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Link popularity as the name implies, means the number of incoming links to your website.
"Link popularity" became a webmaster concern because of the algorithms used by search engines, most notably, Google, that factor in the number of inbound links to your website in determining the rank of your site.
Why do search engines bother with link popularity?
The rationale is that, sites that have a lot of inbound links must be a "good" site since it is referred by other sites.
Link popularity is most often linked with the term "PageRank" which is a patented system by Google developed in Stanford University by their founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. In Google's own words, here's what PageRank means: "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."
Because Google is currently the dominant search engine, link popularity has been equated by some with PageRank, although other search engines factor in link popularity in determining the search engine page results. (serps)
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Why is Link Popularity so important?
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Link popularity has always been important to sites wishing for greater traffic. The obvious benefit to having inbound links is, of course, it can lead to traffic to your sites, especially if your site is referred by a reputable site.
The second benefit, is its search engine optimization capability. A site with a lot of inbound links is viewed by search engines as a more reputable site, and is, therefore, worthy of a higher ranking. Of course, the higher your site ranks in organic search results, the more traffic you would have. Generally, higher traffic translates to better business.
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Quantity versus Quality
When we talk of links, we are not just talking of a lot of links, but quality links.
One-way, inbound links from sites of the same theme as yours are most valuable and given more weight.
In fact, in one Google post, they even indicated that organic, naturally earned links are preferred as opposed to links that are paid or exchanged.
With this in mind, keep away from FFA links (Free for all). These links will not add value to your site.
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How to improve your Link Popularity ?
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When you crawl the Web, you will find that there are hundred and one ways to build link popularity. Last year, however, Google, came out with a Webmaster blog regarding building link popularity and this has, in a sense, affected the way webmasters build their inbound links.
Although Google is not the only search engine, it is at this point, the most widely used. So when they say something, the "world" listens. To read the post, click here.
After you have read this post and the related articles, you would have a clearer idea of what constitutes "good links" and "bad links", in Google's eyes, at least.
Just the same, here are some tips on building long-term popularity.
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1. Build a high quality, content site.
The logic here is, the better content your site has, the more likely sites will link to you by choice. Unfortunately, this can take time, so patience is needed.
2. Submit sites to directories
Submit your sites to human-edited directories. Sites that are included in human-edited directories are assumed to have passed some quality control.
3. Submit articles to article directories
This will not only earn you backlinks but has the potential of driving traffic to your site if you have interesting articles. Ensure though that you write articles that are different from the ones that you have in your site. This is so because search engines now frown on duplicate content.
4. Manually request for links from relevant sites.
While there are now automated link exchange software, it is much preferred to manually initiate a link exchange. You can use a software like WebCeo to find sites that you can link to. Note that the sites should be of the same theme or topic as yours, preferably with a higher page rank. Do this regularly and you will see you links building up; however, do not expect everyone you contact to be willing to link back to you.
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