Driving traffic to one’s site has been the focus of every SEO practitioner. SEO is a field that is always changing and this makes it exciting for many marketers who specialise in this area. However, there have been many SEO tactics over the years that have come and gone, mostly due Google cracking down on some of the dodgy practices that were being used at the time.
However, there is one tactic that has proved to stand the test of time and that is back linking. Websites that gain high quality back links tend to be favoured by Google in the search engines. It’s a tactic that has stood the test of time and will get you ranking higher.
It hasn’t been without its own issues though. When SEO practitioners realised how useful back linking was, some manipulated it with low quality links to drive traffic. Google was smarter than that though and its Penguin algorithm updates ensured that any sites that manipulated search engines with poor back links were heavily penalised.
There is no doubt that high quality back links work but before you go embarking on your back linking strategy there are some important things you need to know.
1. You need to understand what Google looks for
Google doesn’t make it clear what to do regarding successful back linking but they do make it clear what NOT to do so you can simply use this as a guideline:
Don’t use content gathered from other sites
Pretty easy one to avoid. Simply don’t copy and paste content from other sites. Be original with your own content. Not only will Google appreciate it, so will your readers.
Don’t use low quality guest posting
Guest posting still works to boost SEO but only if it’s on high quality websites where you provide original, useful content to readers. Don’t go guest posting on low quality sites with re-hashed content.
Be careful when syndicating your own content
Syndicating your content to well read blogs and publishers is a great way to get traffic. However, make sure you don’t use the same content on your own site because Google will punish you. You can avoid this by making sure you use rel=canonical attributes correctly in your HTML.
Alternatively, you can make sure you publish content on your own site before it gets published anywhere else.
Don’t use doorway sites
Doorway sites are frowned upon by Google because they offer no real value to users. A doorway site is basically a bunch of sites created with the sole purpose of driving traffic to one particular website, however, they offer no real value to users. What they do is use different keyword phrases that all link back to the same site, therefore offering no real value to the user and this is very much frowned upon by Google.
Don’t use affiliate programs just for the sake of getting traffic.
Be careful when using affiliate sites that link back to your own site. If you have affiliates linking back to your site then make sure that they are from high quality websites that don’t just contain endorsements of your product or service.
2. Never forget relevance
The relevance of the sites linking back to your site are just as important as the quality. In fact, according to Google’s ranking principles, how useful a user finds a search result influences what page rank a site will earn.
There is a simple four step test that you can use for determining if a link is relevant or not:
1. Making sure that earned links are from sites in similar industries.
2.If the site is not in a similar industry, it must have a section that is relevant to your industry.
3. Links from unrelated sites need to be linking from content on a web page that is related, and this link must end up on a page on your site that is related to your industry.
4. The link that you earned should be relevant overall in context to the link you earned.
3. Make sure you have a diversified range of links
Never run with just one or two link building tactics. Google is never clear about exactly what it looks for regarding link building but to be safe, you should never run with just one or two. Diversification is key if you want to succeed with your back linking strategy.
Here is the kind of diversification you should be focusing on:
High quality content that links back to your site.
Receiving recommendations and citations from well-known and trusted sites.
Having a high level of social media activity and engagement.
Syndicated content on major industry websites.
Guest posting on high quality websites or even just a regular featured contributor on popular industry blogs.
4. Don’t copy your competitors’ link building strategy
Never copy your competitors when it comes to link building. One thing that many SEO practitioners can forget about is brand building. It is important to build a brand and awareness around that brand because that is going to lead to high quality backlinks.
Think about it, people are going to want to link to a high quality brand over a low quality one. The only way to build a unique brand is by doing things your own way, in your own style, with your own personality, rather than by copying everyone else.
5. Keep your anchor texts natural with each link you build
Inbound links need to be natural if they are going to be given any credence by Google. You need to be careful with the way you use your anchor text links.
For example, it’s important to have anchor text that is relevant to your site or webpage, however, using your keywords for anchor text in all of your inbound links is a guaranteed way to incur the wrath of Google, and your website will be punished for it.
If you were to write a blog post on a particular topic, only to use keywords in the anchor text that are not related to the topic of the post then it’s going to be noticed for all the wrong reasons by Google. However, if you included a link to a post on your site that references the blog post then Google will notice this for the right reason.
Eventually, it will help build traffic to your site.
6. Never try to outsmart Google
Outsmarting Google regarding anything to do with SEO is impossible. Better off following the rules rather than having your site blacklisted for any black hat SEO techniques.
In Conclusion
Back linking is a proven strategy to help increase traffic and authority for any website. However, it needs to be done with care and if you follow the above tips then you’ll be well on your way to creating your own successful back linking strategy that will see you raking in new traffic.
What kind of results have you seen from your own back linking strategy thus far?
Christian Michaels