Link popularity is the total number of websites that link to your website.

Increasing your link popularity can dramatically improve your search engine rankings.

Most search engines use link popularity as a factor in determining your placement on their search results page.

The theory is that if other sites feel your site is worthy of a link, then it must be of higher quality than sites that have few or no inward links.

Simply put, if you can convince other sites to link to you, you will generate more traffic - from both the linking sites and the search engines.

MarketPosition offers a tool that allows you to check your site's link popularity against three of your competitors.

You can also elect to have a status report e-mailed to you on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

There are a number of ways you can seek to increase your link popularity.
To begin with, you should identify other sites that are willing to link to you.

A great way to identify sites that might be willing to link to you is to run a link popularity report for your competitors' sites.
You can then contact those sites that link to your competitors.

Another way to improve your link popularity is to set up an affiliate program.

Building Your Link Popularity.

1. Trade Links.
This is the oldest method of improving link popularity and requires a lot of effort.
However it can pay-off.

You simply email or contact the Webmaster of a site that is complementary but generally not competitive to your own.
You then ask them to link to your site hopefully with a little dialogue attached explaining your site.
In turn you offer a link back to them.

2. Visit related sites and check whether they offer guest books or forums. If they do, post a message, and include your URL in your signature.

3. List your site on the major directories such as Yahoo!, Looksmart, and Open Directory Project.

4. Visit Link Popularity Check and search for your competitors.
Visit the sites that are linked to your competitors, and write to see if they'll consider linking to your site.

5. Consider setting up separate domains and link all of these together.

6. Offer a discount on your goods or services for anyone who agrees to post a small graphic on their site that links back to your site.

Create a testimonial page, and write a brief testimonial about any website that you'd like to get linked to your site.

Inform the site of the testimonial, and encourage them to link to the page.

7. Or, write testimonials of particular products, and sign the testimonial with your name and URL.
Send the testimonials out to the individual companies, and tell them how much you've enjoyed using their products.

Many companies will place testimonials in particular areas of their site, and they're delighted to get rave reviews about their products.

8. Offer awards on your site, and give out little graphics that link back to your site. B&BD