The SEO world is always a-flutter with debate on one buzz-word topic or another. There is always talk of link building, search engine algorithm changes, and how to improve your PageRank, domain authority, traffic, and other website metrics. Most of the solutions come in the form of on-page optimization and getting links.

What isn't always considered is maintaining the links you already have. After all, though the Internet seems limitless, there are a finite number of quality sites, and while new blogs are popping up every day, the more links you acquire, the longer it will take you to find sites you haven't been on. This makes it imperative to spend some of that time improving the links you already have.

Along with SEOmoz's Domain Authority measurement comes a metric that is often overlooked. Page Authority measures the likelihood of a specific page on a website ranking well in the search engines. While this metric is just a tool, and only offers an indication of what may rank well, it is useful for site owners to keep track of their pages. But there's another way to utilize Page Authority; by keeping track of the page authority of the pages that link to you, you can improve the authority of your own pages.

It is obvious that you will be looking for high authority sites to place links. While a strong PageRank and Domain Authority are great things for your website to be associated with, you can extend the influence of those links by raising the Page Authority of the pages they are on.

It is widely accepted that the better the sites that are linking to you are, the more potential you have for high search engine rankings. Often, links are posted on resource pages that may not get too many visitors or guest posts that don't see a large audience. While this may not hurt your site, it is not the most efficient way to raise your rankings. Guest post links are a particular issue because once they cycle off the home page, they are most likely on a page of their own that won't see traffic unless directed from outside links or search engines. Resource links are usually on static pages, and so easier to find, if still not particularly traffic-heavy.

By drawing an audience to your links, you can increase the Page Authority of the page they reside on. How do you do this? You use the same methods you use to bring people to your own site.

Resource Links If you are getting links on quality resource pages, share those resources with other people. Directing your audience to resource pages that recommend your services provides them with information on similar services while showing off and increasing the authority that you've already gained. Share link to these research pages in your social media, your guest posts, or even your email correspondence.

Guest Posts

It might be easier to draw people to your guest posts, since they offer content that will be useful or entertaining to readers. You can do that by:

• Linking back to your guest posts in articles on your own site and other guest posts.
• Linking from your social media to your guest posts.
• Encouraging people to comment and have discussions in the comment sections.

If you can get the community involved with the page your link is on, it shows that the content still has relevance. Try pushing for traffic about a month after an article is published. This can cause discussion to re-spark and revive interest in the topic. These are some of the many factors that search engines base their rankings on.

It is important to remember that when focusing on improving your metrics, your end goal is still to appeal to users. Focus on people rather than raw data and metrics. Using these techniques helps show off your previous writing experience, once again drawing attention to your authority and establishing you and your website as a trustworthy source of information.

Of course, Page Authority, Domain Authority, PageRank, and all of those other metrics are just tools to see if you're on the right track. They are not guaranteed to be one hundred percent accurate. This is why it's best to focus on methods that actively targeting actual people, rather than ambiguous algorithms and search engine spiders.

By maintaining the health of your already-obtained links, you are maximizing your efforts and efficiency. You already know that no one-time strategy is going to help your site in the long run. So apply that viewpoint to each link you obtain. Is the page you are targeting capable of earning and maintaining a decent Page Authority? If so, it might be more likely to rank well, which will increase the benefit to your site. If not, perhaps you should focus your efforts elsewhere.

Author Bio: Jeriann Watkins is a writer living in Boise, Idaho. She enjoys writing about many subjects, including white-hat SEO and new advances in Internet technology. She currently works for Page One Power, a relevancy first link building company.