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Perhaps the
most obvious reason to build links is for the traffic that
they can send to your web site. Before search engines even
existed, hyperlinks were the primary method of moving from
one page to another on the Web. Webmasters recognized
quality sites that had something to offer to their own
visitors and placed links to those sites on their own web
pages. Web site visitors used those links to find their way
to other valuable content on the Internet. Even today, a
large portion of Internet users navigate from one site to
the next via links. By seeking out web sites that offer
complimentary products or information related to your own
site and linking to them, you are offering a service to your
visitors and enhancing their experience at your site.
The other
reason, and the one that is more important in terms of SEO,
is because a good link building campaign will help your site
get indexed more quickly and more completely by the major
search engines, even those that you might be tempted to pay
for inclusion with. Spider-based search engines like Google,
Alta Visa and FAST/AlltheWeb find new sites to include in
their directory by following links. Nearly all of the major
search engines use the popular directories (Yahoo!, DMOZ,
GoGuides) as a starting point for finding new sites. Getting
your site listed in these directories is a great way to get
your site listed in the search engines. Additionally, while
some spider-based search engines, like Inktomi, have a paid
inclusion option, they will still include your web site for
free if they find it on their own. By working on building
links to your web site, you'll eventually get yourself in
front of one of these spiders and will find yourself listed
in the most popular search engines without ever paying a
dime. |
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