Loading ...The link filter is one of the many wonderful little functions that are theorised to have been built into the search engines’ algorithms. Like every other filter, the link filter is designed to weed out any pages that try to fool the search engines a little too obviously. Also like any other filter, the link filter is more of a thought than a solid existence, and most of the knowledge about it has been built up by the observation of SEO experts.
Again like every other type of filter, the effects of the link filter can be devastating to your site traffic. You might not even know when you’ve tripped the link filter. A sudden drop in your place in the search engine results is a fairly sure sign. The drop is also usually quite sharp. One site, for example, realised that their sudden link building might have been a problem when they dropped from number 17 all the way down to number 95 in the search engine results. Once you realise what the problem is, it’s important to remedy the situation as soon as you can and get your search engine optimisation plan back on track.
Why search engines have link filters
The key to fixing your link filter problem is in the reason this filter exists. Search engine algorithms work on numbers. If you’ve got a history of being a small site with a few solid links, your numbers will appear a certain way in the algorithm. When just one aspect of your numbers undergoes a big change, like your links suddenly springing up out of nowhere, alarms go off and the search engines clamp down on your site.
To fix the problem, something has to change in the mix. The search engines and SEO take history, content, search engine traffic, mentions around the net and links into account in calculating your ranking. If your links are the only thing to change, you need to balance things out by changing something else as well.
Option #1: Wait it out
The first option is to wait for your history to change. This involves, well, waiting. If your search engine traffic makes up a significant portion of your overall business, you may not be able to afford to take this path, although it involves the least work.
Option #2: Change something else
The best option is to build content, increase casual mentions around the net and boost direct searches. This must be done gently to have effect. Talk to us at SEO Consult Australia to deal with this search engine optimisation problem.
Option #3: Keep building links (don’t do this)
This option is mentioned as a ‘don’t’. Amazingly enough, some sites react to their precarious situation by building more links. This is because sites with solid link profiles can afford to add lots of links, as their history supports such popularity. The trouble with this move is that you’re still struggling with the history of a small site, and your new links are what got you into trouble in the first place. Adding more links makes your problem bigger.
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Tags: content, Link filter, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO, Traffic
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