Ask for more than just a link

When you ask for a link to your website, be more specific. So often a link consists of nothing more than a link to typed text of the web address. Even if the web address consists of the terms you are focusing on, they are crammed together or separated by other characters (link hyphens and underlines). And this takes a little away from their credibility. And often times the search terms you are focusing on are not even in your web address. This eliminates another possibility for a high search rank.

Select the text that links to your site

So, let’s create some text for a link. Billy Bob owns a used car dealership beside the stop sign in Green Top, North Carolina. The name of the business is BB Used Cars. The web address he wanted was taken so he decided to use pleasebuymystock.com. He went to his friend, JT, who had a body shop business and a website for the business. If he just asked JT for a link, JT would probably have typed “pleasebuymystock.com” on his website and just linked it. But, Billy Bob needs to ask for more. His market area is Green Top and he sells used cars. So when someone in Green Top looks for a used car on a search engine, they could end up typing “green top used cars” after other searches give them dealer websites from the other side of the country. So BB Auto needs the link from the body shop to read “Green Top Used Cars.”

Vary your link text

Over time you should vary your link text. Try different terms and see if they help search engine rankings. You may want to try to focus on broader market areas. Instead of using “Green Top Used Cars” try something like “Stanly County Used Cars” or even “North Carolina Used Cars.” You may want to try a more narrow focus on your product. In the case of our used car dealer, if his primary market is used trucks, he may want to ask for his link text to read “old used trucks,” “real old used trucks,” or “restored antique trucks.”

The terms in the links to your website have a major impact on your search engine rankings. Using broad terms opens you up to competitors from a wide range of market areas and a wide range of products. Narrow your focus to terms that will reduce your competition for the rankings. That way you and your potential customer will likely come into contact with each other. And everybody wins.