Unless you have done some research into SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) you most likely think of links as something that appears on a website for visitors to click on and are then taken to your website etc.

This is true but there is a lot more to links than just that.  Without them search engines would be lost as search engines find and index sites primarily by visiting a website and following the links on that website to other websites and then index those sites following the links there to those websites and on and on it goes out and out much like a spider web hence the name World Wide Web.

When deciding where to place your website in the rankings for a search phrase the search engine considers not just what is on your website/page but also how many links there are to your page and the value of those links, yes different types of links have a different level of importance.

What are the different types of links and what should you use to improve your rankings?

Here are the main link types you should be aware of;

  • Follow. A follow link is a link that specifically tells the search engine to follow the link.
  • No Follow. As the name suggests a no follow link tells the search engine not to follow the link.
  • Comment. A comment link is links you see in the comments on blogs etc.
  • Contextual. A contextual link is a link that is complimentary to the words around it.
  • Profile. Profile links and located in a users profile. When you register on a forum for example you can include information  about yourself. Adding a link to your website there is a profile link.
  • .EDU and .GOV. Once again not really a specific link type. Any link from a .gov or .edu site is considered very important as search engines consider these to be important sites so if they link to your site then your site must also have some value.
  • WEB 2.0. Web 2.0 are links form pages such as Social Networking sites, blogs, video sharing etc.