Are image links valuable as regular text links?

Tests in the past, as well as experience, have showed that if you compare a text link with an optimized anchor text with an image link with the same words attached as alt attribute, the page where the anchor text link points to will rank higher. This means that there’s no need to determine if a text link is “better” than an image link, but it still is worth to test the differences and smaller factors underneath. Nothing big, but useful enough to run a test.

To read Wiep Knoll’s article, click here

Select your keywords

* Select a range of keywords that match your website theme.
* Try to target keyword phrases rather than individual words, these are much easier to target and you
will receive better targeted visitors.
* Look for keywords that have a high popularity (searched often).
* Avoid common words such as “for” or “with” as these are ignored by search engines and
they can dilute the impact on your primary keywords.
* Narrow your keywords to approximately 1 to 3 primary keywords which should be
targeted most often.

Prioritize your keywords

* Wherever you insert your keywords, either on your pages or on internal links, always
place your keywords in order of relevance.
* Place your most important keyword on position one, second important on position two
and so on.

2. Domain name / Filename

Domain Registration

* Registering your domain for a long duration such as 5 years will tell search engines you
are serious about your website and do not have intentions of a spam page.
* Do not hide your domain registration details using Private Registration Services. Some
search engines consider websites with hidden details as spam.
* Domains that have existed for a while (2 or more years) appear to have better ranking
on search engines.

Length of Website Address

* Keep your website address to a minimum.
* Long filenames can be considered as spam.
* Avoid Session IDs and ID variables which are generated by most web applications.

Keyword in filename

* Include your most relevant keyword into your filename as the filename has a big impact
on search engines.
* Keep your keywords to a minimum of 1 to 2 words. A total of 4 or more keywords can be
considered as spam.
* Use hyphens (-) to separate your keywords/phrases.

Keyword in domain name

* Include your most relevant keyword into your domain name as the domain has a big
impact on search engines.
* Keep your keywords to a minimum of 1 to 2 words. A total of 4 or more keywords can be
considered as spam.
* Use hyphens (-) to separate your keywords/phrases.

Keyword in domain name
Include your most relevant keyword into your domain name as the domain has a big
impact on search engines

3. Keyword Placement

Keyword in title tag

* Keep your title short, roughly 10 to 60 characters.
* Including irrelevant words to your title will weaken the impact on your targeted keywords.
* Place your most target keyword phrases at the beginning of the title.

Keyword in Content

* Your keyword(s) should appear at a ratio of once every 20 words.
* If you do not have much text in your website, ensure you have it displayed at least once.

H1, H2 and H3 (Heading)

* Place your most relevant keyword(s) in a H1 tag.
* Place your secondary keyword(s) in H2 and H3 tags.
* All heading tags should remain its original style and not altered by Style tags or you may
be penalized by most search engines.

Keyword Font Styles

* Your keyword(s) should be placed in tags which will emphasize the keyword such as
Strong, Bold, Italic or Underline styles.

Keyword in Description Meta-tag

* Write a few sentences about your website.
* Most search engines do not consider this tag deeply.
* May be seen on some search engines so write it to attractive human eyes.

Keyword in Keyword Meta-tag

* Keep the tag to a maximum of 10 keywords and separated by comma (,).
* Every keyword listed here should appear at least once in your content (body). If not, the
keyword will be considered as irrelevant spam.
* All keywords should be listed only ONCE.
* Most search engines do not consider this tag deeply. Keyword in Description Meta-tag
* Write a few sentences about your website.
* Most search engines do not consider this tag deeply.
* May be seen on some search engines so write it to attractive human eyes.

Keyword placement in Body

* Most relevant keyword(s) should be near the beginning of the content (BODY) and also
in large fonts.

ALT Tags

* Images should be described using ALT Tags.
* You should describe only the image and not use Alt tags to promote your keywords.

4. Internal Links

Keyword in links to internal site pages

* Links should be displayed with appropriate keyword(s) in the title rather than titles such
as “click here”.

Valid internal links

* Ensure all internal links are active and working.
* Search engines dislike broken links and may devalue you if broken links are found.
* Check all broken links once in a while to ensure every page is online.

Efficient linking

* Spread your links out evenly for the search engine to easily locate them.
* Do not have your pages linked deeply where it becomes difficult to locate the page.

5. External / Outgoing Links

Quality Links

* Link to quality websites.
* Linking to link farms/spam websites will devalue your website.

Inspecting your Links

* Review your external links regularly.
* If an external link becomes a link farm or a spam website, you may be penalized for it if you
remain linking to the website.
* Ensure all your external links are online and working properly.

Title and Description

Links to external websites should have an appropriate title and description.

Limit number of links on a page.

* Keep number of links on page to a minimum.
* Google states that number of links should stay below 100 per page.

6. Incoming Links (backlinks)

Quality of Referrer

* A referrer page with high backlinks will share more ranking to you.
* Get websites linking to you that have high PageRank or have high backlinks
* Backlinks will be valued more if the referrer has a similar theme to your website.
* A computer games website linking to console games website will have excellent link
value.

Trend of link popularity

* Try to get websites linking to you in a steady pace.
* Steadily increasing backlinks will show a good sign to search engines therefore improve
your ranking.
* A sudden high increase of backlinks will flag your website for possible spam (i.e. blog
spam attack).

Anchor Text
* Ensure your primary keyword(s) is in the link title that links to you.
* Try to get websites linking to you with a range of different keywords.
* If all your backlinks have the same anchor text, search engines may assume you have
purchased links and devalue your backlinks.
* Anchor text should remain the same throughout a backlink.
* When an anchor text of a backlink change frequently, search engines may consider the link
as a purchased link.

Age of Link

* A backlink that has age will earn you good ranking.
* Temporary links that last 1 to 3 months do not usually receive good ranking.

Number of Outgoing Links on Referrer Page

* The value of each link is shared between the number of total links on that page.
* If a referrer page has fewer links, each link will be valued more.
* Try to earn yourself backlinks from pages that have few outgoing links.

Position of Link

* Links appearing more early in the HTML code are valued better.
* Links that are located on the header will be valued more than links on the footer.

Trusted Websites

* You will receive better ranking if you have backlinks from well trusted large websites.
* Most domains ending with .edu and .gov are well trusted by search engines.

JavaScript/Flash Links

* Avoid backlinks that are redirected by JavaScript or Flash.
* Most search engines ignore JavaScript and Flash links.

FREE keyword suggestion tool
SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
Google Adwords Traffic Estimator
Google Trends
Good Keywords

Betaalde Keyword research tools

Keyword Discovery
Wordtracker

In de komende dagen zal ik uitleggen wat de verschillen zijn tussen Keyword Discovery en Wordtracker.