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Last week I was doing a search in Google under ‘ezine advertising’ and was amazed to find one of my own websites on the first page of results (position #4 out of 271,000).

So then I went to Yahoo and got another shock - there it was again at position #4 out of 274,000 results.

If you’re wondering how I did it, the answer is I’m not entirely sure.

But my guess is *link popularity*.

What is link popularity?

Some years ago the major search engines realized that the best way to decide if your website has valuable content (and is therefore worth a high ranking) is to see how many other websites link to your site.

Link popularity was pioneered by Google but has now become a key factor in the algorithms used by most of the major search engines.

Would you like to know your current link popularity?

Here’s a free tool that will check your link popularity in Alltheweb, AltaVista, AOL, Google, HotBot and MSN. This tool will also compare your link popularity with your competitors’: http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/

Now that you know your link popularity, you may be wondering how you can increase it.

Here are some commonly used strategies - some effective and some not:

==> FFA Sites

Free For All sites are websites that collect your email address (and send you a lot of junk email) and in return allow you to post a link on a website.

FFA sites are rather like a conveyor belt - new links are constantly being added and old links being pushed off. On Many FFA sites your link will last an hour or two at the most.

Even if your link stayed on an FFA site long enough to be indexed by a search engine, it is unlikely it would increase your link popularity. Search engines regard FFA sites as spam and they’ll either ignore your link or penalize your site.

==> Link Exchange Programs

As with FFA sites, you need to ask yourself the same question the search engines ask.

Did someone link to your site because you have valuable content? Or did they link to your site as part of a mutual ploy to artificially raise each other’s link popularity?

The search engines know how to tell the difference and some of them (Google for example) will actually ban your site for engaging in ‘link farming’.

Another problem with this method is *link relevancy*. If the sites linking to you have content that is not related to your content, the search engines will not give much weight to those links.

==> Reciprocal Links with Individual Webmasters

This will definitely increase your link popularity, especially if you seek out link partners whose websites share the same theme as yours.

But this approach is time consuming - first you have to surf around looking for potential link partners, then you have to email them, then you have to confirm that they added your link and so on.

==> Writing Articles

This is the technique I use for increasing link popularity and it works very well.

Write short articles of 300 - 800 words and then submit them to the article announcement lists and the online article banks.

There are thousands of webmasters out there who need free content for their websites and you’ll soon find your articles appearing on dozens, even hundreds, of different websites.

At the bottom of your article is your Resource Box containing a link to your website. It might look something like this:

—————————————————————– ——— John Doe is the webmaster of yourdomain.com where he offers cutting-edge tips on all aspects of web marketing. To find more advice, tools and resources to help you succeed in online business, visit: http://www.yourdomain.com —————————————————————– ———

Most webmasters will make the URL in your Resource Box an active link. If they don’t, you should insist on it because it’s part of the deal - they get free content for their website and you get a free link.

This technique has two important advantages over other methods of raising link popularity:

(1) You don’t have to clutter up your website with reciprocal links

(2) You don’t have to invest huge amounts of time searching for link partners and then emailing them to request a link. If they like your article, they just add it to their website.

Happy writing!

(c) 2002 by Michael Southon

When shopping online for Link Management Software that can help create and automate your links directory, some important features that you should look for are as follows:

The software should,

Create the links page based on your own template.

Allow addition or removal of links at the click of a button and have the links page rebuilt.

Allow webmasters to submit their site.

Notify you when a webmaster has submitted their site and give you the option of accepting or rejecting their submission. .

Automatically check whether link partners linked back to you.

Help to automate the process of finding new partners.

Be easy to install.

The key to success for a website or online business is good search engine ranking. All of the major search engines use link popularity to determine how well a site will rank so the more high quality, relevant links that lead to your site, the higher it will rank.

There are a number of link management software scripts on the market but the one that I really enjoy using is LinkMachine. This is a relatively new link exchange management software that does not require an mySQL database and is very extremely to install. This software makes it very easy to find and contact quality link partners, generate custom link pages that match your site, and keep track of reciprocal links. LinkMachine automatically updates your link pages the instant they’re changed - no uploading required. Link exchanges increase a site’s targeted traffic, search engine ranking, and sales.

LinkMachine finds hundreds of popular, relevant sites to potentially exchange links with. Invite the webmasters of these sites to exchange links, using LinkMachine’s fast e-mail templates. Generate custom link pages that perfectly match the look of your site. And keep track of each reciprocal link to your site.

LinkMachine is a Php application that runs on your web server. So it can automatically update your link pages the moment a change is made - no need to upload files each time a new link is added.

There is a free 10 day trial and a 30 day money back guarantee.

Standing out at a Career Fair can make a difference in your job hunt. Job Faires are starting to pick up, and Dice is running some nice ones, called Targeted Job Fairs. At a San Jose Area Job Faire in January, 10 companies as showing up, and Dice has 82 career fairs scheduled for 2010 across the US.

How do you compete at a Career Faire? The rivalry can be substantial, but you can help yourself stand out from the bunch with advance preparation. At AA-Careers, we have a simplified step-by-step process to prepare. Planning to go? Here’s how to prepare:

First, investigate the organizations that are going and pick your objectives. Use the web to research the companies that are there ahead of time. Go to their websites and see if they have their openings listed. Pick a rational number to target, and get ready to spend an hour or more researching each one. It’s hard to do more than eight in a day, and four to six is a much more reasonable target. For each company, you want to know: recent news, key product lines, and exectuve names. Try to see if you know anyone at the target companies. You’ll end up with a page or two of research for each company/job.

Second, if there are job openings on the web, read them to see what the hiring manager is looking for. Create a mapping of your accomplishments and skills to the prerequisites of the job. Make the terminology match. If the hiring organization calls customers "clients", your resume should do the same thing. The accomplishments should be written in the style of the hiring company.

Third, create a ‘short sales pitch’ for each likely organization/job combination. Write down a sixty second ‘thumbnail’ that you can repeat out loud describing why you are a fantastic prospect for that position. You’ll use this in your resume and when you meet people at the job kiosk.

Fourth, modify your resume for each opportunity. The objective on your resume should exactly match the position you’re aiming for. The executive summary should be a written form of your “mini sales pitch” for the job. Then choose the accomplishments and skills that most clearly match the job requirements. Especially at a Job Faire, the purpose of your resume is a sales tool for you – to get you on-site job interviews. It should be simple to see that you’re a fit based on your resume.

Fifth, dress and prepare as if you’re doing on-site interviews. Dress well and be properly groomed. Don’t over do-it (this isn’t a date!) and don’t underdress (no jeans or t-shirts, no matter how much you paid for them). Avoid strong cologne or perfume.

Finally, practice your ‘mini-sales-pitch’. Collect your research and the resume for each spot - bring a couple of copies for each – and put each in a intelligibly labeled folder. Keep them in a lightweight briefcase or folio.

Remember to smile, and good hunting!

Hawaiian Gardens Casino, a fast-growing California-based card club, hired the services of Watchit Media, Inc., the leading producer of digital media and advertising, to provide a better viewing and gaming experience to the players of Hawaiian Gardens Casino. This business endeavor is part of the strategy employed by Ron Sarabi, general manager of Hawaiian Gardens Casino, in his effort to expand the business and provide nothing but the best customer service through maximizing its facilities. As of 2006, the casino club has grown to become the second largest card club in the state with 180 tables.

In a press release distributed in 2004 through Market Wire, Ron Sarabi stressed that the club’s television screens serve as an effective avenue for them to communicate with their customers. Watchit Media, Inc. has developed all content aired in the club’s 32 television screens through two channels. Watchit Media Inc.’s Private Venue Programming allows the Hawaiian Gardens Casino to communicate directly with its customers by providing them with an assortment of information such as the Player Tracking Card, gaming promotions, and its array of food and beverages.

Ron Sarabi further explained the need to take advantage of the customers’ presence in the club, as they spend an average of five to six hours per day inside the property. With this innovation, Hawaiian Gardens Casino provides utmost convenience to customers since all the information they need flashes on the screens; thus, they no longer have to rise from their seats.