One of the most sought after links is a "link embedded within content" of a page. The theory goes like this: search engines will be able to identify what links are in the content area of the page and which links are outside of the content area and "count" the links in the content and discount the links outside the content area as "commercial" links.
I don’t think the search engines are there yet and it will always be difficult to divide a page and separate out commercial versus editorial links. The main argument I have for in content links is that they have the best chance at sending you traffic which is a great thing. Here comes the game plan for getting: targeted traffic and a permanent relevant link all at once…
1. Sponsor a blog that reaches your target market.
- Sponsoring blogs whose audience is your target market makes sense on it’s own. Also, many blogs set up banner sponsorships as direct links to your site which can help your rankings but not as much as a nice text link with anchor text. Also, when the banner goes down, your link goes down with it of course. That takes us to to the all important step two of this strategy…
2. Request that blog make a "thank you sponsors" post.
- This is important for many reasons:
a) You now can reach the rss readers of this blog that may not visit the actual website regularly.
b) You now have a link embedded in content that will be in the blog’s archive forever giving you a "permanent link". This is important because while your banner link will disappear when your sponsorship ends, this link within a post will continue to link back to your site.
In summary one strategy for securing quality in content links that will send traffic and link popularity consider sponsoring a blog that is willing to make a post mentioning their sponsors in addition to the standard banner they will place.
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