The Pros and Cons of Link Building for Search Engine Optimization

Tons of SEO Professionals and Webmastars nearly collapsed at their keyboards in the wake of Google’s Penguin and Panda updates. SEO professionals believed that – “link building was dead… ” and this was an immense concern – to put it lightly. However, as time passed and Webmasters and SEO Professionals alike adapted to the shift, the fear wore off regarding link building for (SEO) Search Engine Optimization. In fact, the initial reaction was a bit of an exaggeration.

Building links continues and should/must continue, as it is an essential aspect of Search Engine Optimization. All search engines are driven by links.

With that said, we shall move forward with further information about link building, which you might find exceptionally useful and informative.

Misconceptions About Link Building That Should Be Disregarded Immediately

– Don’t build links and make sure your content is amazing. This is far from the truth… In fact, even Matt Cutts of Google said “Links are still the best way that we’ve found to discover how relevant or important somebody is… “

This statement came from the head of Google’s web spam team. The guy who released the Penguin and Panda updates to begin with. So, maybe now we can all just relax and try breathing again? Maybe…

You see, although backlinks remains as a vital aspect of SEO and it’s also, one of the best methods that search engines utilize to rank and index content – the old fashion way of linking is now in the past. Those days are gone!

Google is now targeting particular types of link building methods/strategies. These particular strategies are the ones that should be avoided by Webmasters and SEO Professionals or risk the algorithm and manual penalties, which Google has the power to uphold at any given time.

Things You Should Avoid When Backlinking

Google’s goals and hopes with the implementation of Penguin and Panda were to get rid of spammy and suspicious link building shenanigans.That was all. In a nutshell, stay away and do not use “quick fix” link building tricks. For a very long time, website owners and webmasters invested a lot of time and money in exchanging links with other websites to boost page ranks.

However, these link building methods didn’t offer anything of value to users. Their mere existence was to develop as many links humanly possible and tricking search engine algorithms to advance a website’s page ranking. These are the kinds of link building methods that Google discourages and now with Penguin’s implementation if these unethical link building strategies are utilized by anyone, you will be given quite a hefty penalty for such practices.

Do Not Use The Following Link Building Tactics:

1. Cross Linking or Link Exchanges with other web pages with the singular purpose of creating a link tree to increase page rank… This is the type of tactic that should be put under lethal injection. DO NOT DO THIS!

2. Placing links to a website on low value directories is not recommended, as the majority of these online directories are not good. You’ll be able to tell the difference between low value online directories and the truly good ones. Make sure that they are applicable and relevant to your business, industry and/or niche.

3. Guest Blogging or Guest Posting with the only purpose being the insertion of keyword, stuffed links within the body of the content is also, a big NO, NO! As mentioned above, you will know which are high valued blogs based upon domain authority or social shares.

Below find some invaluable Link Building tips…

4 Tips on Safe & Effective Link Building Strategies

Now that we’ve established unethical, link building tactics and that they are indeed being targeted by Google – we are ready to move forward on what we all should be really focusing on – which are four, basic building principles, which will make your link building efforts invaluable and your SEO campaigns an utter success!

Stellar, Quality Content. It’s been said many times, but one more time won’t hurt a bit… Creating content that’s high in quality is vital! High quality content provides value to online users. Therefore, you will naturally/organically gain quality, Google friendly and approved links. Moreover, this will also, develop “Link Earning.” If you follow through with high quality, engaging content – eventually, your website will be recognized and your link building will go onto autopilot mode.

Keep Links Applicable/Relevant. Google counts on your inbound and outbound links to remain relevant. For instance, links should be connected with other web pages that have an organic and direct connection to your business, industry and/or niche in your business. Example: If you have a website that offers professional, cleaning services and it links to a website with professional cleaning equipment – this would make perfect sense to Google rather than linking back to a fly by night, medical equipment company.

Less Is MORE. With the new ways of link building – less is most definitely more! Using just a few links from a small amount of high quality websites is a lot more valuable than utilizing a large amount of links from low quality, spammy and suspicious websites. Quality over quantity will be triumphant in the link building journey. Concentrate on deep links when in search for high quality websites.

Social Media Investment. Social Media Networks and/or Platforms are more important than ever before. Although, Facebook shares or likes are not perceived as links – they do however, provide an excellent avenue to spread your message. Furthermore, it will boost your brand’s visibility and bring users to your website. Content, which is shared via Social Media platforms will organically boost and enhance a website’s visibility. It is recommended that you use tools, such as – HootSuite or Buffer, so that you may schedule Social Media posts in advance.

As you know, the SEO world is ever changing and although, sometimes it may become overwhelming – it is up to SEO Professionals to adapt to these changes, so that your website remains current and becomes even more successful and fruitful. So, when you hear people saying that link building is dead – know that this is an utter misconception and that link building continues to be a valuable aspect in SEO practices.

Source by Priya Navani