If you are getting into digital marketing or you have a website/online store you are trying to promote, then chances are you’ve heard about link building. However, you don’t know exactly what it’s about, and whether it will even have a significant influence on your ranking.
Well, this article is going to clear up a few things about SEO and the art of link building. By the time you get at the end, you’ll have a much better idea of why internet marketers never stop talking about link building.
A Little History
The first thing you have to know is that search engine optimization and link building have always been connected. The more links you were able to build, the more exposure you would get from search engines.
Unfortunately, there were certain individuals who exploited this method of ranking, meaning they started using what is referred to as blackhat tricks. Basically, they would create a bunch of spam sites and link as many sites together as possible, leaving the user frustrated.
Then, the algorithms that control the indexing process for Google changed rather dramatically, and it also changed the requirements for gaining higher rankings.
As for link building, it would remain a powerful tool, but with much stricter rules. Now, it’s not just about getting your link on another site. It’s about earning it.
The Benefits Of Link Building
Before going any further, it’s important to note why link building is such a popular practice. Firstly, getting your link on another site with an authority ranking, it counts in the favor of your site. Search engines pick up on this because they want to increase user experience. And if a popular site is vouching for another site, it could be a crowd-pleaser as well.
The other benefit is the amount of traffic you can possibly get. Essentially, you’ll be sharing in the traffic that comes to the hosting site.
How To Get Your Links On Other Sites
This is where the trick comes in, given all the new rules about healthy link building. If you want to get your links onto other sites, then focus on networking with sites in your niche. If the sites are serious about the topic and it has a following, it’s worth reaching out and making some connections.
Always keep in mind that the owner of the site isn’t just going to post your link, and paying the owner to paste the link is against SEO rules. Instead, you have to add some kind of value to the site, and you can only do this if you know what the site is all about.
Did you read the articles? Do you have any type of knowledge you can contribute the site doesn’t already have? Only after you get to know the site should you reach out to the owner. Otherwise, they are going to see you as someone just looking for quick exposure.
A good example of healthy link building while boosting SEO is through guest blogs. This means you write an article that the site can consider publishing. Of course, they don’t pay you for the article, because they will most likely add a link back to your site somewhere in the article.
Networking Is Important
It can’t be stressed enough how important networking as a SEO consultant. If you don’t get to know other website owners, and actually interact with them on more than one level, you are going to have a very tough time getting your links up on quality sites.
And the alternative is to place them on spam sites, which will only damage your reputation and probably pull your ranking down.
SEO And Link Building Go Together
Any effective SEO campaign is going to have some type of link building involved, and there are several ways to approach this. Yes, link building has become somewhat of an art, just like search engine optimization. And the fact is not everybody has the skill to execute link building the way it should be done.
Luckily, there are experts you can turn to. These are people who specialize in getting your links onto relevant sites with high rankings, and they do it according to the wishes of search engines.