Link Building Strategies

Who, what, where, why?

  • Why are links so powerful? Links represent relationships
  • Outsourcing link building
  • Internal “link equity” (noFollow)
  • In this order of importance:
    • – Q: Quality
    • – R: Relevance
    • – A: Amount
    • – V: Velocity
link building for SEO

Use common sense

  • Does the linking page look good/trustworthy?
  • Does the page have quality/interesting content?
  • Is that content somewhat related to your website?
  • Would it make sense for the web page to link to your site?

Six qualities of a good link

  • Anchor text they link with (varied, never duplicate among links)
  •  The link should come from a somewhat relevant page
  •  Should go to a relevant page on your website
  •  From a site with high trust and authority
  • Should not contain a rel=”nofollow” tag
  • From a “good neighborhood”

Content is king: examples

  • The easier a link is to get, the less Google will want to trust it. Getting other people to want to talk about your business (link to you) is the #1 goal of SEO.
  • Publish original stats, numbers, surveys, ultimate guide and visuals.
  •  Ask how you can make your site content idea appealing/useful to local government, news, colleges, bloggers, minorities, special needs or any specific demographic.
  • Lists:
    • – 101 Best…
    • – Top 10…
    • – 15 Best SEO Tips…
    • – 5 Easy Ways to…
    • – The #1 Resource List of…
    • – 20 Myths about…
  •  Write about, and link to, companies with “in the news” pages. They link back to stories and blog posts which cover their developments.
    • – Google “your industry + news”
  • If you create something that is of great quality, make sure you ask a few friends/peers to tag it for you. If your contacts get you to more prominent placements, many more will see your site and potentially link to it. Content with outreach.

Link sources

  • Industry directories
  • Partnerships/relationships
  • Sponsorships/donations
  • Content with outreach (utilize skyscraper approach)
  • Press releases
  • Relationship building through forum or blog participation
  • Social media: social signals or entity mentions
  • Associations/memberships like Chamber of Commerce
  • Backwards link check of comp. link:http://www.entersite.com
  • Email newsletters get archived
  • Find hub pages
  • COMPETITORS!

Paid links and automated services

  • PLEASE DON’T! Stay away from “bad neighborhoods”
  • Ads served dynamically by ad servers with tracking code will be ignored by Google
  • Automated link building will get you penalized!
    • – Always take the DIY approach
    • – Large scale link building for SEO purposes only could get ALL of your links ignored by Google