Why and how to request for link building opportunities

 Link building is a complex issue.

 Within the online marketing industry one of the most difficult issues to accomplish with any.   degree of success is #LinkBuilding

This blog post will help you to have a deeper understanding of the complexities around link building and offer you some advice on what you need to do to prepare your online marketing team for the rather controversial task of requesting other online information providers to place links to your content within articles, stories, blog posts, web pages or other online content which they own or manage.

I answer SEO questions in Quora 

So we need to start with what links are and where search engines use links. 

Every link has two ends. The origin and the destination. All search engines use both sides in different ways, and treat every link with the same due diligence. There are a large number of semantic tools. These Semantic Tools are basically very large data bases that are used in conjunction with other data bases to evaluate your online content

.  

Some of these semantic tools are listed below. The links in your online content connect both the origin and destination pages to each other, allowing search engines to  build these semantic  tools into rather devious and mind twisting tools that investigate so many  different issues that impact on your online discoverability. 

#LinkMaps

#KnowledgeMaps

#EntityMaps

#TrustMaps

#KnowledgeTrustGraphs

#EntityLinkMaps

#KnowledgeLinkGraphs

This above list is extremely limited and search engines use many hundreds more.  The links in your online content connect your content to these semantic tools and allow search engines to better interpret the 

Aims 

Objectives

Purpose

Intent

Keywords value and other related search engine optimisation Value Indicators or SEOVI 

This means that each link within your entire online asset base (link origin)  is used many times over to develop an understanding of your content. The destination side gets treated the same in the early stages of developing these first line semantic tools. Both end are needed to connect things together. The information in each link is added to these many data bases and expands the data in each database by including the content in your online content and linking this to the existing online content allowing these semantic tools to have access to your online content for very strange and devious search algorithms to use at their discretion.

Thinking of the above issues, your internal linking strategies need to be well planned and keep the focus of the page in which they originate in mind, ensuring that the conversation is expanded in meaningful ways.

You do need to update old posts and articles to link to new content. This is usually neglected, and can be very powerful in a number of ways, especially when quality is thought about and considered as important.

Link building does have two sections after all. One is internal link building and the other is external link building.

Your content does need both internal and external links. So think long and hard about your internal link building tactics before looking at inbound and external links.

Before you start asking for external in bound links (#BackLinks) be sure to have some external out bound links in place within your own content, which you can use as a tool to entice others to link to your content.

Link building is not an easy thing to do, and you do need all the help you can get. Very few folks understand how and where links are used by search engine algorithms. So having external outbound links in your content can help, when you try to explain to potential link partners what the value of external out bound links is, and how it has helped you. 

Describing your own experiences is always easier than describing other folks experiences. Having done this yourself allows you to demonstrate your own Expertise. If you have other folks who have already linked to your page in question that is also helpful. If your content uses internal book marks, getting your link partners to link to the book mark in question can be easier and more helpful to the scores at both ends of the link.

Explaining this to others may not be very easy, but link building as a whole is not easy anyways.  When you do research around link building you will discover that there is many areas where folks provide SNAKE OIL and say that one should not place external links in your online content because it gives the end user an opportunity to leave your page and go else where for the information that they are looking for. If this is true or not is one issue, but getting the end user to your site in the first place, is also an issue that needs to be considered. Now your SEO TACTICS are what will get your content discovered in the search engine in the first place. If the end user does not find your information near the top of the SERP he / she will never have been on your site in the first place. Out bound links in your content is a very big quality signal for all search engines. Out bound links in your content demonstrates to search engines that you have confidence in your own content and are not into LOCK IN MODE where you will try every trick to ensure that the end user stays locked into your content.  Placing external links in your pages shows that you have pride and trust in your own content. This is a very strange but rather important quality signal that few folks grasp. 

The LOCK IN MODE issue was in the past a very powerful, but stupid approach to ensuring an end user never leaves your pages. This is still advocated by many, but most folks these days understand this a bit better. They also understand the SEO VALUE of out bound external links a bit better. You may come across the bad thinking of lock in mode when doing link building, so take the time and effort to prepare documentation around this that you may give to potential content owners who are reluctant to enter into some kind of link swap or similar deal when linking to your content.

The name #BackLinks comes a long way back and is an indication of the link swap idea that was initially in place. Ie if you place a link to my content in your content I will LINK BACK to your content. This comes from the very early stages of link building way back in 1998 / 1999 before Google became famous, when Yahoo and ask Jeeves were the bigger search tools available.  

Link building has come a long way since then and unsolicited back links are quite common for good online content that answers common questions within any specific online niche space.

So link building is getting more attention and folks are beginning to grasp the concepts around link building, but they do still need a little gentle persuasion of some kind.  So you do need to prepare a document of some kind explaining the purpose of placing external out bound links and the benifits of placing links directly to bookmarks in your own content.

If you do not already have bookmarks within your own content I suggest you evaluate the SEO VALUE of book marks and placing your own internal links to the book marks you add to your own content.  Think of the parragraff and block Content issues .. 

Hope this helps

#Frankie2Socks

What is EXIF meta data ?

EXIF META DATA is a very powerful set of contextual data that is embedded within digital images, hidden in the back ground and only visible to you when you use tools of some sort. Most online users have no clue that this data is available to use at your discretion.

Every time you take a pic with your mobile, it adds a predetermined set of meta data to your image.

This meta data contains quite a few useful issues, that may vary quite widely depending on the make, model and settings on your mobile device. These include mostly simple stuff like the date and time pic was taken, the ISO settings, the F stop, your GPS location and other stuff. 

So EXIF DATA is there and can be used by software for a number of different purposes. Guys in the photo graphic space use this suite often  

Links and the #EEAT issues

Within the interwebs links do so many strange things, and the impacts of links, both external and internal, as well as in bound and out bound impact your SEO in such powerful ways. 

#EEAT is a vastly complex search engine optimisation Value indicator.

 Most folks forget that every link has two sides... yes that is correct, two sides. first is the origin and the other is the destination

These links do many strange things in a host of unthought of places.

 Search engines use these kinks in so many different places, but most SEO PRACTITIONERS that I speak to are very ignorant and refuse to think past the end of their noses

Once your online content has been indexed, that is when the fun and games starts. all search engines use the links within your online content to start mapping out many different issues like

•  trust maps, 
• entity graphs
•  link maps, 
• expertise maps, 
• expert connectivity status graphs,
• subject matter connectivity  graphs
• Subject matter connectivity maps 
•  and so many more. 

 There are actually thousands of data bases at play here, where search engines take a very fine tooth comb and evaluate your content in very serious and devious ways.  This is where the #HummingBird algorithm shows its value 

 They need to establish the purpose, aims, objectives intent and so many other issues about your online content. It is vital that you remember that Search has evolved, and search engines match your page intent to the intent of the search query. So keywords are not used during the initial search process. 

 This does not mean that #KeyWords are obsolete, coz they are not.. Keywords are actually vital, and they are used in so many other areas besides to match to query words. Many of the data bases that we are talking about here, use both ends of the link and compare both sides to each other and to a third area that holds the imagined contextual issues of your page. 

This imagined contextual map changes and grows, as issues within your page unfolds and gets exposed to the many different algorithms that are processed during the vigorous indepth evaluations of your content. Lots of strange and very sneaky things happen coz so  many things are happening at the same time in different areas of the page identity and categorising process. 

Semantic connectedness issues are also evaluated during this time. The semantic intentions of your content is first processed at this stage, but this is a very fluid issue, coz this changes as the search engine evaluates more and more issues, which are all integrated into these many different data bases that are growing, as the search engine's interpretation of your content evolves with each iteration of the algorithms that evaluate and transcribe your content into machine understandable contextual content within many different data bases 

 This is a very confusing time, coz so many things are being processed by a vast number of different algorithms, all at the same time. all SEO factors are evaluated and processed at the same time, but by different algorithms. So this is a very busy time.....

This repeats each time your content is revisited to include new backlinks or any updates that may or perhaps may not be re-evaluated. lots of issues are processed, and most require links to have any positive impacts on your SEOVI  (Search engine optimisation value indicators) these links nay be internal or external. 

The two ends of the link are compared in a very large number of different ways,  where context and contextual linkages are the key to better understanding your online content, along with the semantic connectedness issues. 

On line search is a vastly complex issue where many different Search engine optimisation value indicators are evaluated and taken into account, to give your online content a set of scores that will be used to match your online content to future search queries. These scores are stored in a wide variety of databases, leaving them ready to be used instantly. This is important, and can be seen if you look at how long your online search took to resolve. this is usually shorter than half a second for most searches, and the number of search results is scary, often being more than one hundred thousand matches.

The amount of preparations that are done to ensure short search times are achieved is incredible, and one thus needs to understand these issues when copy writing is undertaken. things like link attributes and related issues also need to be included here.   All links are valuable, and each link in your content gets the same basic treatment, then some will get extra issues added if the search engine deems it necessary to expand the conversation. 

 Trust and authority are some of the extended evaluations that need to be properly interpreted. Contributor Expertise and contributor experience is slso an extended evaluation zone. EEAT or Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust are all rather strange SEOVI ( Search engine optimisation value indicators) that rely on links to be mapped to the correct issues within your online content. 

It thus follows that links and link attributes need very careful deep planning to get the most  powerful SEO  impacts. 

EEAT or Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust are all special use search engine optimisation issues that search engines use to evaluate the purpose, aims, objectives and intent of your online content. 

There are many issues and different entities involved. Each contributor is evaluated for their personal EEAT, and then the page itself also gets an EEAT SCORE according to the Aims, objectives, purpose  and intent of the page in question, as well as the EEAT SCORE of all identifiable contributors to the content in question.

So EEAT is much more complex than you think. New techniques and tactics are constantly being added and this helps to ensure the success of the search engine in question. 

Where does FUFISM fit into the online marketing environmant ?

 Where does FUFISM fit into the online marketing environment is a confusing question.

First what is FUFISM, then WHAT is the online marketing environment, and how does online search impact on the online marketing environment? 

So before we discuss FUFISM, first we need to discuss online search, and SEO or Search engine optimisation, because FUFISM or Functional User-Friendly Integrated Social Media is a marketing philosophy where SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and Social Media  are married and work as a family team along with their many relatives, to influence how search engines interpret and consume your online content to prepare their many different search engine data streams and associated information management strategies(algorithms)   to supply the best possible SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages for all possible search queries. 

So online search is a vastly complex issue that matches search queries to search results pages. you ask questions (Search Queries) and the search engine provides answers (SERPs). In the past individual words were the issue, in 2023 and going forward the purpose and intent of your content carries more weight than individual key words. Keywords are still vitally important, as are page title and page descriptions. Folks within the SEO industry must always keep the #Hummingbird algorithm in mind, coz that changed many things in strange and mysterious ways. #ThingsNotStrings suddenly had more value, but strings describe things, so strings still wins many battles within the SEO environment.

For a search engine to provide an answer, it must

(1) be able to interpret the question

(2) understand what is being asked

(3) understand the intent of the question or query

(4) Interpret and understand online content

5)  have a system of categorizing online content and labelling contained concepts, ideas and contextual data,, as well as the purpose and intent of online content 

(6) have a system of comparing online data to the relevance of online questions and specific search queries

(7) have a system of comparing relevancy scores to establish the best matches of search queries to specific search terms and related search criteria

Online search is thus a vastly complex task of matching search queries to possible matches of existing content somewhere within the interwebs.

online search thus starts with ensuring that your online content is found by a search engine, then indexed and investigated for preparation of inclusion into a host of different data base files, where extended information is added to make searching easier.  This is also the time when search engines evaluate the QUALITY of your online content, and investigate if your content contains so-called Black Hat content, which may or not,  then exclude your content from the search engine database files. in some cases, search engines get rather upset, and ban the whole domain from their search index.

#BlackHat SEO is the devious art of confusing the search engine to provide SERPs with information that does not really qualify to be found for that specific search query.  in other words BLACK HAT SEO is like  using a kind of crooked SEO process that misrepresents the in-page HTML content, giving the end user poor search results that do not satisfy his /her needs.

Online marketing is all about putting your content within the interwebs, hoping that your intended target market audience will find your online content by some means. SEO or Search engine optimisation is the process and activities that you employ to improve the chances of your intended target market audience of discovering and then consuming your online content, and then following your desired or preferred Call To Action (CTA) statements or clicking on your preferred in-page links.

read more about SEO here 

The biggest issue within the SEO industry is the ability to build links that carry meaningful signals to the search engines so that these signals associated with individual links both to and from your content can be used as semantic tools, or part of the construction of semantic tools which allow search engines to better interpret and understand the objectives, Intentions, aims, purpose and sentiment of your online content.

SEO has evolved into a very complex technical battle to ensure that search engines have the necessary semantic tools to evaluate your content and connect your content to relevant online search queries. FUFISM is a marketing philosophy which uses social media as the primary avenue of #LINKBUILDING and helps to build the base of inbound external links(#BackLinks) to your online content.

The most powerful links come from well-placed, properly-used hashtags within the comment streams of posts discussing the subject matter at hand. this can only be accomplished by a knowledgeable person. The new EEAT issues of Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust are all tied up together in strange ways within the interwebs. Most folks have no clue as to what this actually means. This is however a primary part of any FUFISM-BASED marketing plan. 

do a little independent research on the #EEAT issues and be prepared to be confused. who does EEAT apply to and how is this measured ?. these are tough questions, but as I understand the EEAT issues are connected to every single digital entity. so each online document has its own EEAT issues. Authors, image designers, content creators each have their own EEAT scores that are carried around with their inputs to your content, and this is all part of FUFISM-based marketing. your in-page EEAT is a complicated issue and it is made up of the EEAT of each in-page contributor as well as both internal and external links. Both  inbound  and outbound links need to be considered. so lots of small juicy titbits to add to your #INPAGE SEO efforts by including links to contributors in the  <HEAD> section of your HTML code. You can enforce this and add extra EEAT scores by including links to contributors of all kinds.. graphic design, audio, video, copywriting, research, technical SEO and other sources like data management or in-page forms. The more digital entities that you can connect to the page in meaningful ways that show semantic connectedness the better. Authors who write about specific topics score more EEAT points than unknown authors. But where and how do authors  and other contributors actually get coverage?   this needs your thoughts and attention if you are into the SEO thing... !!

FUFISM or Functional User-Friendly Integrated Social Media is all about using social media as a powerbase to influence your  #BackLink profile and entice others to share your links in their blogs, social media posts and other places. #LinkBuilding is a very strange concept, and link-building opportunities do not just fall out of the sky. Link Building opportunities are carefully crafted well-organized activities that take place over time in carefully structured steps. There is some cold calling involved, but usually, the comment streams of posts discussing the subject matter at hand start the process rolling forward. If folks have not discussed your content they will not create a well-thought-through link to your content. So create meaningful well thought through content that answers questions, offers a different approach to problem-solving or is helpful to your desired audience base in some way.

All online content must have a purpose and intent. Online content must be easily discoverable by search engines.  So FUFISM is all about being user-friendly and using the social environment to promote the purpose, intent and objectives of your online content.

So to answer the question "Where does FUFISM fit into the online marketing environment" one needs to interpret FUFISM as the art of using social media to promote specific online documents or digital assets in a manner that shows search engines the purpose, intent and sentiment of these specific online assets in ways that expand the conversation and improve semantic connectedness.

Once again FUFISM is an acronym for Functional User-Friendly Integrated Social media. FUFISM is also a marketing philosophy where SEO(Search Engine Optimisation)  is pushed through link building in the comment streams of social media posts discussing blog posts, web pages or other online content.

Just to round up here .. #LinkBuilding is a very complicated and difficult task. FUFISM or Functional User-Friendly Integrated Social media is all about getting better SERPs, by crafting clear direct social media conversations and interactions that guide the search engines to your content through well-managed social media activities, that include social listening and related comment stream management.

 

Well-thought-through links in the comment streams require staff with Good #EEAT scores that demonstrate your staff's Experience, Expertise, authority and Trust of the subject matter at hand.  FUFISM thus adds Search Engine Optimisation value indicators to your online content in many strange and devious ways. 

What is Search Engine Optimisation or SEO ?

 Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in a search engine's unpaid results, often referred to as "organic," "natural," or "earned" results. SEO targets different kinds of search, including image search, video search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

SEO is an effective way to improve the quality and quantity of traffic to a website from search engines. SEO can be a complex and ever-evolving field, and it involves a number of different tactics and strategies. These tactics can be grouped into two main categories: on-page optimization and off-page optimization.

On-page optimization refers to the measures that can be taken directly within the website to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). This includes optimizing the content and HTML source code of the website, as well as improving its performance and user experience. Some common on-page optimization tactics include:

Keyword research and optimization: Identifying the keywords and phrases that people are using to search for the products or services that your website offers, and using those keywords strategically in your website's content and meta tags.

Title tags and meta descriptions: These are the snippets of text that appear in the search results below the title of a webpage. They should be concise and compelling, and should include the target keywords for the page.

Headings and subheadings: Using headings and subheadings with relevant keywords can help to organize and structure the content of a webpage, making it easier for search engines to understand and for users to scan.

Internal linking: Linking to other pages within your own website can help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your content, and can also help to spread link equity (the value of a link) throughout your site.

Image optimization: Using descriptive, keyword-rich file names for images and using alt text to describe the image can help search engines understand the content of your images and improve their visibility in image search results.

Off-page optimization refers to the measures that can be taken outside of the website to improve its ranking in search engine results pages. This includes building links from other websites, which can help to increase the authority and credibility of your website in the eyes of search engines. Some common off-page optimization tactics include:

Link building: This refers to the process of acquiring links from other websites to your own. Search engines use links as a way to measure the authority and relevance of a website, so acquiring high-quality links from other reputable websites can help to improve your ranking in search results.

Social media marketing: Building a presence on social media platforms and regularly posting high-quality, relevant content can help to drive traffic to your website and can also lead to the acquisition of links from other websites.

Local SEO: If your business has a physical location or serves a specific geographic area, optimizing for local search can be especially important. This involves optimizing your website for local keywords and phrases, and getting listed in local online directories and review sites.

Mobile optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices to access the internet, it's important to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly and easy to use on smaller screens. This can include using a responsive design, optimizing images and other media for mobile devices, and using a mobile-friendly website design.

In addition to these tactics, there are a number of other factors that can influence your ranking in search results. These include the quality and relevance of the content on your website, the usability and user experience of your site, and the speed at which your website loads.

It's important to note

A helpful introduction to Link Attributes in the online marketing Industry

This simple introduction to Link Attributes within the HTML content of your online marketing will help you better understand the true value of link attributes and how to use them wisely to improve the many different Search Engine Optimisation Value indicators that are used to generate better online search results.

first, you need to understand what link attributes are, then you can work out which link attributes you need to add to individual links, and how this will improve the quality and value of your online content to both the search engine algorithms and your intended target market audience.

Link Attributes are rather difficult to understand for most online marketing folks at first, but then suddenly a light bulb goes on and they get it.  Link Attributes are value-adding and quality-improving instruments, that are placed within the HTML code between the <a> and  </a/> tags of every link, So you do need to have a very basic or elementary understanding of HTML code. You do not need to be an expert in coder to add link attributes to your in-page HTML code, and can get your web design team to place them for you. 

Most link attributes are not mandatory or even necessary, but they do add tremendous quality and great value to your in-page SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)  efforts. This quality is what Google Talks about all the time, and it is these small things that make the difference between being at the top of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) or lower down where the poor quality pages go.

Link attributes are not well defined, and the list of possible link attributes is rather disturbingly large. So you do need to understand the aims, objectives,  purpose and intent of the individual link when deciding which link attributes are needed,  which link attributes should be avoided, and how you will formulate them to suit your needs. Always remember that there is no one size fits all within the SEO industry.

There are many folks who will tell you that you do not need to add link attributes, and they are correct. link attributes are not mandatory, but they do help your page find better traction within the online search industry and help search engines to better understand the aims, objectives, purpose and intent of each individual link. This is used in expanding the knowledge graph, your in-page trust issues and many other semantic connectedness issues. think of the #THINGSNOTSTRINGS issues. There are many different places where each link is processed and evaluated for the SEOVI associated with the link.

some of the easier-to-add link attributes are things in the list below. this list is not exhaustive and there are very many others that you could add. your web development team will help you out here, but you do need to speak to them about this coz this is not mandatory stuff. that being said, each added link attribute will influence many different things in strange and unforeseen ways, so do be careful which link attributes you add to your links, and why these are even thought of.

 ALT TEXT for images,

 the link  title attribute,

 the link description attribute

FOLLOW / NO FOLLOW 

INDEX / NO INDEX

REL = ????

Linking just for the sake of having links is a very stupid idea, and every link that you add to your content must have the following four traits.

1) purpose

2) objectives

3) aims

4) intentions

these are easy to determine and are not rocket science issues. Take the FOLLOW / NO FOLLOW link attribute. here you must choose to either have the link followed and add link juice to both ends of the link or NOT to follow and keep the link juice out of the equation.  so looking at the purpose and intentions of the link decide to  follow or not  follow.

If the link expands the conversation in meaningful or helpful ways and adds value to the interpretation of the in-page content then follow the link. If the link is an advertorial link or off topic then NO follow. it is that simple. this is all about the semantic connectedness issues, and related trust factors.

for some internal links like the link to an online form or sales page, why would you want it indexed?  having unnecessary pages indexed is a waste of crawl budget, and thus forms, payment pages and similar unnecessary pages should all get the NO INDEX link attribute installed

So link attributes add context to the link. for instance the TITLE ATTRIBUTE which pops up on the screen when the mouse hovers over the link, explaining to the end user what will happen when the link is clicked add context to the link.  the title is often worded like " click here to open form" or "click here to read more about this" 

This added context to the link is thus shown to the end user helping him / her to decide whether to click or not. this will depend on the stage of the conversion funnel where the end user is at the time that this on-screen pop catches their attention.

link attributes thus add value to the purpose and intent of the link. use this wisely 

 links used during research 

https://www.contentkingapp.com/academy/link-rel/#:~:text=rel%3D%22amphtml%22-,What%20is%20the%20link%20relation%20attribute%3F,between%20pages%20to%20search%20engines.

https://moz.com/blog/link-tilte-attribute-and-its-seo-benefit

https://ahrefs.com/seo/glossary/sponsored-link-attribute

https://seopressor.com/blog/types-of-links-that-matter-for-seo/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-building-guide/types-of-links-how-to-build-them/#close

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsYKT7gEssMsDsWGxl12GQwTks_bRQ:1669665479903&q=Link+title+attribute+example&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzysrO1NH7AhWCi_0HHSYQBCsQ1QJ6BAgwEAE&biw=1707&bih=821&dpr=0.8

 

Inbound links, out bound links and the Things not strings rules

 last Friday (18 November 2022) I wrote about the power of links when using the Strings Not Things rules and some readers got ever so confused.

The Google Hummingbird algorithm did not replace any of Google's algorithms, but added extra new variables into the Google Search environment. this confused many, and many snake oil sales folks jumped on the bandwagon and marketed their special brand of snake oil...

noe for those that do not know #SnakeOil is that elusive stuff that appears to be helpful, coz it camoflages things, and hides the truth. new content has freshness signals, which these snake oil sales folks use to make you believe that things are going well, but after a few weeks, you see no true improvement. 

Well with the things not strings rules, most things you do have  long term objectives as well as immediate and short-term goals. now the long term objectives are all about Entity Graphs, trust maps and their links to the knowledge base of your online content. So outbound recognitionlinks are the initial primary key. there are two sets of outbound links placed with in every piece of content. the first is the internal group and the second is the external group..  inbound links are also divided into two groups, in the same manner, first is internal, which you control and manage, the second is external, which you need to ask for, and perhaps even negotiate with other information providers to get recognitian, and 

A helpful introduction to Link Attributes in the online marketing industry

 

 This simple introduction to Link Attributes within the HTML content of your online marketing will help you better understand the true value of link attributes and how to use them wisely to improve the many different Search Engine Optimisation Value indicators that are used to generate better online search results.

first, you need to understand what link attributes are, then you can work out which link attributes you need to add to individual links, and how this will improve the quality and value of your online content to both the search engine algorithms and your intended target market audience.

Link Attributes are rather difficult to understand for most online marketing folks at first, but then suddenly a light bulb goes on and they get it.  Link Attributes are value-adding and quality improving instruments, that are placed within the HTML code between the <a> and  </a/> tags of every link, So you do need to have a very basic or elementary understanding of HTML code. You do not need to be an expert coder to add link attributes to your in-page HTML code, and can get your web design team to place them for you. 

Most link attributes are not mandatory or even necessary, but they do add tremendous quality and great value to your in-page SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)  efforts. This quality is what Google Talks about all the time, and it is these small things that make the difference between being at the top of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) or lower down where the poor quality pages go.

Link attributes are not well defined, and the list of possible link attributes is rather disturbingly large. So you do need to understand the aims, objectives,  purpose and intent of the individual link when deciding which link attributes are needed,  which link attributes should be avoided, and how you will formulate them to suit your needs. Always remember that there is no one size fits all within the SEO industry.

There are many folks who will tell you that you do not need to add link attributes, and they are correct. link attributes are not mandatory, but they do help your page find better traction within the online search industry, and help search engines to better understand the aims, objectives, purpose and intent of each individual link. This is used in expanding the knowledge graph, your in-page trust issues and many other semantic connectedness issues. think of the #THINGSNOTSTRINGS issues. There are many different places where each link is processed and evaluated for the SEOVI associated with the link.

some of the easier to add link attributes are things in the list below. this list is not exhaustive and there are very many others that you could add. your web development team will help you out here, but you do need to speak to them about this coz this is not mandatory stuff. 

 ALT TEXT for images,

 the link  title attribute,

 the link description attribute

FOLLOW / NO FOLLOW 

INDEX / NO INDEX

REL = ????

Linking just for the sake of having links is a very stupid idea, and every link that you add to your content must have the following four traits.

1) purpose

2) objectives

3) aims

4) intentions

these are easy to determine and are not rocket science issues. Take the FOLLOW / NO FOLLOW link attribute. here you must choose to either have the link followed and add link juice to both ends of the link or NOT to follow and keep the link juice out of the equation.  so looking at the purpose and intentions of the link decide to  follow or not  follow.

If the link expands the conversation in meaningful or helpful ways and adds value to the interpretation of the in-page content then follow the link. If the link is an advertorial link or off topic then NO follow. it is that simple. this is all about the semantic connectedness issues, and related trust factors.

for some internal links like the link to an online form or sales page, why would you want it indexed?  having unnecessary pages indexed is a waste of crawl budget, and thus forms, payment pages and similar unnecessary pages should all get the NO INDEX link attribute installed

So link attributes add context to the link. for instance the TITLE ATTRIBUTE which pops up on screen when the mouse hovers over the link, explaining to the end user what will happen when the link is clicked add context to the link.  the title is often worded like " click here to open form" or "click here to read more about this" 

This added context to the link is thus shown to the end user helping him / her to decide whether to click or not. this will depend on the stage of the conversion funnel where the end user is at the time that this on-screen pop catches their attention.

 links used during reesearch 

https://www.contentkingapp.com/academy/link-rel/#:~:text=rel%3D%22amphtml%22-,What%20is%20the%20link%20relation%20attribute%3F,between%20pages%20to%20search%20engines.

https://moz.com/blog/link-tilte-attribute-and-its-seo-benefit

https://ahrefs.com/seo/glossary/sponsored-link-attribute

https://seopressor.com/blog/types-of-links-that-matter-for-seo/

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/link-building-guide/types-of-links-how-to-build-them/#close

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALiCzsYKT7gEssMsDsWGxl12GQwTks_bRQ:1669665479903&q=Link+title+attribute+example&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzysrO1NH7AhWCi_0HHSYQBCsQ1QJ6BAgwEAE&biw=1707&bih=821&dpr=0.8

the power of links when using the Strings Not Things rules

 Google changed the rules within the SEO industry when they introduced the HummingBird algorithm

Google HummingBird algorithm was the start of the Things, not strings era, where context, purpose and intent augmented keywords in the Search Engine optimisation industry. 

The values of link attributes suddenly carried an awful lot more Search engine optimisation value indicators (SEOVI) than they ever did before.

The Google HummingBird algorithm is to this day not clearly understood by most folks within the Search Engine Optimisation industry. So this blog post will help readers to have a deeper understanding of what the Google Hummingbird algorithm is and what the purpose and intentions of the Google Hummingbird algorithm are.

When I did a Google search for the Google Hummingbird algorithm, this page came to the second spot  of the list.or SERRP  (search date 17 November 2022)  https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-hummingbird

now MOZ is a rather influential site, but these folks (in my mind) do not really understand the Google Hummingbird algorithm. This algo did not replace anything but added many new Search Engine optimisation value indicators which I refer to as SEOVI  The article mentioned above claims that HUMMINGBIRD replaced  many existing algorithms, but this is not true in the least... Hummingbird was a new addition that ran parallel to, and adjacent to all existing algorithms. #HummingBird was a new tool that supplemented all existing tools, the Google hummingbird virus did not replace anything. folks that tell you Google hummingbird algorithm replaced stuff need to be avoided, or challenged to please explain, coz they are either selling you Snake Oil or bullshitting you big time. both are not acceptable.

the top of SERP item  ( https://www.goup.co.uk/guides/google-hummingbird/#:~:text=Hummingbird%20is%20a%20search%20algorithm,old%2C%20like%20Panda%20and%20Penguin.)  also claims that hummingbird replaced some stuff in the online search algorithms of Google. 

the third item in the SERP was Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Hummingbird this also talks of an algorithm change, but it was not a change of anything. it was an introduction of a brand new tool within the search environment at Google.

So the Google  Hummingbird algorithm was not an update of any existing algorithm, but rather the introduction of a brand new algorithm which complimented all existing algos and added new variables into the online search industry.

the Google Hummingbird algorithm introduced many new issues and was the first step that Google took to move away from strings (words only) and move towards search intent, where content context, purpose and intentions were suddenly a very big part of the search process. this was the start of the move from strings to things.  hence the hashtag #ThingsNotStrings became an important entry point for folks looking for search engine optimisation tactics. 

The Google Hummingbird algorithm is a very powerful search tool that changed so many issues in so many different ways, and was the tool that started using the Google knowledge graph as the foundation for establishing the semantic mapping tools that defines and identifies all things within both the online and offline environments. This algorithm is forever being  updated and directly connected to many more algorithms that have been introduced to expand the things not strings contextual linkages. 

now to understand how these issues are all linked together, one needs to interpret and understand the many different issues associated with inpage links, which many folks call  #BackLinks

There are basically two types of links, which are again divided into two groups. the first type of link is #InternalLinks and the second is #ExternalLinks.  the first group is #OutBound and the Second is #InBound. every link has two ends. the first is the origin which would also be called the InPage link. The second side of the link is the off-page end of the link. the Off-Page end may be an internal destination, meaning that it is the same domain or external meaning that it is in a different domain. 

All so called Back Links are from an external domain. Now most folks, when doing search engine optimisation only lalk of Back Links. very few folks ever talk about internal inbound links, and thus there is a very big problem with interpreting and understanding the value of links. Internal links carry much more Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators, coz you recieve link juice at both the destination point and the link origin. 

now coming back to the Knowledge graph... the knowledge graph uses links to link one set of issues (your inPage content) to the other set of issues the Off page content, which may be external or internal. the knowledge base of one page is thus connected to the knowledge base of another page through the inapge out bound link.

So tthe knowledge graph can not connect the things in your content to any other things unless there is a link from your page to that other content. The knowledge graph is a very-big-data issue which is explained here https://www.semrush.com/blog/knowledge-graph/?kw=&cmp=Africa_SRCH_DSA_Blog_EN&label=dsa_pagefeed&Network=g&Device=c&utm_content=622528814134&kwid=dsa-1753200739853&cmpid=18364843126&agpid=141057028723&BU=Core&extid=60114153428&adpos=&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD1RkMnaH7qByvyq-kC5-BSZfPAWhJSUQ0f9AdUSSN0PpBVT_d3RyBIaAgMsEALw_wcB

this link connecting your page to another page, may be an internal link or an external link. this link may be an inbound link or an outbound link. it does not matter.. internal or external, inbound or outbound.   here a link is a link and it does not matter where the other end is, just so long as it connects your content to other content. But do not get confused here. every link is used many times over, in some instances, the origin and destination have great significance, and in some use cases, there is no significance.

So let us now consider In Page SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) issues associated with in page OUTBOUND LINKS.

IPSEO or In Page Search Engine Optimisation is where the issues start to make sense and need to be properly evaluated for many different individual SEOVI.  Each link is used many times over to generate a very large number of different SEOVI where the items on this shortened list are considered. this list is in reality very big and contains an exceptionally large number of vastly different, but interconnected issues. do not get confused if items you consider as important are not listed. here. I promise you that whatever you consider, is in reality an issue. Think of the #ThingsNotThings  issues, and you will begin to  understand the complex network of different SEOVI that a search engine may or may not consider important to understand the purpose and intent of your online content, once again this list is not exhaustive, and includes an extremely big set of issues not in this list. this is just to give you an idea and a point to start interpreting and understanding the vast complexity of the Google Hummingbird algorithm.

• what is the purpose of the link?
• does the link have any #LinkAttributes
• no follow
• no index
• link title
• link description
• alt text if an image or video
• what words are near the link in your copywriting
• are there similar words in the destination inpage content of this link
• does the link arrive at a bookmark
• how far are these words from the destination point (bookmark)
• is there any Anchor text
• are any of these words (anchor text)  in the page title
• of your page
• of the destination page
• are any of these words in the page description
• of your page
• of the destination page
• are any of these words in the keyword meta data
• of your page
• of the destination page
• is there semantic connectedness between the origin and destination 
• is there any similarity between the page intent issues of the origin and the destination
• does the purpose of the two pages correlate.
• is there a connection between the purpose of each end of the link
• is the conversation expanded in a meaningful manner
• is there a return link in-page  (BackLink)

There are so many other issues that search engines consider that your head will spin if you are not careful. Do not get confused or be bothered too much about this, because micro-management here will cause you to fail. just think clearly about the purpose and intent of the link. Do not add links for the sake of adding links.

not every page needs links.  think of a form that the end user may be required to fill out.. A primary landing page should have very few links, as each link that is not associated with the intended call to action here is a distraction, which will break your conversion funnel. Take time to 

understand conversion funnels and be aware of the purpose and intent of each page.

So the thing that you want your end user to accomplish when on-page is important. 

On-Page is the user activity space, or what appears on screen for the end user to interact with.

in-page is all  the HTML  content. used by search engines to evaluate the purpose, intent and functionality of your page.

 the IN-Page situation has two parts. (1) is the <HEAD> (2) is the body 

 the <HEAD> is only for search engines and other applications to use

 the <BODY> is for end-user interactions and is the code that ensures that the onscreen issues display correctly for your end user, and any user tasks easily accomplishable. 

 All inpage links are part of the user interaction activity. each link should be considered as a call to action statement. here you want the end user to do something. when the end user does something he /she uses a link to accomplish a task that you set for him/her.  

inPage links connect things to other things and are used by a number of different databases to establish the purpose and intent of your online content. To understand intent and purpose, you need to understand the meaning of the content. to understand the meaning you have to understand what things are being discussed, and how these things interact with each other. this can not be done without evaluating each word separately, and then collectively where NLP (Natural Language Proceesing) is a key element.

This means that THINGS have more importance than STRINGS. Both are important. 

Strings are used to define things.  The definition of things allows other concepts  to be developed. Machine learning and AI  (Artificial intelligence) are vital in this aspect.  Large databases that are interconnected are used to define things and allow deeper context to be developed.. this can only be accomplished when there are links between strings,.  So once again the links that you place within your content are vital in developing concepts that relate strings to things.  

things can not be discussed and evaluated without strings. but which is more important things or strings?  we lthis can be debated but that will take so much time and effort that it is not worth the confusion. things are defined nd explained using strings, without things there would be no need for strings.  At the end of the day the Google hummingbird algorithm is the direct link between things and strings. the purpose of the Google hummingbord algorithm is thus (in my mind) to connect thiongs together and show the interrelationships between things through the use and interpreation of strings. 

Links within online content allowed the search engine to develop models and systems that use strings to define things, then show the inter-relationships between different things. now when one uses a search engine to disciver information about things, the different strings within your vontent are used to establish the intent, purpose, aims and obkjectives of your content, then match those to the query intentions, purpose aims and objectives.

it thus follows that purpose, intentions, aims and objectives need to be used when creating online content for the human end users . strings are thus vital to develop content that you want your end-users to consume within the online environment. Keywords are your lever to open the search engine interrogation channels of your content when a search engine do what it is that they do.  

these days (November 2022) search engines match the purpose and intent of a search query to the purpose and intent of online information (read your pages). strings are uased in the search query and your online content. these strings refer to things, so the Google Hummingbird algorithm is an essential part of the search engine search process. This means that keywords are vtal and can not be avoided. how you use ypour keywords, and introduce them to the search engine in your content is up to you, but you do need to think clearly and understand that these strings discuss things, and things are part of the answer.  The Google Hummingbird algoriythm is the link between strings and things.

the #ThingsNotStrings hashtag is thus very misleading, as the search engine can not physically use things, coz they cannot be placed inside a wire or an electrical circuit. Things can not be changed into electrical information without the use of strings. strings can be easily converted into electrical impulses which are then muddled up and used by computing systems.  very confusing ??!! 

At the end of the day, the Google Hummingbird algorithm connects strings to things, then expands that to interpret a vast number  of attitudes, thought processes and related conceptualisation  to match a search query to the relevant online content, then offers the end user, a list of items called the SERP or Sear4ch Engine Results pages. 

So from the above confusion and mayhem it can be interpreted that the links within your online content are used many times over in a great number of different and seemingly unrelated places to match an online search to online content.  So links within your online content are the key to unlocking the information you provide within your online content, so that a search engine may find the relevance of your online content and match that to the purpose, intent and relevance of a search query.

this is all achieved because the Google Hummingbird algorithm does what it was intended to do.. that is interpret strings and use the things discovered in your content to create an understanding of the purpose and intent of your online content. The links that you have placed within your content allow this to happen, so when inserting links in your content, have some respect for the purpose, intent, aims and objectives which you want to assign to the content that contains your link in question.

Search outside the box:

 those of you who follow me coz I blog about SEO stuff are really gonna enjoy this.

In this online document resource, Google employee ( Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan )  discusses search issues that we as technical SEO folks and all associated IT(#SEamanticEngineering)  fellas have zero control over or even indirect input. The tools that Google has made available for end users to use as part of the end-user experience when using search tools are quite scary.  this includes stuff like voice search tools, image search tools and near-me type search requests that will soon be available to all end users.

So #GEOTAGGING and #HashTagMarketing will now have new meaning and functionality within the online search environment. this will make experiences at theme parks, shopping malls, events and other area-bound activity could be managed for near-me search issues.  GEO TAGS in the <HEAD> section alongside keywords, page titles and page descriptions will be very helpful.

Using the appropriate #LinkAttributes such as NO-FOLLOW  link title, and link description are also very helpful in many ways, coz these are rather heavy-weight "QUALITY SIGNALS" that search engines really appreciate, as this gives them a deeper insight into the purpose and intent of your specific online asset. 

So this is a true FUFISM-based marketing issue, where SEO needs to be understood to be all about online search visibility and the different types of online SERPs that are offered to the end user. one also needs to consider the actual search tool when evaluating the SEO factors that need to be considered. This is where #SemanticTrust and related sentiment and intent signals are truly helpful. These include things like 

• GEO tags,
• contributor tags
• publisher tags
• author tags
• industry tags
• any other unique tags

So Remember SEO is all about teamwork and ensuring that everybody knows the intended target market audiences. Both of them... The first is normal people, as in the <BODY> section of the HTML code and the second is the search bots and their algorithmic handlers at search engines, which is the <HEAD> section   SO PAY ATTENTION to the <HEAD> section of your online assets, as there are many opportunities here to inform search engines about the purpose and intent of your web site, blog or another online asset. 

Thanx for reading here

#Frankie2Socks 

so this message from Prabhakar Raghavan is vital to understand within the online marketing industry, coz the SEO Implications are rather large and plenty full.