Why Link Popularity
Search Engine builders, continuously research ways to make their search engine result pages (SERPs) relevant to users.
Different methods have been employed to determine the most relevant pages. Methods such as keywords in title, keywords in
metatags, keywords in filename, keywords in headings, keywords in links, keywords in content of pages, etc.
Webmasters have found ways to manipulate these, thereby improving their ranking in the Serps. The latest method is link
popularity. Obtaining quality links from good Websites is not easy. A good Website will only link to you if there is some
benefit to that site or that site's visitors. However, Webmasters have again found a way of beating this latest hurdle. They
do this through reciprocal linking. I see search engines rejecting reciprocal linking in future because this is an artificial
way of boosting link popularity. The only sure way for search engines to ascertain link popularity will have to be one way
incoming links.
Do's And Don'ts Of Site Linking
1. Don't do reciprocal linking with sites that sp@m. Your outgoing links to unethical sites could get you into trouble
with search engines.
2. Don't link to FFA link farms. You might be penalized by the search engines.
3. Keep a close watch on your link partners always. Link to relevant and complementary sites. The higher the PR of the
site, the better.
4. Obtain one-way incoming links when possible. It's the best. Use anchor text in links.
5. Most important of all, create good, original and unique content and one way incoming links will come naturally.