ABSTRACT
Link analysis can be defined in several ways, depending on discipline or approach. Link analysis, within this approach, is a data analysis technique that is used to evaluate connections or relationships between individuals or objects in a network. It enables researchers to calculate centrality, which includes degree centrality, closeness centrality and between’s centrality. Link analysis, within the second approach, has its roots in the discipline of information science, in particular in bibliometrics, scientometrics informetrics and citation analysis. Link analysis, within the third approach, has its roots in business analytics. It is used by those working in search engine optimisation (SEO) to improve the search engine rankings of an organisation’s website. There are a variety of digital tools and software packages available, including web-crawlers and search engine analysis tools, which enable researchers to undertake link analysis. Some are aimed at researchers in disciplines such as the social sciences whereas others are aimed at business and the SEO sector.
