Defining Links, Natural Linking and Artificial Linkage

Anatomy and Deployment of Links · Index · Part 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · Expand · Web Feed

Think of a link as a class. For the understanding of this article we need a universal definition of Link and its two most important implementations. We'll take care of technically driven sub classes like Link and A elements later on.

Define Link: A link is a connection from one Web resource to another. A link has two ends - called anchors - and a direction. The link starts at the "source" anchor and points to the "destination" anchor, which may be any Web resource (e.g., an image, a video clip, a sound bite, a program, an HTML document, an element within an HTML document, etc.).

Ask any Web developer 'What is a link?'. Most peobably the answer is something like 'A link is a connection between hypertext pages' followed by a detailed explanation of link attributes and their values. This answer may be technically correct, but it is incredible incomplete, because human usage and understanding of real life links aren't explained. Developing and deploying links requires parallel context sensitive thinking:

For your visitor a link is a path to more information/content of his interest, and a call for action. For search engines a link is a vote for another page, and a path to more spider food.

Define Natural Link: Natural linking is introduced by intentions like 'Get more of [page topic]', 'See also this [page topic related] relevant stuff', or in the best case 'Do not miss out on this [page topic] site'. Natural links appear in road maps (navigation) and recommendations (within the body text). Natural linking extends a topic to a broader theme and vice versa. Natural links are visible and prominent.

To apply natural linking, keep the surfer's interest in mind. Act as a webmaster without commercial goals who tries to give the very best to the visitor. On a per link base decide whether the destination adds value to the source (sentence, paragraph, page, or site). If you doubt, don't link. Users and search engines do honor natural links.

Define Artificial Link: Artificial links add value for the site owner alone, or support a 3rd party (not the visitor). Strictly speaking, even 'powered by', 'hosted by' and similar links in bottom lines are artificial, although they are legit and often make business sense. Illegitimate artificial links are hidden to surfers (invisible or not identifiable as link). Legitimate artificial (irrelevant) links usually get placed outside the primary areas of a Web page, e.g. the bottom line.

If the linked page (target, destination) is not relevant (to the source), the average surfer will go away, hopefully hitting the back button, but more likely lost forever. Search engine optimizers make use of artificial links to increase a page's link popularity, and to improve a page's search engine placement for a particular term used in the artificial link's anchor text. Search engine crawlers, designed to find valuable content for their users, may ignore or penalize an artificial link.

The Components of a Link [HTML Element: A]