Link Building

Aside from looking for inbound links to your website to get more traffic and loyal users, it is also important to build links for SEO purposes. In the initial stages of a website, getting at least one link on a regularly “spidered” site, will hasten the process of getting indexed. Spidered means that the search engines send their automatic mechanism to “crawl” or search through sites to find out what is new. Getting indexed means that the search engines have found your site, added it to their databases, and will return your site in its list of results when people search for things. Of course, your site could be the millionth result, but that is the first step in search engine optimization (SEO).

link buildingMany people do not understand the importance of building links for SEO. A backlink or inbound link is like a vote for a website. If you have good content, others in your subject matter will automatically quote your content and add a link to your site giving you credit. They may also add your link in their “other resources section” if they think your information will be worthwhile to their users. Search engines view this as positive behavior. A link from a relevant website says that there must be some merit in your website. These are called “quality backlinks” as they come from similar sites and are “one-way links” meaning that you did not have to do anything in return. A “reciprocal link” is when you give each other a link back.

But it is not that easy to get backlinks. You cannot just sit back and expect others to provide you inbound links. It is hard work and must be done over the life of a business or website. You never stop working on your promotion or backlinks. And for the most part, you must take an active role in getting those links. Backlinks are important for your rankings in the search engines. Just because you have excellent content or you are an expert in your field does not mean that you will move from that millionth position we spoke about earlier in this article. You must have links and specific types of links to move closer to the first page of the results. Like your content, your links must be done in a way to “influence” search engine optimization. The links must be search engine friendly and influence does not mean in a devious or cheating way, but rather, in a way that more clearly and precisely lets the search engines know what your site is about.

Further, it is important to use proper wording when describing your website. For example, when someone provides a link to your site, you do not want them to link the “click here” phrase, as this is not helpful with SEO. You would prefer the link to be a prominent keyword, something that your website targets. So if you sell pet supplies, you might like the text to read “blue rhinestone cat collar”. If the link is on this text, it is relevant and is called anchor text. This is much more search engine friendly than “click here” which says nothing. Make sure you’re picking these anchors based on solid keyword research though!

Here’s an example of what we mean with these “anchor texts”.

If you have a site offering auto insurance quotes and want to rank for the search phrase “Best Printers”, you want your link to be like this:

<a href=”https://besteprinters.be/“>Best printers</a>, which helps you buy the best possible printers online.

You don’t want: <a href=”https://besteprinters.be/“>Click here</a> for the best printers on the web!, as you’re not telling the search engine what that link is about!

Finally, it is important to understand that when building links for SEO, quantity is not always better. That means that spam links are useless and in many instances can be harmful to your site. For example, link farms are sure to get you banned from the search engines. Just getting links from anywhere is not productive. What use would a link from an adult site be for your craft supply shop? And the search engines do not see these in a positive light either.

So once your website is built, do some reading, and understand the importance of building links for SEO.