What are Inbound Links?

Inbound links are links placed on other websites that lead a visitor back to your website. Outbound links are links on your page that go to other websites. Inbound links are also called backlinks. They are an important part of search engine optimization (SEO).

How do I get Inbound Links to my Website?

There are several ways to start getting links back to your website.

• List your website in directories
• Contact other websites with similar themes to yours and ask for a reciprocal link
• Post on Forums
• Write blogs
• Write articles and press releases
• Have good content on your website that others will want to include on their websites
• Add social sharing buttons and widgets to your website

Not all backlinks are treated equally. A link from a popular, trusted and authoritative website will have more impact than several links from less popular, less trusted and less authoritative websites. A link back to your site from an article on the Wall Street Journal, would impact your SEO a lot more than a link on a local newspaper website. What are Considered Quality Links?

The factors that are considered when judging the quality of an inbound link include:

• Anchor Text: is the text that is hyperlinked to your URL. Your anchor text should define the page you’re linking to, and should be the same or relevant to the keyword phrases you used to optimize that page.
• Relevance of Linked Pages: Two webpages that are linked together should have related information that is relevant.
• Number of Outbound Links: A link on a page with fewer outbound links carries more weight than a webpage with several links.
• Link Location: Links within the content area of a page carry more weight than links in static areas.
• Page Rank: linking to a webpage with a high page rank is better quality than linking to a page with low page rank.

What are Landing Pages?

A landing page is any page on a web site that gives you the opportunity to get information from a visitor through a lead form. A high quality landing page is aimed at a specific traffic group, such as traffic from an email campaign. As this traffic is targeted and has a compelling offer attached to the lead capture form (i.e. a free e-book), you will convert a higher percentage of your visitors into leads. You will then be able to follow up with these leads at a later time.

What makes a landing page effective?

• Limit Navigation. You have your targeted traffic on the landing page. The last thing that you want is for them to leave right away. Keep visitors focused on filling out the form at hand by limiting the number of exits available on the page. One of the most important aspects of this is taking away the basic website navigation elements that are available throughout most of your web site.
• Enable Sharing. Encourage your visitors to share the content that they like with others by adding share buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and email.
• Deliver Value. Be explicit about the value that your landing page has. If visitors are expected to provide contact information or other sensitive details in exchange for an offer, they need to be confident that it will be worth it.
• Keep It Short. Keeping a lead form straightforward and concise will increase your conversion rate. The longer it takes people to read through a landing page and complete the form, the less likely it is that you will gain a new lead.
• Test and Re-Test. Like many methods of online marketing, landing pages need to be tested and evaluated on a regular basis. Additionally, when you create new pages, run several variations of them so you can determine which one will work best for your web site visitors.