Link Building - The Simple "What?" and "How?" Guide
By Bruce Klaic Sunday, April 3, 2022
Google's aim is to deliver the best answer possible for any of the 5.6 billion searches it gets every single day. But how does it do this?
There are many factors that Google considers ranking your site and actions that you can take to improve them, this is the basis of SEO. Creating relevance through specific content and having a well-structured and peak performance site is part of it and Creating Authority and Importance through link building is another.
In this blog post, we will discuss the fundamentals of how and why search engines may use links and some of the best practices for cultivating links. We'll also look at how links have been changing over time and what that means for SEOs.
How Links Create Authority and Importance
- Links from important websites might be an indication that a website is relevant to a certain topic.
- A high number of links scattered across the site may suggest that it's vital.
- A site becoming increasingly popular could indicate importance.
To simplify things, it's like if a lot of people recommend a restaurant, you'd be more inclined to go there, right? It's like Google's version of Word of Mouth but how does it know whose opinion to trust. (I had a friend in high school that used to dip his Pizza into milk, let's just say I didn't trust his opinion on food.) Google does its best on understanding which websites have more authority than others, so you'll want to have more links from reputable sources and fewer from not so reputable ones. These are known as low and high-quality links.
What are High-Quality Links?
Links from high-quality websites are considered more important than links from low-quality websites. A high-quality website is one that has a good reputation, is well-respected by other websites, and has a lot of quality content.
Examples of High-Quality Links
Some examples of high-quality links include links from:
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Industry Blogs
- Government Websites
- Educational Institutions
Links from these types of websites are considered more valuable than links from lower quality websites, such as spammy directories or low-quality blogs.
Low Quality Links
Conversely, a link from a low-quality website tells search engines that your website is also low quality. Examples of low-quality links are links from:
- Article Directories
- Comment spam
- Adult websites
- Low-quality blogs
Reducing Low-Quality Links
The process of reducing the influence of non-relevant links has been going on since nearly the beginning of the use of links for ranking purposes. For many years, SEOs could simply build as many links as possible and achieve good rankings as a result. However, over time, the importance of links has diminished. This is largely due to the introduction of Google's algorithm updates, such as Penguin and Panda. These updates penalize websites that engage in spammy or black-hat SEO tactics, such as buying links or stuffing keywords into their content.
As a result, SEOs must now focus on building quality links rather than quantity. Quality links are those that come from high-quality websites with relevant content. There are a number of ways to go about acquiring these types of links, including guest posting, link building outreach, and influencer marketing.
How to build backlinks
Now that you understand the basics of links and their importance, let's take a look at some of the best ways to build them.
Guest Posting
Guest posting is a great way to build high-quality links. When you publish a guest post on another website, you're providing that website with high-quality content and a link back to your website. In addition, you're also building relationships with other website owners and bloggers, which can lead to future collaborations.
Link Building Outreach
Another great way to build links is through link building outreach. This involves reaching out to other websites and bloggers and asking them to link to your website. You can do this by creating a list of websites that are relevant to your niche and sending them an email pitching your content. You can also use tools like HARO (Help a Reporter Out) to find opportunities for guest posting and link building.
Influencer Marketing
Finally, another great way to build links is through influencer marketing. Influencers are individuals or organizations who have a large following on social media or in their industry. When you partner with an influencer, they will promote your content to their followers, which can lead to a lot of high-quality links.
Summary
- Search engines look at links to determine the importance of a site
- Links can create relevance to certain keywords or phrases
- All links are NOT created equal
- The best version of a link is one given freely by another site
- Link building takes time and takes active effort
As you can see SEO is not something done half-heartedly, it takes someone dedicated to make sure your business comes up as the number one solution for your customers. Feel free toc heck out our other free resources or if you would like an SEO Agency to review your site and take care of Link Building for you, reach out for a Free Discovery Session with One Orange Cow!
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