Domain and Link Popularity

In the past, it was the market crier who drew people's attention to something. Today, referral marketing takes on this task. Few things are as convincing as a recommendation from a source that is reputable and trusted. Google handles this in a similar manner when it comes to links. Here, however, it is backlinks from renowned websites that serve as a reference for another site and directly influence the ranking. Link popularity and domain popularity are indeed signals for the search engine that a website has something to offer the user.

Link Popularity – the entirety of all links

Refer to a website with only 10 links, 30, 100, or even 1000 and more? Link popularity indicates how many backlinks lead to a page in total. The more, the better – provided, of course, they are consistently high-quality links. Those prioritizing quantity over quality and attracting bad neighborhoods in masses achieve the opposite. Google and other search engines tend to view link profiles that are predominantly fed from dubious sources or result from link exchanges or purchases negatively. In some cases, there could even be a penalty, which means a demotion in search results. It's also important to know that when assessing link building, it's not just the number of backlinks that counts, but also their distribution. This is where domain popularity comes into play.

Domain popularity – how many different recommendations are there for a website?

From one page, dozens of links can refer to another website. If all backlinks come only from this domain and there are no other recommendations, the domain popularity is exactly 1. Not particularly exciting. And above all, it's not an indication for Google that the target page has extraordinary relevance. What matters is the number of domains from which backlinks originate. Those who can obtain a large number of links from many different domains set a signal for the search engine. Because it's like word-of-mouth: if many different people vouch for a product or service, it's more credible than if only one person does. Therefore, domain popularity is actually somewhat more important than the mere number of links.

However, this also applies in this case only if the link source comes from a reputable environment. You should steer clear of bad neighborhoods in the form of websites that engage in keyword stuffing, spamming, and other black hat SEO practices, or dubious providers promoting sex, gambling, and other objectionable topics. This is certainly not the neighborhood where you want your web presence to be. Buying and trading links also poorly affect the link profile. If you do this for other reasons, you should at least use the "sponsored" meta tag to reduce the risk of penalties.

Satellite sites for building domain popularity? Better not

For a long time, it was popular in search engine optimization to improve domain and link popularity through satellite sites, also known as doorway pages or bridge pages. These are keyword domains equipped with content for a search term. These pages are created solely for search engines to obtain a good ranking for a keyword and immediately redirect visitors to another page upon clicking. If several such satellite sites are created, it should appear as though there are many recommendations for the desired website, although the same site operator is behind them. This method of improving domain popularity may have worked ten years ago. However, by now, Google has seen through such SEO tricks and considers them a form of link exchange and thus manipulation. The evidence pointing to a network of satellite sites is also quickly recognizable:

• Same IP

• Same web host

• The same imprint on all pages

• Content of all pages is shared through a channel (such as social media)

• All pages are associated with a Webmaster Tools account

• Identical web design

Basically, we advise against relying on this SEO method. The better alternative to satellite pages are landing pages, which are used in the context of campaigns, do not primarily serve link building, and offer high-quality content that meets a specific customer need.

High-quality content marketing for building link and domain popularity

The effective path to high link popularity and domain popularity continues to be through valuable content. Those who truly meet customer needs, offer informative content with added value, significantly increase their chances of being linked from various domains. In this context, genuine collaborations with other portals and companies are of course advantageous. Those who also manage to establish themselves as an expert in a field can write guest articles and generate backlinks through them. This approach is recommended anyway, as Google increasingly rewards in-depth content. Those who take this to heart and develop an instinct for what their target audience is searching for and what questions they want answered will automatically increase their domain popularity. Those who then provide content that captivates users, increases dwell time, and leads to conversions or leads, are doing a lot right in their SEO strategy.

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