Link exchanges & practices to best benefit Search Engine Optimisation..

I have a respectable ranking, inside the top 5 in Google using the term, 'manchester web developer'. I have achieved this using various principles and am working on efforts to make my site more sticky. My SEO improvement tactics include.....

Essentially SEO is NOT an exact science in that there are various principles and different seach engines use varying techniques to index pages. In the first decade of the Internet, search engine optimisation comprised mostly of using descriptive file names, page titles, and meta descriptions, the search engines believing these indicators would return high value results. As search algorithms advanced in an effort to maintain integrity, page factors such as Keyword Densities became more important. Subsequently Page Ranking based upon the number and strength of inbound traffic evolved in importance. As each of these search criterion became used and abused so the algorithms evolved. It's a running battle and in their ongoing efforts to stay one step ahead of unscrupulous web masters, the search engines now use sophisticated and extremely complicated algorithms that incorporate in excess of 200 factors to determine site ranking.

It is a commonly shared belief these days amongst SEO professionals that honest and strategic linking could very well be the single most important influence on search engine optimisation. It could be even more important than keyword density and position, with all of the major search engines using Link Analysis as an important part of their ranking algorithms. The main reason for the importance of linking is that it is extremely difficult for webmasters to "fake" good links in the same way that they might try to spam search engines by manipulating the words on their web pages. Consequently, link analysis gives search engines an effective tool in determining which pages are appropriate for particular topics and search terms, determining which sites and pages are relevant. Sources include affiliate, online directories, press releases, blogs and social media.

I am very interested in link exchanges. A link from my site to yours could be added to maximise Search Engine Optimisation, in that, the sites respectively, could be ranked higher due to them being considered more 'relevant' especially in engines such as Google who employ spider programs and crawlers. I will be happy to add your link to my site in exchange, for a link to mine from yours as my only condition.

A site with too many links could increase that sites bounce rate - in that visitors could leave after only one page view of the refering site. Experts say, ideally a sites bounce rate shouldn't exceed the ideal of 30%. I would say personally if you can avoid it, don't include links that aren't mutually beneficial as this can undoubtedly increase your sites bounce rate.

The term sticky websites and maintaining visitor interest.......

The term "sticky" generally refers to the ability of web content to capture the attention of the reader or internet browser. In order to maintain the readers interest and draw that reader back to your website, you need to empower your reader to interact with the site by having them explore the sites pages and read more content. How well you do this will determine how sticky your website will become. Different types of websites have different degrees of stickiness naturally - depending on their varying content. As far as how sticky your Home Page should be is concerned, it all depends on what you intend to do with the site in the first place. The Home Page should be an overview/summary guide to your site. If someone visits through the Home Page and you have very little information, they will have no idea what it really is about and their interest and subsequent desire to revisit will diminish.

I have included some links to what in my opinion, I would describe as the most essential techniques and principles for best creating a sticky site below. All provide quite useful reading.