There are many aspects to running a successful search engine optimization campaign and link-building is one of them. But just like everything in SEO, there is a right and a wrong way to go about it. In this article, we’re going to share the fundamentals of link-building in SEO and how you can get started today.
What are the fundamentals of link building?
Link building, in essence, is all about demonstrating to Google and other top search engines that your website is reputable, authoritative, and relevant. Over the years, Google has identified that the best websites that people are most interested in engaging with tend to have more inbound links pointing toward them from other reputable websites.
And conversely, the fewer links a website has, the less important it appears in the eyes of Google. As such, backlinks can be seen as “votes” of a sort in a website election: who gets to sit at the top spot of Google?
Here are a few fundamentals to remember:
- Whether or not a web page is important or spam.
- What subject the web page belongs to (depending on focus keywords).
- Not all links are useful for ranking purposes.
- The most powerful links are given freely by relevant websites.
- Having a plan in place to cultivate links is critical for your website’s long-term success.
Of course, not all links are created equal. When developing your backlink profile you need to think about the following:
- The relevance.
- The quality of the link.
- Where the link is coming from.
- What DR (Domain Rating) the linking website has.
How do links communicate importance?
How does Google decide whether a web page is important?
- If a website has a large amount of links spread out across a multitude of pages, it may indicate that the site is interesting and thus important.
- If a web page / site is rapidly gaining links because it easily solves a problem that Google’s users face, then it may begin to rank well as a result.
- Or if a web page / site has not gained any new links in a long time, then it may be deemed as being no longer relevant and can drop as a result.
How to develop a link building strategy?
Despite their importance, 66.31% of all web pages have ZERO backlinks. If you want to succeed, you’re going to need to be in the latter percentage.
As mentioned earlier: “The most powerful links are given freely by relevant websites.” So, how can you encourage other websites to freely link to your website / content?
The process is simple (though by no means easy):
- Create world-class content that covers a topic in great depth.
- Include real-life statistics certified by authoritative sources.
- Ensure a quality on-page experience with interactive elements.
- Use infographics and charts to help readers digest information.
- Make the page more accessible with transcribed audio, etc.
- Develop a proper content distribution plan to reach your audience.
In essence, if you want people to willingly share your content you need to make it irresistible. If this is something that overwhelms you, you can always outsource your needs to an SEO company in Los Angeles and have them develop the strategy with you and produce game-changing content on your behalf.
Another effective means of link building is also guest blogging. So, while your primary focus should be on creating original content and getting organic links that way, you should also develop a guest blogging strategy as well.
Guest blogging refers to the process of sharing your industry expertise by developing rich and valuable content and then submitting them to industry-relevant blog sites for publishing.
Conclusion: Quality over quantity
Remember that Google knows every trick in the book. Many would-be marketers have tried abusing the system by building tens of thousands of cheap links from fake websites and selling them for pittance and they always fail.
Sure, you may get a temporary boost in your rankings from a blackhat link building strategy, but Google will catch you out.
If you want to succeed and maintain healthy rankings in Google, you need to go about it the right way: organic link building through quality content creation and a well-strategized guest blogging campaign.
