if you are smart and handle your website carefully now, you may be able to mitigate some of the decrease in traffic.

1. No brainer: don’t rely on high-volume low-to-medium-quality links in order to increase your page rank. Concentrate more on getting links from reputable websites in like-minded industries.

2.  Pay close attention to the way your website actually functions. Is it slow? Are you loading huge video files or images to it? Are you unintentionally duplicating content? Is your content structured in a way that’s easy to use and easy to find? How well does your website actually convert visitors to taking action?

3. Make sure you have a strong social media presence now. If you have a base of raving fans, they will be able to find you no matter where you go. And, they will make sure your deals / information / news is perpetuated regardless of whether you fall temporarily out of search results.

4. Create smart, fun, shareable content such as infographics, explainer videos, animated GIFs, funny photos, vectors, video clips, eBooks … you get the gist. Then populate the Interwebs with your content. Share it, post it, Tweet it, Tumble it, Instagram it, pin it. If it’s good, once its out there it will get shared over and over again.

DemoFlick makes share-worthy, explainer videos for marketing and websites. Whether you are launching a SaaS, mobile app, or brick-and-mortar business, we will create an animated demo video for you that your website visitors and customer will love. Contact us here for a quote by calling 800.787.6398 or reaching out to us via Facebook, Linked In or Twitter.

Wade Koens

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