Building a Link Halo

A step by step guide to achieving rankings for highly competitive terms

If webmasters were exercising editorial control, the links they created to other websites would vary in context, each webmaster would use variants of anchor text based on a common theme. An authoritative page about 'SEO Scotland' might attract links that say ‘SEO Scotland’, ‘SEO Company Scotland ’, ‘Search Engine Optimization Scotland ’ etc.

When every link to a page uses the exact same anchor text, it looks unnatural and reeks of manipulation, the idea is to build links in a way that appears to be natural.

What exactly is a link halo?

The basic premise of the Link Halo is that obtaining links for one term will help in the optimisation of a second, related term.

Link Halo is an adaptation of the ‘Halo Effect’ used in marketing to describe how a ‘halo’ product can aid the sales of other products within a range of products. For example, the fantastic success of the Apple Ipod has created an increase in sales of Apple Computers although the two products are only tentatively related.

Link halo in the online context

If, for example, you wanted to rank well for the term ‘Search Engine Optimisation’, it would take some time and you would face some serious competition. Using a link halo allows you to take small, less competitive steps that ultimately results in ranking for your target term.

Creating a link ladder

Instead of trying to rank for the main term from day one, you can create a ‘link ladder’ that systematically targets lesser but related terms which in turn bring you closer to ranking for the main term.

A link ladder is broken up into steps which contain variations of terms. Each step increases the competitiveness of the terms targeted and benefits from the link halo created in the previous step. There are many ways you can do this, in the example below we utilise geographic terms:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Positive commercial implications

As you move through the steps, enquiries will build as you start ranking for terms with higher search frequencies. The commercial implication is you can start generating profit much faster than you could if you started out targeting the main term from day one.

Escocian provide Link Building and Link Popularity for companies that value the role the internet can play in promoting their products, services, or brand to a national or international market. Contact Escocian today.