When search engines such as Google began to rank Websites based upon the number and quality of sites that linked to them, those search engines created a digital cottage industry called link placement. Emailing for link swaps was wildly popular with some, while others placed banner ads containing direct links to their own sites. Both solutions fit well with search engine's immature algorithms.
Since then, search engines have vastly improved their systems for the filtering or removal of paid advertising links. Some of these steps have turned out to be unfair to many smaller Websites that are not connected to the larger Web publishers. As Google changes its algorithm, so the shape of the Web changes with it.
However, text link ads, or sponsorships as some call them (excluding Google Adwords ads, which Google can screen automatically), fit into the Web page less obtrusively than other ad units, and are often less easily identified as advertisements by the search engines. To this day, the search players have real difficulty distinguishing between a purchased link and a normal hyperlink. This will undoubtedly change in time, though, as the search engines' objective is to produce relevant search results that aren't influenced by advertisers' money.
One other recent phenomenon has given the minor sites a boost, though: blogs. The success of blogs may actually be due, in part, to Google's new algorithm – they're currently dealing with this problem in unison with Yahoo! and MSN. But in the meantime, comment links on blogs have become the spammer's tool of choice. Once the search engines devise a way to ignore this form of spam, spammers will most likely turn to text link ads.
Importance of Text Links
Our SEO experts observed that getting high rankings at the search engine is only the quality and relevant links pointing to your web site. Ever since Google entered the search engine market, all Search Engines have started using links as the primary way they rank web sites. This is known as your web site’s “Link Popularity” or in Google’s case it’s called “PageRank” or “PR.” Link Popularity is the most important and major factor you should concentrate when you are thinking for good PR for your website.
PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages ‘important.’
The importance of the link text in your hyperlinks:
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• Always use your primary keywords in the visible link tag area of at least one or more links on the page.
• Try to place your primary keywords at the start of the link when possible.
• If generating or creating a "doorway" page, always link to another page on your site which includes more detail about the keyword topic.
• Avoid listing the same word multiple times in a row since some engines may penalize for this. Instead, use the keyword multiple times, but separate them by other words in your text.
• Use the longer form and the plural form of a keyword when possible. For example, if you use marketing in your Title tag, a search on marketing or market will yield a match on most engines. However, words like companies will not always yield a match on company since company is not an exact "substring" of companies. In these cases you'll want to try and use both forms of the word.
• Use Upper/Lower case lettering for keywords in general. Example: Blue Widgets are sold here!
