Link Popularity
A high percentage of #1 ranked Web pages on Google don't contain the queried search term in the body text or in the META tags. How can that be? The answer is: These top ranked Web pages have high link popularity and a good page rank.
In our new series we're going to tell you how to obtain high link popularity and a good page rank so that your Web pages get a high ranking on Google and other popular search engines.
Link Popularity is becoming the determining factor for successful Websites.
Part 1: What exactly is link popularity?
Link popularity refers to the total number of links that a search engine has found for your Web page. The more Websites link to your Web page, the higher the link popularity of your page. High link popularity contributes to a high search engine ranking.
Note that link popularity is measured only for single Web pages, not for the whole website. Your website can have several web pages with different page rank numbers.
The idea behind the link popularity concept is simple. The more other websites link to your website, the more important your site must be. Other sites wouldn't link to your site if there wasn't something interesting on your site or if your website didn't contain any special content.
It's nearly impossible to manipulate link popularity. Previous ranking algorithms that took META keywords or similar factors into account have been quickly abused to mislead the search engines. On the other side, it's very difficult to manipulate the number of links that point to a site.
That's why link popularity is now one of the most important factors for search engines when they rank a Web page.
However, you cannot get high link popularity by submitting your website to thousands of FFA (free for all) link pages. Not all links are considered equal by the search engines. It does matter who links to you and how they link to you.
Part 2: Not all links are considered equal
The more websites link to your website, the higher your link popularity.
However, not all links are equal. Some links count more than others. Links from important Websites have a greater effect on your link popularity and your search engine rankings. A link from www.Yahoo.com to your website has more weight than a link from a small private Web page. A link from a Website with high link popularity is better than a link from an unknown Website.