Linking strategy - absolute vs relative

My_Donna · #1 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 10:09 AM

Hi all,

Do search engines know the difference between absolute and relative links?

From what I understand, inbound links have the potential to increase your search engine ranking. What about internal (relative) links within your own website, for example Wikipedia has a gazillion relative links between their articles. Does this help Wikipedia get ranked higher?

Thanks in advance!

Gennady · #2 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 10:56 AM

I'm not sure that "relative" and "absolute" are the right words here, but I will try to explain quickly.

Internal text links help pass both relevance and pagerank from the higher page to the lower page. For example, if you site sells widgets, and one of your internal pages is dedicated to blue widgets, a link from the homepage with the anchor text "blue widgets" will help the blue widgets page rank better for "blue widgets."

**ctabuk** · #3 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 11:45 AM

http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=72939
For the Wiki question.
The PR of a link does not make a blind bit of difference to Google or any other Search Engine. That is just another myth.
When placing links to or from your pages it's really all about 'relevance' ie - do they have similar content/topic/subject relevance to your keyword/landing page. Ie aim your Directory submissions to individual pages - so taking the widget thing.
you have a ww -w. my widgetsare cool.co m - HTML the code and use the page title ie Blue Widgets so you end up with a ww -w. my widgetsare cool.co m /blue-widgets.html page - In your directory submissions you use the extended or longtail URL as your site title. Find your competitors who rank higher than you "theirsite" them, find where they are linked and copy suit. Easy Peasy.

**ctabuk** · #4 (**permalink**) 03-15-2007, 11:48 AM

Oh and don't forget to link out as well as in.

**incrediblehelp** · #5 (**permalink**) 03-17-2007, 06:26 PM

Google has stated that they prefer absolute links, but I have seen website preform fine using both.

Webnauts · #6 (**permalink**) 03-17-2007, 06:37 PM

I would say that absolute links could do better in many cases. But that is not a rule.

You might would like to read this tutorial, and make up your mind what would fit best for your case: http://www.goer.org/HTML/basic/links/