by Bob Tripathi
On-Page SEO Audit? Done. Technical SEO Audit. Finished. What's next? A link audit completes the SEO audit triumvirate.
Links are the online currency of search engines. If you aren't paying attention or decide the webmaster guidelines are just a suggestion, links can get you on the wrong side of the search engine "law". We're seeing this more now following the recent Panda and Penguin updates.
As you begin your link audit, make sure to check the following areas to ensure you have an optimal link profile.
Google PageRank
Yes, PageRank isn't as important a metric as it used to be and certainly not something to obsess over. However, it is still a decent indicator of the authority of your website.
There are two kinds of PageRank: one that you see on Google’s Toolbar that isn't updated very frequently (if ever) and the other PageRank that Google assigns to every page. Even though the toolbar PageRank is kind of randomly updated by Google it is still the only way you can look at any given site’s PageRank. It is a rough indicator of the authority of your site especially when you're doing a link or site audit.
As an example, all things being equal, a site with a PageRank 7 will generally rank better than site with PageRank of 5 for almost all queries (though PageRank is only one of hundreds of signals Google looks at to determine where sites rank). The easiest way to do that is download Google’s Toolbar and check the PageRank option.
Domain Age
Search engines, especially Google, still view age of domain as an important element in determining the credibility of a site. As a result you want to check your domain age relative to your competition. A great tool for this is domaintools.com, which also provides many other great snapshots about your site.
A site with an older domain can be much easier to optimize and rank than a site with newer domain. Also, do not confuse this with how many years you register a domain name for. This domain age has got more to do with how active your site been over the years with content on it. Matt Cutts has a video on it that talks more about it here.
Number of Links
Number of links from other sites pointing to your site (inbound links) is an important metric that you should be looking at. Along with the quantity of links pointing to your site you should also look at other variables like sites linking to you in your industry, sites with high PageRank, and the relevance of the link.
With all the recent algorithmic updates it is critical that you look for quality of links as opposed to quantity of links. There are a couple of ways to check this metric: manual and using tools. If doing a manual check then use link:www.yourdomain.com –yourdomain.com; or use tools like MajesticSEO or OpenSite Explorer.
Anchor Text Distribution
Anchor text basically means the clickable words that send users to a linked page or website. There are number of ways you can optimize it and make it more descriptive.
So instead of linking the word "Click here", for example, you can use a more descriptive way to describe to users where the link will take them. Bots also use anchor text to help determine relevancy and have over the years placed importance to it. That would not be the only way for you to rank better but definitely helps in the grand scheme of optimization.
While conducting your link audit you can use tools like MajesticSEO and Open Site Explorer, but my favorite has always been Advanced Web Ranking. Their anchor text distribution tool spits out nice charts like this one:
In the above chart also note how they show the percentage of anchor text that has been used.
Link Neighborhood
The old adage comes to mind that you’re known by the company you keep. Nowhere is this more true than in SEO.
If questionable websites are linking to you, then your site may also come under scrutiny. Ideally, you want to play in your industry with safe sites.
We see that links coming from questionable sites including paid links, article directory sites are not devalued as well. While conducting your audit it is important you run a report by using tools like Bad Neighborhood link checker or Majestic SEO tool.
Internal Link Optimization
In any large organization it is fairly common to have multiple sites representing different business units. We have seen two kinds of issues when dealing with multiple web properties, namely:
- Not linking with other sister properties.
- Not optimizing their internal links.
When optimizing internal links follow the same anchor text optimization tip as explained above. Internal link optimization is one of those low-hanging tasks that should be audited before you start your SEO program. The other part you should audit for is if your other sister properties link to you and if they do then are they using anchor text that could be useful to your business.
Competitive Link Benchmarks
One of the items high on any SEO professionals list should be competitive link analysis. It is recommended you look at your competitor’s link acquisition strategy over time and also who links to them.
This is not only a great way for you to find potential link targets, but also tells you how you quickly you need to ramp up your program. One of my favorite charts is on Majestic SEO where they plot out cumulative link acquisition of your competitor over time.
Summary
The above were some of my must-have quick link auditing elements that you need to include when starting a new link building campaign. Just like any audit you can go to great lengths and create a comprehensive audit guide.
Your turn now... What other elements of link building would you include in your link audit? Let’s hear it.
