Link Blog

There has been a lot of talk recently in newsletters and forums about what are the best links to acquire - one-way links, reciprocal links, three-way-links.

A one-way link is a basic link from one web site to another. Reciprocal links are links between two separate web sites; you link to me and I link to you. Three-way links are between three web sites. My site links to you, you link to a third site, and the third site links back to my site.

Now the thinking on which is best is as varied as the people entering into the discussion; everyone has their own opinion and their own experiences.

But the bottom line remains that if a particular link helps your site, it is a good link. The thing to remember is the old adage, "All things in moderation."

All three will work, but do not focus on any one particular method. The trick is not to get trapped into a pattern. You want your linking to be natural.

No matter which method you use, find sites that relate in some way to the theme of your site. These sites don't have to be exactly on your topic. For example, if you have a travel site, a related site could be one providing offers on rental cars, or travelers checks, or even luggage. All three of those have a relationship to travel.

Use the knowledge you have concerning your industry and your imagination and you can find many different types of sites that relate to your theme.

Anchor Text

Now let's look at anchor text and its importance, especially with Google rankings.

The important thing here is to use your keywords as your anchor text. But guessing on your keywords is not a good idea.

Fortunately, there is a free tool called WordsFinder you can use to know exactly what keywords are found in your content.

Developed as a SEO tool, it is excellent for webmasters to come up with perfect anchor text for their links. It's really simple to use, too. Just paste your content in the form, click the "Find Keywords" button and you get a list of the top keywords for your content.

It is not a good idea for the same keyword as the anchor for all your links, so having a list is a definite asset.