Link based ranking

[lindajames]

Hi i've been told that the more sites that have links to my site the higher the search engines rank my site. More links to my site makes search engines think my site is important. Is this true? if so, how about if i setup many sites linking to my site? but then how do you actually rank a particualr keyword?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers
Linda

[rogerd]

Hi, Linda. For starters on how to improve your site linkage, read some of the past posts in Link Development [webmasterworld.com]. There's a world of good reading there - check some of ex-mod Paynt's detailed advice.

In a nutshell, outside links are one way that Google and others determine how important your site is. Other factors count too, of course. "Link text", i.e., how people link to you, is important. I.e., "Widgets by Linda" would be better than "Linda's Shop" if you are trying to rank well for "widgets". (Just plain "Widgets" might be even better.)

Do your reading, though, and avoid some of the linkage pitfalls you'll read about. Good luck, and use the Link Development forum as your program goes forward and new questions develop.