SEO Backlinks Tips

20 SEO Link Building Tips

Link Building has been called “dead” for years. The rules of 2003 certainly changed, and those who could not learn and adapt to the ever-changing rules and increased requirements on skills, tools, details then, of course, had to give up on their “link building tricks.”

Google confirmed that links are the #1 ranking factor and said: “Ranking without links is really really hard.”

The Google Core Algorithm is based on links, and that hasn’t changed since the inception of Google.

White Hat Link Building Techniques

Link building has been dead for years, for those who failed to adapt to the ever-changing rules and increased requirements on skills, tools, details, and perseverance.

There has been much talking about links being a ranking factor. Many SEOs have only focused on content and On-Page SEO and neglected links saying: "We already know everything about links". But do they know everything about links?

Google said links are the #1 ranking factor, alongside with great content. Ranking without links is hard, and why would anyone try to rank without links in the first place?

Google cares about links more than anything, and so should you.

Google Penguin changed the way we use Backlinks in SEO forever

Before April 2012, one could rather easily buy his ranking position by adding more and more links. A little bit of these and a little bit of those links, and you could manage ranking on the first search engine results page. Well, that time is long gone. The Google Penguin Spam Filter is now part of Google’s Core Algorithm and works in real time.

Links can possess a risk now, and you should know that risk. Did you know that even in today's world or SEO, most people still only look at the source page, the referring page, and call that "the backlink"?

A link is a connection from A to B

A hyperlink is a connection from the referring page to the target page - always has been. For way too long, SEOs have obsessed by looking at the Pagerank or whatever metric of the linking page. To our knowledge, LRT is the only software that takes the link source page and the target page into account when analyzing the value and risk of links, or even potential links.

State of the Art Link Development

Today link building has grown into professional practice. Why spend tons of resources on links that would hurt you down the road? Did you know that it is possible to simulate the impact and risk of a backlink relationship before you built it? LRT users that weed the good from the chaff are happy to spend 3x more resources on the 10% great links that matter, instead of going bulk like so many.

What do you mean by backlink?

When we refer to a backlink we mean a reference from another web page to your own web page. This is very different from the "outbound" or outgoing links from your page. Do not confuse the two. A back link is also called an inbound link (IBL) sometimes and these links are very important in determining the popularity (or importance) of your web site for search engines like Google.

Can a website rank without back links?

We are 100% sure that a website cannot rank without inbound links.

Why is link building important?

• because links are Google's #1 ranking factor
• because links are the WEB
• because links point to great content (that deserves to rank well)
• because links pass power
• because Google confirmed that it would be unnatural to find a web site without back links
• because it's through links that Google discovers your website...

the list can go on forever...

please note (both link power and link trust are sometimes described as link equity, from an era where only one-dimensional link measurement was available)

But don't take it from us when we say that links are important, take it directly from Google.

In March 2016, in a Q&A with Google, Andrey Lipattsev, a Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, said the first two ranking factors were links and content:

“I can tell you what they are. It is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.” (Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google)

We've seen Google confirming that links are a very important ranking factor and that ranking without links is nearly impossible on other occasions as well.

A case study by Stone Temple published in 2017 proved again that links remain a powerful ranking factor and are likely to remain so for many years to come.

Are all back links the same?

"The more, the better" saying doesn’t go for links. At least not as long as "more" means links you buy without checking if they are risky for your backlink profile or not. You’d better aim for fewer high-quality links, then for thousands of links that bring no value to your backlink profile. Weak or risky backlinks won’t help your rankings at all. It can go even worst. These links can get you a Google penalty and severe (if not 100%) loss of organic traffic.

Links are not at all the same. The point is to understand:

• how many linking pages, subdomains, domains, and root domains?
• how many links per month?
• what kind of links (Follow, No Follow, Redirects, Javascript, Frames, ..)?
• what link Power and Trust?
• which linking keywords ("money" or "brand")?
• what link risk?

Also, these factors can be evaluated differently in different cases. A link can also be good or bad depending on the industry, the country, the language and the keywords. Unfortunately, there is no generic rule. For example, it is NOT the same whether a domain links to 1,000 subpages, or whether 1,000 domains link to a subpage. That's why we always recommend using the Site-Wide filter in LinkResearchTools.

What are Google's rules when it comes to link building?

Because not all links are equal, you need to be very careful when you start a link building campaign. Build links for your business, for your customers, make them relevant and associate them with great content. Your users will be happy, Google will keep you in the search results and your business will grow.

Make sure that the links you build are natural and that Google doesn't conclude that you're trying to manipulate its search algorithm.

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site's ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.