Generating Links Are SEO Tactic #1
When you search for something using Google, Bing, or any
other online search engine, the results that appear are a direct result of a
complex algorithm (or formula) comprised of many different factors, some
weighing more heavily than others. While
each search engine’s formula is slightly different, the most constant of these
factors (and more often than not, the most heavily weighted) is the number of
links (or backlinks) on the internet that connect directly to each site. Since most people who shop online primarily
use search engines to do so, it is imperative that you build an extensive, and
diverse, link portfolio. In addition to
eventually cultivating new customers from online search engines, each time you
place a link somewhere that leads back to your online storefront is an
additional opportunity to make a sale!
Because links are so vitally important for the success of your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts (resulting in the success of
selling your art online), it’s important to understand how they work. Like everything else you see online, links
are rooted in an internet programming “language” called HTML. Below you’ll find the basic HTML code
regarding links that you’ll need to know in order to effectively use them in
promoting your online storefront.
The basic layout for a link looks like this (the ***s and
everything in between them are to be replaced with the actual information)…
<a href=”***URL***”>***anchor text***</a>
EXAMPLE
The URL (“universal resource locator” or internet address) for my online
storefront is http://www.zazzle.com/originalperspective and I want my anchor
text (what people will click on to get there) to read “Visit the Original
Perspective Zazzle Store”, so my link will look like this…
<a href=”http://www.zazzle.com/originalperspective”>Visit
the Original Perspective Zazzle Store</a>
And what people see as a result of that code would look like
this…
Before you begin plastering your link all of the internet,
it IS important to note that another factor in online search engine algorithms
is anchor text matching keywords from the site it links back to. For example, my online Zazzle store is called
“Original Perspective” so I not only use that phrase repeatedly in my store’s
title, description, and content but in the anchor text for all my links as
well.
