Tips to Link Popularity

To check the popularity or the importance of a web site, Google's patented PageRank is another method where if more pages link to a given page, then more important the page is and therefore it deserves a higher ranking than it would otherwise have. The number of links coming into a page is called Inbound Links.

While most engines simply counted the number of inbound links, Google modified it still further. Since each inbound link comes comes from a page (linking page) which itself has inbound links. If the linking page has more inbound links, then that page is more important and therefore, the link to the page that it inturn directs should also be more important. So Google gives more weightage to inbound links from important pages than it does to inbound links from lesser pages. They call the idea "PageRank". Thus the whole idea is to have a good number of inbound links and preferably from important pages i.e. pages themselves with medium to high PageRank values.

Some ways of increasing the inbound links:

Directories:
Directories usually provide direct or one-way links to websites, although some require a reciprocal link. Those Directories that insist on reciprocal links, aren't really trying to be useful directories. Submitting to directories for listing is often time-consuming and elaborate, though there are a number of cheap directory submitting services that do a very good job.

Link Exchange Programs:
There are a lot of mutual link exchange programs online. They offer free editor-based and categorized directory of quality websites that actively swap links with other relevant sites like of that yours. This is also called as reciprocal linking or link exchange. For example, www.LinkPartners.com is one such site which helps you locate a categorized directory of websites that also want to exchange links similar to your site content.

Never sign up with "Free for All" backlinks exchange sites because they are mostly email address gatherers and you can expect a sudden increase in email spam soon after you sign up. Tie up with only those sites where you can approach them personally.

Avoid Link farms, such as LinksToYou.com. Though they sound excellent for building up backlinks and PageRank, Google disapprove of them as blatant attempts to manipulate the rankings and they will penalize sites that use them. Once your site has been blacklisted, it is very difficult to get the penalty lifted, so avoid all link farms.

_______________
Alevoor Rajagopal
http://www.google-searchengineoptimization.com/

The Dish: Nike Campaign Dumber Than Life

Deion Sanders and some blonde model have a son. That son plays high school football. On a team with Brian Urlacher, Michael Vick, LaDainian Tomlinson, Troy Polamalu and Matt Leinart. On a team coached by Don Shula.

And this team gets ready for a big game. Against another high school football team. And the game is extraordinarily close, even though one team has Brian Urlacher, Michael Vick, LaDainian Tomlinson, Troy Polamalu and Matt Leinart, and the other team has skinny, pimply high school dorks. And then, as time winds down, Shula naturally calls a trick play in which Vick gets the ball to Tomlinson, who in turn fires a pass downfield. To the skinny son of Deion Sanders and the blonde model. Because, well, obviously in crucial situations you need to go to your best weapon.

Yes, Nike has truly outdone themselves. I have officially forgotten all about Mars Blackmon and Michael Jordan.

Throw out expectations, throw out biases: Who was the best team you saw play in the NFL during Week 1? Who was the worst?

BoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.com: Was it that Chicago was too good or was Green Bay just that bad? The best in Week 1 pretty much faced the worst in this NFC North duel. A dominating defensive performance and a decent amount of points boosted Da Bears. Favre, on the other hand, threw up 170 yards with two INTs. Good thing Something About Mary 2 is filming next fall. I know, that's a bit harsh against a future Hall-of-Famer, but the worst mistake a legend can make is not hanging up the cleats in time. On a side note, Baltimore looked surprisingly good in Week 1 as well.

How did the betting public do in Week 1? Did they have their money on the big "names" like New England, Carolina, Seattle and Dallas? Did that make it a huge weekend for the books?

BDB, BoDog.com: A lot of money came down on big-name teams in Week 1, but there were some surprises as well. Not a lot of bettors thought Pittsburgh could pull of the cover with Big Ben out of the picture, and Carolina didn't get that much respect against the Falcons. Although some of the big public teams lost, there were some very big wins for bettors, as well as on talented teams such as Cincinnati, Indy and Philadelphia.

Do you have a favorite matchup heading into Week 2? Can you tell us why?

BDB, BoDog.com: Week 2 is shaping up to be great with a lot of solid matchups. Two battles that stand out are Seattle vs. Arizona and Pittsburgh vs.Jacksonville. In the first matchup, both the Cards and the 'Hawks won in Week 1, but neither looked stellar. This is a chance for one or the other to get things rolling. A win for the Cards would be huge and prove that all the hype is warranted; while the Hawks could have some worries if they don't show they are as dominant as last season. In the second matchup, we will get another chance to see the Super Bowl champs prove they have what it takes to win back-to-back titles as they face an extremely tough Jacksonville side. It will be a great atmosphere in Florida on Monday night as the Jags seek to knock off the champs.

How did the betting public do on the Ohio State at Texas college football game last Saturday? It was really kind of a blowout, and Ohio State covered easily. Was that good for you guys? Do you think OSU can be beaten this season?

BDB, BoDog.com: The Ohio State game was great for the bettors, but stung pretty bad for the books. The only good part about the blowout for us was that it killed some teasers. OSU definitely looked good as a #1, but I don't think anybody still believes Texas is the #2. We'll see how they fare in the marquee matchups to come.

Christopher Harris is a featured writer for the Professional Handicappers League.

_______________
Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com