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Ways to Increase tIC in 2011: Priorities

21 February, 2011

A lot has been written about this topic, but many articles fail to highlight the key points that significantly boost the thematic citation index (tIC) of our project.

Nowadays, it’s no secret that Yandex has become more aggressive, making it increasingly challenging to boost citation without financial investment. However, it is still possible! So, what is most effective for increasing the thematic citation index today?

While I can’t claim to have drastically increased tIC on my own sites, I do have a logical approach, and I’ve done plenty of “googling and reading” of others’ thoughts on the matter. If anyone’s interested, I’ve put together something resembling a plan for prioritizing ways to boost tIC in 2011 (at least at the start of the year).

Here are the methods ranked in order of importance:

  1. Circular Article Exchange with Other Projects – This is the most effective method. You need to find thematic sites with good citation indexes (two are enough, but the more, the better) and propose an article exchange. However, there’s a catch – you need to do a circular exchange.
    • There are three sites: Site A (ours), Site B, and Site C. The principle is as follows: we post an article linking to Site B. Site B posts an article linking to Site C. Finally, Site C posts an article linking back to us.
    • This method is effective because Yandex recognizes this as non-reciprocal linking, which is considered much better.
  2. Creating Blogs on Thematic Sites – For example, if you have a football site, find a high-tIC site (like “Dynamo Kiev from Shurik”) and start a blog there, if possible. The key here is moderation. Add posts periodically, but only include links to your site every other post to avoid having your blog deleted. It’s best to add a link at the end of a post, such as “materials used from – your site”.
  3. Banner Exchange – It’s better to do a circular exchange (like with articles), but direct exchanges shouldn’t be ignored either. Many might wonder:
    • Is it worth exchanging with sites that have a tIC of 0?
    • Yes, but not with all of them. If you see that the site is being updated and developed, then definitely exchange – the tIC of this project is likely to increase, which benefits you.
  4. Submitting to RSS Feed Directories – Almost every site now has a news feed. Add your RSS feed to as many directories as possible. However, there are pitfalls – many directories don’t provide direct links or are simply not indexed. Also, be mindful of content duplication in RSS.
  5. Signatures on Forums and Commenting on Thematic Blogs – Leave links to your project. Find thematic forums with good tIC and include a userbar or a link to your site in your signature.
    • Note that not all forum signatures are indexed, and on many forums, you need to earn credibility before you can add a signature. Some forums even prohibit hyperlink insertion, so using a graphical link might help.
  6. Submitting to Thematic and General Directories – Previously popular, this method now has varied results. Thematic directories might help, but general ones might not. Choose the appropriate category, but the “yield” might be minimal.

I suspect that if you follow these steps diligently and invest your time, you will see noticeable results after one or two Yandex tIC updates.