Link Building Your Way to SEO Success
One of the most important aspects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is Link Building. But, what exactly is Link Building? Simply put, Link Building is the process of obtaining links from other websites that point back to your site & positions you as an authority site. There are a lot of effective link building strategies to deploy. However, before we delve into the nitty gritty of Link Building, we must explore other linking strategies that also play an important role in SEO.
The Anchor Text; Your Key to Link Building Effectively
To understand linking, you must be familiar with the Anchor Text. According to seomoz.org, a leading SEO Software Company, the anchor text is simply defined as; visible characters and words that hyperlink display when linking to another document or location on the web. It’seasy to identify the anchor text because it’s usually blue and underlined. The anchor text is important because it tells the search engines the subject matter of the page the anchor text is linked to. For example, let’s just say you were a personal trainer, and one of the keywords you wanted to rank for was “weight loss”. You would hyperlink the phrase “weight loss”. This makes it easy for the search engines to identify what your web page is about.
The 3 Important types of Links in Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to SEO, there are three types of links that can improve your rankings and position you as an authority site. These 3 types of links are:
- Internal- These are links that link to other pages within your website.
- External- These are links that point to website pages other than yours.
- Inbound/Backlinks- Backlinks are the links pointing back to your web pages.
Primary Benefits of Internal Linking
It’s common for many website owners to worry about high quality backlinks to their site; however, intrasite linking is just as important as backlinking. The internal linking structure will help the search engines as well as human visitors navigate your website with ease. The benefits of internal linking include, but are not limited to:
- Enhanced User Experience- Intrasite linking helps the user find the information they are looking for when they need it. By linking your primary keywords to your deep “money making” pages, it helps the user navigate your site with ease and make his purchase decision quickly.
- Helps Get More Backlinks- If your site is relevant, informative, and easy to navigate, many people will naturally want to link to it.
- Easy Navigation – Linking your primary keywords to deep pages make it easier for the user to find the information they are looking for within a matter of seconds. This will help increase conversions because ease of use.
Benefits of External Linking
As far as external links, there’s a lot of debate about whether a website should link out to other websites. Many website owners fear that linking out to other sites will affect their PageRank. Technically speaking, linking out can have a negative effect on the PageRank. However, providing external links to other sites can provide many benefits too. According to seomoz.org, some benefits include:
- Being positioned as an authority Site- By providing easy to access information, it positions you as a valuable and credible resource.
- Sends trackable traffic- When you link out to other sites, they will be able to track where their traffic is coming from. Who knows, they may return the favor and provide you with a high quality link that sends more traffic to your website as well.
- Reciprocal Links- When you link to other sites, they will give you the Gift of Reciprocity and link back to yours.
Backlinks; the Queen of SEO
If SEO Content is King, Backlinks are Queen. Search engines like backlinks because it helps them determine the popularity of a web page. The more quality links that point back to your site, the more Google and the other search engines thinks your site is important. It’s like a popularity system, the more popular you are, and Google and the other Search Engines will reward you by making sure your website appears on the 1st page of Google. When it comes to acquiring backlinks, it’s an art and a science. It’s not about getting as many backlinks as you can; it’s about getting high quality backlinks that position you as an authority site.
Understanding How to Acquire a High Quality Backlink.
There are many ways to acquire a backlink, but do they work? Yes, that’s if you are deploying the correct link building strategies. It’s no secret that many people use link farms, directories, and other forms of ineffective link building strategies that do more harm than good. That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re implementing the most effective link building techniques designed to get you search engine rankings. Google and other search engines like to see related pages linking to each other. For example, it would be wise for an Auto dealer to link to an Auto Insurance Agent. But, it wouldn’t make sense for that same Auto Dealer to link to a Pastry Store, they have nothing in common.
The key is to find relevant, non-competing, but complementary websites that can provide you with a high quality backlink. However, the tricky part of acquiring a backlink is to get people to link back to your website with the keyword you are trying to rank for. Let’s go back to our personal training example. This time you want to rank for the term “burn fat”. The key is to get the website owner to put the anchor text “burn fat” on his website rather than listing your domain name or putting “click here”. Now that you understand the process of how to acquire a backlink, let’s explore some highly effective link building tactics that can help improve your search engine rankings.
Popular link building Strategies to Implement Today
- Email- One of the easiest ways to acquire a quality backlink is to contact website owners who complement your business. The challenge with link request via email is, people get busy, and won’t provide you with a link as fast as you would like.
- SEO Press Releases- Online Press releases are great because they have more than one benefit. For starters, not only do they get media attention, but they also allow you to get your products& services in front of direct buyers. But, the real weight in SEO Press Releases is the ability to embed your primary keywords in the press release. This strategy allows you to have a high quality backlink pointing back to your site from a reputable site.
- Article Marketing- Simply put, Article Marketing is the process of writing articles to generate traffic back to your website and position you as a thought leader. There are many article directories that will allow you to write an article to be placed on their website. The key is to make sure you anchor text your primary keyword in the article, and have a link pointing back to the web pages you want to rank for.
- Social Media- One of the best and fastest ways to obtain a high quality backlink is through social media. Social Media is rapidly becoming an integral part of an SEO Link Building Strategy that should not be ignored.
- Blog Commenting- A great way to get links pointing back to your website is by going to popular blogs in your industry, and post relevant comments with keywords that link back to your website.
When it comes to link building, there’s much more to linking than what meets the eye. By having a mixture of internal, external, and inbound links, and deploying the most effective link building strategies, you will increase your chances of being positioned as an authority site. Follow these link building strategies and increase your website rankings as well as your sales.
