Anyone involved with search engine marketing will know that link popularity has become central to most crawler-based search engine ranking systems. Search providers Google and AltaVista have been particularly vocal about their individual scoring methods, which can give us an insight as to how we can improve our own link popularity without accidentally getting our site blacklisted.

Advice on improving link popularity is usually lumped in with general search engine optimisation, and is sketchy to say the least. The importance of links to the Internet, and how to improve link popularity scores is a highly specialized subject that deserves debate in its own right. Below I have provided a broad introduction to the subject, which I have condensed into nine essential points. This list of link popularity do's and don'ts cover everything a Webmaster should know in order to achieve greater search engine rankings.

1. Set aside an hour a week to search for out sites related to your own (non-competitive of course) and request a link. You'd be surprised how many Webmasters will be more than happy to do this -- even big sites. Try to get the link included within some text about your site. Be cheeky and suggest the text in a reply e-mail, making sure to include your most important keywords. Many Webmasters will use this text instead of taking the time to write their own summary. Find possible sites by using the same keywords you that describe your site. The search engines already consider these sites to be important, and a link from them will gain more credit than from other sites.

2. If applicable, join a Web ring of associated sites. Services such as Webring (http://www.webring.org) allow you to join groups of related sites. If you have any other domains, link them together with a descriptive link.

3. Dedicate areas of your site for outbound links, which are also an important factor in calculating link popularity. Link to high-quality, related sites. Pick some that are highly ranked for your particular keywords. You might wonder why you should add to their popularity, but believe me when I say you will benefit more from the relationship.

4. If possible get a listing on the big directories, namely Yahoo!, LookSmart and the Open Directory. These listings will significantly boost link popularity.

5. Submit your site to crawler-based search engines after you have secured links on other sites and directories. This will help to boost your popularity score.

6. Avoid link popularity software programs. AltaVista and Google are publicly trying to blacklist any site using such programs. If you do decide to use them, check them out first. Ask them what the major search engines think and doublecheck their answers with the search engines themselves.

7. Be skeptical if an SEO company offers to improve your link popularity. Ask them how they will achieve this, bearing in mind all of the points outlined here. Will they carefully research your market and request the addition of links on related sites? Will they use link farms (either third party or their own)? Or will they use a standardized link page?

8. Be wary of search engine submission services that offer to submit your site to thousands of search sites. There are only a hundred or so search engines worth being listed on at the most. Most of the others will be link farms that could act negatively on your link popularity score.

9. Use crawler-based search engines and specific sites such as www.linkpopularity.com to carefully monitor who is linking to your site, and the quality of those links. If you think the text surrounding a link could be improved, try suggesting it in a tactful e-mail. If a link is negative, politely ask for its removal.

You need to be as interested in how your site connects to others as you are in what's actually on the site itself. The Internet was founded on the linking of related information, and this remains the lifeblood of the modern World Wide Web. Cultivate your links, and in doing so you will carve a place for your site on the Internet. Imagine there are no search engines, and that visitors will only find your site through referrals from other sites. If you learn to see Web site marketing in this light, then you have truly unearthed the secret of link popularity and your search engine positioning will be massively improved.