By Tom Dahne

What is Link Pop?

Link popularity, sometimes referred to as "Link Pop," plays a very important role in determining a website's visibility among the top returned search results. Your site's link pop will be determined by the quality, quantity, and relevance of the other websites that link to your page.

What is Page Rank?

"Page Rank," sometimes abbreviated PR, was developed by Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Here is how Google describes the "Page Rank" system:

Page Rank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

Important, high-quality sites receive a higher Page Rank, which Google remembers each time it conducts a search. Of course, important pages mean nothing to you if they don't match your query. So, Google combines Page Rank with sophisticated text-matching techniques to find pages that are both important and relevant to your search. Google goes far beyond the number of times a term appears on a page and examines all aspects of the page's content (and the content of the pages linking to it) to determine if it's a good match for your query.

Page Rank is rated on a scale of PR-0 to PR-10. A site with a ranking of PR-10 is much higher than one rated PR-0. When a site has a high page ranking, there will be more opportunities for search engine users to locate and view the site. Thus, more traffic will be routed to that site because it is viewed by the web community as a valuable resource.

What Does This Mean For You?

In theory, the more "popular" a website is, the higher its PR will be. Here's a quick recap on how to sustain strong "link pop" and Google PR:

To Improve Your "Link Pop":

" Generate as many one-way, non-reciprocal links as possible. Make sure your link is listed by credible websites ONLY.

" Your "Link Pop" can be improved when the websites that link to yours have a higher Google PR than you do. This is considered a heavily weighted "vote" towards your site. However, do make sure to link to pages with various PR's.

" Create reciprocal links with websites that are relevant to yours. If your website sells cat toys, link to a pet lover's site, and cat-sitting service, etc.

It Doesn't Matter If:

" You provide one-way links to other sites that are relevant to yours. As long as you don't have too many uncategorized links, this will not hurt your site's "Link Pop"; however, it does not directly contribute to improving it.

Tips to Avoid Diminishing Your Site's PR:

" Do not submit your website to "Link Farms" or "Free-For-All" (FFA) directories. Google views these as spam sites and will thus lower your PR.

" Exchanging links with irrelevant websites can lower your PR. ONLY reciprocate links with similar credible sources. Just think: "Is this valuable to my readers?"

" Make sure to vary your links. A reciprocal-link campaign with no non-reciprocals tells Google your site isn't worthy of one-way links.

The bottom line: A strong "Link Pop" and "Page Rank" equals more visitors to your website!

And a great way to increase your websites link popularity is to submit your website to free link directory.

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