It is widely agreed that SEM (search engine marketing) is one of today's most cost efficient and effective methods of marketing a web site. One of the most important aspects of SEM is obtaining link popularity. For example, if you expect to rank high in Google for the search term "search engine optimization" it is important to have other sites link to you with "search engine optimization" within the text of the link. This is called anchor text. Generally the more sites linking to you with your target keyword within the anchor text the better. However, it should be noted that not all links are of equal value. There are two primary factors to consider when assessing the value of a link.

Don't be fooled into believing that all backlinks are created equal because their not! Why, you may ask? It's no secret that many webmasters trade links left, and right, for the benefit of a higher ranking in the search results, but search engines have caught on to this technique, and are very aware that this is major threat to the relevance of the search results.

Link popularity is very important with regards to search engine placement or ranking. Most Search Engines including Google, place much importance in a Website's link popularity. They use the number of outgoing and incoming links to a Website to determine the importance ( relevance ) of the Website for a particular keyword or keyword phrase. However, incoming links are more important than outgoing links.