It's no secret that backlinks (read relevant backlinks from quality sources) are one of the top three ranking factors in Google and can greatly influence your website’s traffic. But there is mass confusion around what's okay to do as far as building links and what's not. I believe this handy guide will be useful for you all.
The good practices
So what are the compulsories? Let’s start with -
I. Regulate the value of a link by determining its relevancy, authority and the benefit it will bring to your site.
II. Complete the incomplete/inaccurate local listings as these types of citations broadcast to Google that this business has consistent NAP info across the web. Which in return gives you extra mileage over others.
III. Search for unlinked brand mentions. One of the best ways you can get a link is by figuring out who is citing you but not linking to it. Then the job is to reach out to the source and look for contacts to get a link from unlinked brand mention.
IV. Retrieving broken links is also a great way to recover some of your non-functional links easily. Definitely, a great thing to do if any of those broken links are now pointing towards a 404 page on your site and you can stop wasting the value of the links by placing a 301 redirection on such pages.
The best practices
Some of the futuristic approaches not many are considering seriously -
V. HARO (Help a Reporter Out). This is kind of a sophisticated way of building links. Reporters will connect with you about any questions or information they're seeking for a news article via this service. It's like digital public relations. It’s a great way to get a citation in their write-ups.
VI. Sponsor or participate in events. Find your local space and grab opportunities that could enter you as a sponsor or as a participant. This gives you an opportunity to get a link from those event sites in addition to mass outreach.
VII. Guest blogging. There's nothing wrong with outreach, especially when done well. I know that by finding out the right sources and pitching emails for guest posting in general, the response rate is painfully low. But you can get the real benefit if you're a little bit more strategic about it or if you outreach to the right people with the right offer at the right time. There's a ton of opportunities available to tap in, so definitely try this out. You mustn't do guest posts always just for a link. I think there is a ton of value in guest posting. So use it sparingly.
VIII. Linkbait. This is another tried and tested way when it comes to link building. Create great content and people will naturally attract you. It's an awesome way to earn links. Common types of linkbait content include debatable content, data, guides, and newsworthy pieces.
All right. So what to avoid? The bad practices in today's time are -
I. Don't spam on anchor text. Asking for specific anchor text is good but they should fit in properly. That's going to look more natural. All the ethical search engines are going to consider it to be more organic, and it will help your site in the long run. Anything other than these is definitely big no-no's.
II. Don't buy or sell links. You can buy or sell links through a link exchange program. Any reciprocal links which are non-thematically associated with each other and built upon unfair trade is another big no-no. Link schemes, private link networks, and private blog networks are some classic examples. It looks so, so spammy, and you need to avoid this.
III. Hidden links. Surprisingly, many still think that invisible links are useful, keeping background and text’s color similar to make links invisible to humans. They are totally hidden, but crawlers would still recognize them. Don't do that. That's a useless tactic nowadays. Give proper recognition to the intelligence of today’s smart web spiders.
IV. Low-quality directory links. Simply better you check DA and PA before even considering any directory for your submission.
V. Footer links to spam. Site-wide worthless footer links or top-level navigation links, looks really, really spammy. Avoid doing this.
VI. Spam through blog commenting. Again, it's just like any of these others. It looks spammy. It's not going to achieve anything. So, avoid this too. However, real blog commenting is still worthy to continue in terms of user-generated content.
VII. Link exchange. This tactic does not work anymore, but there are some opportunities that still exist to gain links naturally and more authoritatively if you can build it organically and thematically. But, personally, I do not think, creating and maintaining a link resource page in any modern website is any more feasible.
So hopefully, this helps you define your own link-building guideline. One last thing I would like to mention here is: To disavow or to not disavow? I have read so many discussions for and against this. Does the disavow file work? Does it not? What are your experiences? Please let me know through the comments.
Thank you so much for your time. I will see you all soon. Bye for now!
V. HARO (Help a Reporter Out). This is kind of a sophisticated way of building links. Reporters will connect with you about any questions or information they're seeking for a news article via this service. It's like digital public relations. It’s a great way to get a citation in their write-ups.
VI. Sponsor or participate in events. Find your local space and grab opportunities that could enter you as a sponsor or as a participant. This gives you an opportunity to get a link from those event sites in addition to mass outreach.
VII. Guest blogging. There's nothing wrong with outreach, especially when done well. I know that by finding out the right sources and pitching emails for guest posting in general, the response rate is painfully low. But you can get the real benefit if you're a little bit more strategic about it or if you outreach to the right people with the right offer at the right time. There's a ton of opportunities available to tap in, so definitely try this out. You mustn't do guest posts always just for a link. I think there is a ton of value in guest posting. So use it sparingly.
VIII. Linkbait. This is another tried and tested way when it comes to link building. Create great content and people will naturally attract you. It's an awesome way to earn links. Common types of linkbait content include debatable content, data, guides, and newsworthy pieces.
The bad practices
All right. So what to avoid? The bad practices in today's time are -
I. Don't spam on anchor text. Asking for specific anchor text is good but they should fit in properly. That's going to look more natural. All the ethical search engines are going to consider it to be more organic, and it will help your site in the long run. Anything other than these is definitely big no-no's.
II. Don't buy or sell links. You can buy or sell links through a link exchange program. Any reciprocal links which are non-thematically associated with each other and built upon unfair trade is another big no-no. Link schemes, private link networks, and private blog networks are some classic examples. It looks so, so spammy, and you need to avoid this.
III. Hidden links. Surprisingly, many still think that invisible links are useful, keeping background and text’s color similar to make links invisible to humans. They are totally hidden, but crawlers would still recognize them. Don't do that. That's a useless tactic nowadays. Give proper recognition to the intelligence of today’s smart web spiders.
IV. Low-quality directory links. Simply better you check DA and PA before even considering any directory for your submission.
V. Footer links to spam. Site-wide worthless footer links or top-level navigation links, looks really, really spammy. Avoid doing this.
VI. Spam through blog commenting. Again, it's just like any of these others. It looks spammy. It's not going to achieve anything. So, avoid this too. However, real blog commenting is still worthy to continue in terms of user-generated content.
VII. Link exchange. This tactic does not work anymore, but there are some opportunities that still exist to gain links naturally and more authoritatively if you can build it organically and thematically. But, personally, I do not think, creating and maintaining a link resource page in any modern website is any more feasible.
VIII. Focusing on quantity over quality. When it comes to building backlinks, quality is far more important than quantity. Rather than focusing on how many links you can collect, you should focus your strategy on collecting the right types of backlinks and maintaining a high-quality and updated backlinks profile.
So hopefully, this helps you define your own link-building guideline. One last thing I would like to mention here is: To disavow or to not disavow? I have read so many discussions for and against this. Does the disavow file work? Does it not? What are your experiences? Please let me know through the comments.
Thank you so much for your time. I will see you all soon. Bye for now!
