Links
Google revolutionized online search with its link analysis algorithm, PageRank, by adapting citation analysis in research papers to linking among web pages. This basic doctrine of web linking still dictates the industry standard for internal website structures.
At their core, search engines spiders are simple entities. They crawl from one page to the next through web links. More often than not, pages that are not accessible through a static web link will not be found by the spiders. However, the search engine imposed limit of roughly 100 links per page allows for over 1 million pages to be indexed all within 3 clicks of the homepage as illustrated to the left.
Key Element 1:
Internal Link Structures
The most popular way to link pages in this hierarchical manner illustrated above is in the sitemap. However, this linking structure can also be achieved through a site’s normal link practice. XML sitemaps can also help for deep pages with crawl issues.
Key Element 2:
Tracking Links
Currently, the best tool for tracking links is the Yahoo! Site Explorer. PageRank can also give a good indication as to the quality and number of a site’s links.