There have been some useful threads here about search engine optimisation. Search engine friendly URLs may still be a distant reality apart from Apache mod rewrite, but there is another powerful option to "friendly URLs, that is link popularity. Google which is the main contender for searching query string addresses put considerable emphaises on link popularity as well as content density and relevance.

Using mylinks module for a "Reciprocal links directory"

The my links module would be a good tool for optimising link popularity throughout the XOOPS community. This is what is required:

1/ Modify Mylinks to make a global category that automatically includes all links in all other categories.
2/ Make the global category data portable from one Mylinks module to another.
3/ On the XOOPS.org, website create a global category for 'xoops websites' in the modified module .
4/ Invite all XOOPS users to register their own websites in the global category.

Links popularity.

1/ Users wanting to maximise link popularity need to register their own website in the XOOPS links category.
2/ They then need to install the modified Mylinks module with data input facility
3/ Now, download and insert the global links data into your own global category.

This will take some time to build up, but eventually there is potential for thousands of sites linking to one another through this combined links category. Some sites will rank highly anyway by virtue of their content. If they are linked to your site, because they use the global category with your site on it, your popularity will be increased due to their linking. The global category is only a small intrusion in your links categories compared to the overall benefits.

Extra benefits.

Reciprocal links add value to your web site, let your web site visitors return to your site, and you'll get targeted traffic from clicks of your links on other web sites.

As a positive side effect, you'll also benefit from increased search engine traffic if you have good incoming links. Almost all major search engines rank your web pages based on the number and the quality of links that point to your web site (link popularity). Google uses link popularity as an important factor in ranking sites. HotBot, AltaVista, MSN, Inktomi and others also use link popularity in their formulas.

This is not a perfect solution, because link relevance can not be included and it depends heavily on user participation, BUT it's a start!

Any thoughts, comments or better ideas?


Richard

Hey - you do have access to my 'puter?

Just kidding. Thanks for posting this. This is actually something I am including in the XOOPS Product Development roadmap.

You are RIGHT on target.

Lemme know if you want to join my development team!

Dan (dlh)

Here's another thought on MyLinks. Create a block that can list links in a specific category. For example, a block that shows links from a "Reciprocal Links" category.

Add to that the ability to have the block be the admin's choice of the Top 10(x) "Most Popular" or "Most Recent" or "Top Referer" or simply "Randomly Rotated".

Randomly Rotated, in particular, might help you avoid losing your Google Rank for being in a Link Farm/Affiliate Program.

Thanks for the comments. Have to say here my stregths are in the conceptual part of sytem design NOT the programming. Anything I can do to assist with this in mind is ok by me.

One area I did not detail much regarding the reciprocal links idea, is that relevant links also matters to some extent. Robot algorhythms are complex enough to detect reciprocal link saturation that is from irrelevant content sources. In a perfect setup, we would look to add category filtering at least on a basic level to alleviate this to some extent.

As usual in the creative arena, initial ideas emerge very raw but often evolve into something much better and different to the original concept. I Look forward to seeing what happens!

Richard