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

 

What do you know about document trust within the online marketing industry?

Document trust outline.

in this document when we talk of Document Trust we are actually discussing the digital trust  between two online documents.

Document trust is a concept used extensively by search engines to evaluate a number of variables that would feed back into the search algorithms, as SEOVI (Search Engine Optimization Value Indicators) and have a rather serious impact on search results.

What most folks forget is that there has been an awful lot of work going on in the back ground where the search engines have indexed content, then sent out spiders following each and every out bound link found in  the document,  in turn, and creating a trust table between the two linked documents. These trust tables are then consolidated into a single trust table for each of the two ends of the link.

Within the online marketing industry web pages, blog posts and social media posts are each considered as documents, then there is the plethora of true documents that are  available to the public within the online environment such as  but not limited to

·                     PDF files

·                     images files

·                     video files

·                     office documentation

·                     spread sheets

·                     price lists or product lists

·                     data base files

When an end user of the search engine places a search query, the search engines such as Google, Yandex, Bing or MSN, they receive an answer within fractions of a second, and it seems like magic.

The judicial use of the many HTML attributes that are available is essential here, as things like, but not limited to  the list below will all add different trust values to the documents at each end of the link in many strange and devious  ways.  Also remember to evaluate the content of the HEAD SECTION of blogs and web pages that you own and manage, as many of the issues listed in the  list below can be added to the head section of a page, as well as being used as an attribute within the HTML code of  specific out bound links with very good impacts on your SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages).

·                     REL = AUTHOR

·                     REL = PUBLISHER

·                     REL = CANONICAL

·                     REL = NO FOLLOW

·                     REL = NO INDEX

·                     TITLE = XXXXXXX

·                     DESCRIPTION = XXXXXXXXX 

·                     KEYWORDS = XXXXXXXXX

·                     ALT = XXXXXXX

many of these HTML attributes can also be added to the EXIF DATA of documents such as but not limited to

·                     image files

·                     video files

·                     text files

·                     PDF files

·                     spread sheets

·                     price lists

·                     product catalogues

EXIF data when present in embedded files, such as but not limited to images, videos, audio or text files, has a very large and highly positive impact on many different aspects of the document trust table for any two online documents. The inclusion of things like the REL = AUTHOR, REL = NO INDEX and REL = PUBLISHER allow the search engine to include the great value that comes along with author expertise and specific subject matter accreditation due to the depth of the semantic foot prints of both authors and publishers.  These issues add great trust value to specific sections of both documents, which improve your over all rankings in the SERP's.

The content and context of each document is evaluated and compared for semantic matching directly between the two separate documents.  The next step is to compare the semantic matching between the lists of linked pages (out bound links only) for each page separately, creating two new trust tables that include data from all out bound links in each of the two documents in question and then comparing the two documents in question for semantic matching so that the search engines may determine if the out bound link has any value to the end user, specifically from the point of view of expanding the conversation or adding depth to a specific topic.

The depth and breadth of semantic matching between the two documents in question,  and the other documents that they link to,  is also a major trust factor issue, and how this matches up with any author or publisher semantic footprints is included in the trust based issues that search engines are looking at post HUMMING BIRD.

Document trust has always been an issue with search engines, and document trust has been used quite extensively in a number of sneaky and devious ways to establish algorithms like PANDA  and PENGUIN which are in place to add negative trust signals to pages and documents  that are marketed in ways that step outside of the rules which search engines expect publishers to abide by.  Those algorithms which add positive trust factors are not discussed openly by the staff at search engines, as this would give the black hat search industry a heads up of where and how they may game the system.  Those algorithms which have a negative impact are discussed at great length, in many forums, so that the public may know what SEO  and other online marketing  tactics to avoid or suffer the consequences.

Within the human environment there is intuition and gut feelings that have a very large influence on interpersonal trust, however within the online search environment where machines evaluate online documents through the use of algorithms there is no such tool for the search engine to use.  Search engines rely extensively on links between documents to connect the dots between different digital entities, and then understand the context and intentions of each specific document as best they can.  The more inbound links a document acquires over time the bigger the data pool that is available to a search engine to correctly determine the purpose, aims, objectives and intent of your online content.  That being said, you still need to avoid link farms and other black hat link building tactics, because inbound links from documents that have nothing in common with your online content can, and will hurt your trust factors significantly.

This is the main reason that content marketing as an SEO tool and tactic is so valuable. Content marketing allows you the luxury of expanding the conversation in meaningful ways, and the ability to include a host of extra trust signals in the form of but not limited to the list below...

·                     author signals

·                     publisher signals

·                     semantic matching

·                     context alignment

·                     purpose clarification

·                     intention definitions

·                     audience identification

It is thus important that when you do your content marketing, you take these document trust signals into account and use them wisely.   Avoid spamy forums, communities and groups that discuss wide range of divergent topics, and try to find focused niche areas where you can do your content marketing in ways that fit into the platform where you are doing your content marketing.  Be sure that the areas where you do your content marketing have a high semantic or context correlation with your online work whenever you can.  Using a social media business profile and keeping the content there focused on your niche target market topics is essential.  Keeping conversations active by replying to comments and placing relevant links to expand the conversation within the comment stream of all your social media activity is a very important part of your trust factor development strategies that needs you attention, as this boosts your trust factors in many strange and interesting ways.

Generating digital trust for your online content is not an easy task, as it is made up of a very large collection of many small tasks, some of which seem rather mundane and irrelevant AS TRUST SIGNALS.  These small things make up the bulk of the trust factors that search engines use when evaluating your online content, so take care to understand the value of digital trust and how it is acquired or destroyed through your supplemental marketing and the areas that you may use for your supplemental marketing.

What is the SEO value of offline marketing?

OFF LINE MARKETING HAS EXTREME VALUE WITHIN THE ONLINE MARKETING BUSINESS!

Those who do not understand the connections between off line marketing and online content need to listen up and take action!!!!!

SEO or search engine optimisation changed very radical when Google introduced their HUMMINGBIRD ALGORITHM.  Before Google hummingbird and all its cousins in other search engines the main items in all SEO were your keywords and links, both inbound and out bound, with inbound links carrying more value, but out bound links being an essential issue.  The value of key words was stressed and used extensively by Search engines.

In the post hummingbird era all search engines introduced a very large number of new SEOVI (Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators) which ran along side the old SEOVI and added extra value to your keywords in ways that enhance the context and intent of your online content. These new Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators are mostly in the form of Semantic Trust and associated inter-connectivity of different digital entities, and come from the OPSEO side of things.

OPSEO or off page Search Engine Optimisation is not that well understood, and most do not comprehend that OPSEO has two separate components.  The first is ONLINE and the second is OFF LINE. So from a #FUFISM based marketing perspective we have three sectors of Search engine Optimisation that need to be considered and then integrated into your total marketing plan. These are

1) #IPSEO or In Page Search Engine Optimisation

2) #OPSEO or Off Page Search Engine Optimisation

3) #OLSEO or Off Line Search Engine Optimisation

The value of In page and off page search engine optimisation is discussed in many places but who talks of the value of Off Line Search Engine Optimisation? 

Off Line Search engine Optimisation or OLSEO,  is the part where you use your off line marketing to PLANT SEMANTIC SEEDS into the thinking patterns and thought processes of your intended target market, hoping that these seeds will grow into so called GOLDEN SEARCH QUERIES.  Golden search queries are those search queries where your intended target market audience uses your KEY WORDS and semantically related terms in their search queries, which result in your online content being at the top of the SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages)

As always understanding your target market audience in great depth is the core issue that needs to be addressed here,   because you want them (your target audience) to be exposed to your key words, so that you can expand on this in your social media marketing and other related online areas to nurture and nourish the semantic seeds that you planted in the off line media.  In other words you need to ensure that your target audience knows what your business, organization or event  is all about, so that they can use the correct terminology in their search queries to surface your online content.

If you simply assume that your intended target market are experts on your subject matter, then you are losing out.  You need to encourage your intended target market to use your desired key words in their search queries, and this process starts by introducing these words and related terminology within the off line world.  Here we are talking about 

• news  paper advertising and marketing
• magazines and industry specific periodicals
• radio interviews and talk shows
• speaking events and road shows
• flyers and bill boards 
• business cards and brouchers
• any other off line opportunity where you have face tine with your customers, clients, suppliers and other interested parties

 Your SEO starts with the creation of your In Page content, and is then enhanced by your off page work which is basically supplemental marketing, or marketing that supplements your online marketing.  Your supplemental marketing uses all the same research as your original online content and here we are talking of things like  the list below, but include many not mentioned.

• product, event, company or subject matter research
• purpose
• what this is used for
• how this is used
• what will the end user needs this for
• what are the benefits
• what are the detraction's
• who should use this and why
• costs,
• shelf life
• availability
• origins
• so many other research issues  most of which are subject matter dependent
• target market research
• who should read your content and why
• language issues
• culture issues
• demographic issues
• male / female
• target market groups and lay out preferences
• education and literacy skills
• Target market selection process
• Topic research
• key word research
• Image selection
• Additional meta data
• Additional mark up such as schema
• Author and publisher issues
• design criteria for online content

Your off line marketing team needs to be aware of  these issues and make wise use of the research notes and other related documentation of both previous as well as future online content.  This will assist them in their choice of words, images, context and related marketing issues, so as to ensure that they are able to plant your desired semantic seeds in meaningful ways,  which will encourage your intended target market audience to use specific words (your key words) when they construct their search queries.  Your social media team will also need these same notes and research data, as they will be expanding on this within their marketing efforts.  Your blogging team will also be using the same set of notes to develop their online content.

It is thus of extreme importance. especially from a #FUFISM based marketing perspective to get all your marketing folks around the same table,  at the same time,  to discuss your total marketing plan, and show each different marketing team, where and how their part of the puzzle fits into the big picture.  This will ensure better documentation of all processes, and enhance cross media marketing efforts.

It is of extreme importance that all your marketing is done within this basic outline, so that each marketing effort can be seen as a stand alone effort, but that it also fits into and augments or supplements your online marketing efforts.  This is an awful lot more important today than it was just a few years back, and the reason is the rapid expansion of the smart phone market and the volume of search traffic that comes from smart phones and other mobile devices.

You should not forget that mobile search is now larger than desktop search, and that many searchers are using last minute searches when in your brick and mortar establishment to ensure that they are getting the best deal, be it price, product support or after sales care.

What this means is that your target market is more educated and more aware of your competition, so you need to ensure that your online content is found above that of your competition, and that your social media team are on the ball, and ready to answer questions at the drop of a hat.

Once again your customers journey starts when they first discover your off line content, and then use the info found within your off line content to venture further, by searching online to discover more about you and your business.  The next step along the way is usually your social media space, and that is the reason that you need to expose your target market to your social media presence within the off line environment, and associate your social media presence with your product, service, event or other information.

Your Off Line marketing thus has an awful lot of value and importance to your online marketing, and needs to be taken seriously.  You need to ensure that all three of the SEO sectors are addressed and properly integrated into your total marketing plan at the highest level.  preferably at the C-SUIT  (Chief Something Officers) level

Once again these three sectors of SEO are, 1) IPSEO, 2) OPSEO, 3) OLSEO

What is FUFISM and why should you care?

What is FUFISM and why should you care?

Well FUFISM is a marketing philosophy where social media and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) are the two core elements that dictate how and why many other marketing tactics are used.  As I am sure you know all search engines are gathering as many different signals as they can, so that they may use these to get the highest quality SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages) possible and ensure that their end users are happy and recommend their platform as the best search engine, so that the search engine may sell advertising and marketing space within their SERP's to business.

When Google Introduced the HUMMINGBIRD algorithm in August / September 2013 the world of search changed forever, and the focus shifted from STRINGS to THINGS and many marketers have not yet realized the true implications of these very drastic and far reaching changes.   Before Google introduced the HUMMINGBIRD algorithm key words were the main focal area of all SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and there was just a little supplemental marketing where LINK BUILDING and related issues were aimed at ensuring that the search engines associated your chosen key words with your online content.

The hummingbird algorithm and its cousins in all other search engines changed the focus of their search process, and moved away from pure key words to focus on the context of your online content, as well as all the old SEOVI (Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators) and associated signals to a lesser degree.

What this means, for most search engines,  is that there is now a new set of SEOVI or Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators that carry more weight than key words and all the old or  existing   Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators (SEOVI's), which runs parallel to and enhances all the existing SEOVI that existed prior to Google Humming bird.

What I am trying to say is that all the existing search engine optimisation techniques that existed prior to the implementation of the Google Humming Bird Algorithm are still in play, and are still vitally important, as the Google Hummingbird algorithm uses these as the basis of its efforts,  and just adds extra value to these existing signals through manipulating them,  using the NEW SEOVI that are  associated with the context of your content, and how the social media and other OPSEOVI (OFF PAGE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION VALUE INDICATORS) impact on the context of your IPSEOVI (IN PAGE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION VALUE INDICATORS)

Read more about these three sectors of SEO here 

The next issue to consider is the impact of your so called SEMANTIC FOOTPRINT and the SEOVI (Search Engine Optimisation Value Indicators) associated with the SEMANTIC FOOTPRINT of all the digital entities that are connected to your In Page Search Engine Optimisation efforts.    The semantic footprints of all the digital entities associated with your online content are an awful lot more valuable in terms of your SEO than most people realise.  Here we are talking of things like, but not limited to: --

• general author values of individual contributors to your original online content
• publisher values where you online content is exposed to the public
• individual niche authority issues of all identifiable contributors
• niche authority of digital entities connected to your online content that you are marketing
• niche authority of digital entities that comment or interact with your social media posts marketing your online content
• niche authority of the domain where your social media marketing is exposed as embedded content
• The semantic similarity  and the semantic connectedness between linked content and you In Page content.
• the relationship between the semantic footprints of your online content and any linked content which may show that you are expanding the conversation with that specific link.

BUT WHAT IS FUFISM

 FUFISM or Functional User Friendly Integrated Social Media is a marketing philosophy where SEO and SOCIAL MEDIA are married, and act as the parents to all your marketing projects, both online and off line.  The Value of SEO to your company needs to be clearly understood, and the part that Social media plays in expanding the value of your In Page SEO must be put into perspective, especially since the Google Hummingbird algorithm has entered the picture.

FUFISM based marketing is thus just the well managed use of all your resources to ensure that your intended target market find your online content when searching for your products, services or related information online.

FUFISM based marketing ensures that all your different marketing elements speak to each other, are supportive of each other across platforms, and across different marketing media.  This means that the three SEO elements need to be aligned and integrated in ways that both search engines and your intended target market can recognize and make use of.

The first element is #IPSEO or In Page SEO, and this consists of all the HTML code and associated files which are listed, displayed and / or  activated within the page, such as but not limited to

• text files
• data base files
• image files
• audio files
• video files
• scripts

The second element is #OPSEO or Off Page but online SEO, which is all the supplemental online marketing and linked URL's (Uniform Resource Locators or online resources)  including but not limited to

• Landing pages where in page links point
• links in your  navigation structure
• author pages  -- REL = AUTHOR
• publisher pages --  REL = PUBLISHER
• contributor pages  -- REL = CONTRIBUTOR
• pages that expand the conversation
• internal links
• external links
• pages identified as landing pages by your web design or blog design team
• Link building efforts that result in inbound links
• Social media marketing
• blog posts discussing your online content
• influencer marketing
• email marketing with embedded links
• business directories and online classified marketing
• good old fashioned editorial links from other domains

The third element is #OLSEO or  Off Line SEO, which is the area where you ensure that your intended target market know what your key words are, so that they will use your key words in their search queries.  Here you need to remember that SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the toolkit that you supply to the search engines so that they may build bridges between your online content and your intended target market audience.  These bridges are the connections between search queries and key words, as determined by search engines following their many different algorithms. This OLSEO is done in many areas including but not limited to

• your print media marketing / advertising
• news papers
• magazines
• flyers
• billboards
• your radio marketing advertising
• when attending trade shows 
• when attending public speaking events
• at conferences or industry specific events
• cold calling by your marketing staff
• in house personal discussions with your customers by your sales staff

These three elements of SEO need to be well managed and properly integrated to ensure that all your marketing staff understand how they are related, and how these three separate SEO tactics  influence each other.  All marketing staff need to be aware of ALL the In page issues such as the Schema markup, hash tags, videos, audio clips, Hangouts On air and other issues, so that they can incorporate these within their own personal interactions with your customers, clients and general target market audience, both within the online environment as well as the off line environment.

So coming back to the "WHY SHOULD YOU CARE"  issue... you should care because this will influence how your target market uses your key words in their search queries.  If you are successful in all three sectors of SEO then your intended target market will use your desired key words in their search queries, and search engines will easily match the intent of the search with the intent of your online content,  then place your online content at the top of the SERP's, as well as in the many new SERP displays such as the local pack, the instant answer box or other display options.