Links as a Ranking Factor

• Types Of Anchors
• The Use Of Anchors
• Establishing Anchor Lists
• Purchasing Links
• Dofollow And Nofollow Links
• Link Indexing

In terms of SEO, links are crucial. When it comes to ranking in search results, search engines consider link mass. Anchor is a textual form of a link, enclosed in an HTML tag. In the SEO optimization procedure, the anchor quality is quite important. When a site uses a big number of commercial searches, the site’s search engine ranking suffers. In order to optimize the site, anchorless links must be used.

Types of Anchors

The following are the most common anchor types:

• Direct (exact occurrence). An anchor is a connection with a specific occurrence. Excessive usage of direct anchoring is unnatural and should be avoided. Links with direct anchors to resources with a high DR (Domain Rank) value are encouraged. On the Ahrefs service, DR is a measure of the site’s authority. It is rated on a scale from 0 to 100.
• Indirect (diluted). Different word forms, synonyms of keywords, or text in reverse order are used as anchors.
• Unanchored. The most natural links are unanchored links. There are at least 60-80 percent of unlinked connections in total. Page URLs, branded links, and pointers are the three sorts.

The Use of Anchors

When working with anchors, you must adhere to the following guidelines: 

v Anchors should be placed on authoritative sites with considerable traffic. Using an anchor on a site with a bad reputation might have a detrimental impact on search results.

v It is suggested that you select sites with a comparable thematic focus. This is required to maintain thematic relevance.

v As many donor locations as feasible should be used. When a big number of these sites are used, the link profile becomes more natural. Links can be found on a variety of domains, forums, social media platforms, and blog platforms.

v It is vital to prioritize unique anchors, and repetitions should be avoided. You must thoroughly evaluate competitor sites to determine the number of anchors.

Establishing Anchor Lists

A list of anchors for the site being promoted is called an anchor list. Anchor lists can be external and internal. The establishment of an anchor list is required for efficient link marketing. Anchorless links should be used often, while commercial anchors should be used sparingly.

The following are the fundamental guidelines for creating an anchor list:

1. Competitor analysis. Work on site optimization should start with a thorough competitive study. For analysis, you can utilize the Ahrefs or Majestic services. The ratio of unanchored connections to commercial anchors should be considered during the study. The majority of the top sites employ anchorless links. Commercial anchors must be well thought out if they are employed.

2. Personalized links. At least half of the anchor list should be made up of trademarked terms. Branded anchors indicate the name of the company. URL connections, business names, and founders’ names are examples of branded anchors. The firm name can be written in capital or small characters, with English transliteration.

3. Anchor distribution. Sending anchor links to a large number of addresses is advised. Branded anchors are used for links to the home page, indexing anchors for various articles and manuals, and commercial anchors for service pages. All regions and resources are equally significant to recommendations. While marketing, the focus should only be on white sites with a solid reputation.

Purchasing Links

Purchasing links can help you improve your site’s search rankings. Links aid in increasing the authority of a resource, improving its rating, attracting new users, and increasing its exposure. Link mass is critical for promoting a site in a competitive field.

The quality of a link is determined by its context. The best links are those that are put in the document’s core material. The weight of the link should be positioned higher to boost its strength. Links from unique domains have the most value.

The choice of a donor site is a crucial component. A donor is a website that sends link bulk to the acceptor (the receiving site). The subject, traffic, spamming, link mass quality, and location are the major factors for selecting a donor. Thematic resources with high reputation should be prioritized. Links from the donor site will carry greater weight if it is linked to reliable sites. Links from the donor site that are tagged as untrustworthy do not operate correctly. The freshness of the page, which is defined by the age of changes, is a significant aspect. It is preferable to connect to new pages rather than old ones.

Before publishing an item on the site, there are a few things to think about:

Eternal links are the most effective and natural. They are one-time expenses that should be placed for the duration of the site. Links can be purchased on specialized exchanges.

Dofollow and Nofollow Links 

Sites are promoted via dofollow and nofollow links. Dofollow hyperlinks lead to a certain website or page. They instruct search engines to visit and crawl the page. The amount of links is determined by the site’s search engine rating. Nofollow links, which do not convey link weight, can also be employed in link building. In 2005, Google imposed a ban on its indexing. The attributes sponsored (for promotional links) and ugc (for user-generated content in forums and social media) were added in 2019. By default, most links are dofollow. The nofollow attribute is applied to links from social media sites (Youtube, Instagram, Wikipedia).

In the following situations, nofollow links are required: 

• shutting service links; 
• removing the bad influence of SEO links; 
• reducing spamming; 
• preventing PR transfer to third-party sites.

It is suggested to employ both dofollow and nofollow links when optimizing the site for search engines. Dofollow links are commonly utilized. Nofollow links account for 10%-30% of all links. The presence of 100 percent dofollow links may result in the site being sanctioned. Obtaining nofollow tags from high-quality sites benefits site growth.

Link Indexing 

An indexed link is one that receives some weight from the page on which it is found. The indexing speed is determined by the site’s size, frequency of content changes, page nesting, technical condition, and other factors. The indexing speed rises when a link is placed on news portals and social media sites.

The following are the most common methods for speeding up link indexing: 

• using indexing acceleration services;
• using 301 redirects from indexed pages;
• links from social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, and others;
• activity imitating in Google Chrome.

There are numerous techniques to check the link indexing. The most reliable method is to use a search engine to hunt up a stored copy of the donor website. The link must be present in the saved copy. You should search for the page, then click the arrow next to the URL in the sample and select “Saved copy.”

Using links to optimize the site is a good idea. Certain guidelines must be followed while posting links. You should only use thematic links, and the number of links with commercial anchors should not exceed 40% of the total. The analysis of competing sites should be done to promote links.