There are many SEO experts and website owners that were quite shocked when Google introduced their most notable algorithm updates including Panda and Penguin. They thought that link building would not work again. However, after a while, they realized that the only thing that had changed is the way Google evaluates backlinks. In other words, it’s impossible to improve your search engine ranking without taking link building into account.
Building links is an activity that every website owner and SEO expert should practice on a regular basis. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most important elements of modern Search Engine Optimization (SEO). After all, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other popular search engines are creating their results based on links.
Now that you know the importance of link building for SEO, it’s time to learn more about the do’s and don’ts related to this activity.
Myths about link building
According to many SEO UK experts, there are many people who believe that creating engaging, unique content is everything you need to attract visitors. Of course, this is partially true, but what’s even more important is to build links. This is the most important indicator for Google’s algorithm to determine the relevancy of a website.
This fact was confirmed by Google officials. However, the link building process from the past doesn’t work today. It’s not the quantity that matters, it’s the quality of links. Website owners must follow these rules in order to stay high in the search engine results. If they are trying to trick the system, they can expect penalties. Let’s not forget that these penalties can lead to irreversible damage. The fact is that in most cases, websites are getting most of their traffic from organic search. To put it in simple words, if your website doesn’t appear high in the search engine results, you can expect a low number of visitors.
What not to do when building links
The main reason why Google decided to update its algorithm on a regular basis with updates like Panda and Penguin is to eliminate suspicious, spammy and low-value link building activities. There’s nothing else behind this decision. Their main goal is to provide the most relevant results to their users. So, as a website owner, you should definitely avoid link building tricks that are promising results overnight. For many years, website owners and SEO experts were exchanging links with other websites in order to improve page ranking. This method worked because Google ranked websites with more backlinks higher. But, the truth is that this strategy was causing confusion in users because they were not finding what they were looking for in the first place.
This is just a way to trick the search engine algorithms. Fortunately, modern Internet users can stay away from these schemes because Google has updated their algorithm and they keep updating their algorithm.
Now let’s see a few examples of methods that you should avoid when building links:
- First of all, you should stay away from link exchanges with other websites based on your mutual desire to boost page ranking. Don’t do this because Google will probably find out and your website will be penalized.
- Do not place direct links to your website on online directories with a low ranking. Almost all of these online directories don’t look good in the eyes of Google’s web crawlers and web spiders. Of course, there are some good online directories with a good reputation that can help you. Do some research before placing a link.
- Another thing that you should avoid is guest posting where the main objective is to place a keyword with a hyperlink to your website. It’s a good idea to get involved in guest blogging and/or posting but only if you are ready to share relevant, unique and engaging content. It’s even better if you can find a high-ranking website or blog to do this.
A few great link building tips
If you’ve read this basic guide carefully, then you have probably realized what you should avoid in the process of link building. But, the most important question that you should answer is what you should do to support your link building strategy. Fortunately, we have created a short list of good tips that any website owner will find useful.
- For starters, you should focus on creating quality, engaging, and outstanding content. ‘Content is king’ is a phrase that you’ve heard many times, but it’s good to mention it again. Link building is much easier when you are sharing content that has great value. This means creating content that can actually help readers and make them visit and stay on your website. This is a good way to get a natural link.
- Next, as we already said – quality means more than quantity today. Instead of focusing on getting multiple backlinks from low-ranking websites, it’s better to get a few or even just one backlink from a popular, high-ranking website.
- Another thing that you should remember is to keep links live. We are talking about both outbound and inbound links that are leading to other pages on your website. You should remove non-working and broken links to your website because they are just hurting your ranking.
- There’s no doubt that social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can help you with this process. Try to create content that is shareable and post it on these networks.
- Finally, you should consider hiring a professional SEO expert. There are many experienced SEO specialists that are constantly following the latest trends in the world of link building and Search Engine Optimization. They know how to come up with a white hat SEO strategy for link building and they can also cover other aspects of the SEO process. Many website owners can confirm that this is an investment that pays off in the long run.
We hope that this guide will help you understand the importance of link building for SEO.
