Link Building Success: SEO Do’s and Don’ts Simplified
You have probably heard of the Google EEAT formula, which describes the basic requirements for content on the Internet. Today, we are most interested in its second half, where the letter A stands for authority and T for trustworthiness. To check a website for compliance with these requirements, the search engine uses a wide range of methods, including looking for references to it on other resources. And this allows us to increase the visibility of web pages using such a tool as link building.
This term refers to the development of a network of links. They lead from blogs, directories, news resources, and even social media profiles to a particular website, increasing its credibility and trust in the eyes of search engines. This process may seem simple, but in fact, it has many nuances, some of which we will cover in more detail.
Proper Link-building Techniques for SEO
Before we start, we should mention that SEO methods are conditionally divided into two categories:
- White-hat. This type of link building is Officially authorized and recommended by search engines. They usually work rather slowly but give a stable long-term effect.
- Black-hat. Banned or not recommended by search engines. Sometimes, they allow you to raise your rankings for a short time, but they always lead to a collapse of ranks or even the termination of website indexing.
Link building is no exception. Its methods are also divided into two groups, and we are going to start with the right ones.
White hat link building strategies
Everything ingenious is simple. The most effective link-building strategy is to create high-quality content. Yes, that’s it. Your main task is to fill your website with content that will make people naturally want to click the “share” button. And to make it more visible in search engines, you should optimize it by keywords. Specialized optimization services that you can find in the Top10seosoftware.com catalog will help you with this.
Another effecTop 10 SEO Softwaretive white hat link building strategy is writing guest posts for blogs, expert forums, or news resources. This is usually an affordable tool — if you follow the rules, the cost of posting materials will be low. Some sites even accept guest posts for free, creating their own library of quality content.
Link building can also be combined with cold outreach techniques. This means that you need to write emails to website owners and administrators, webmasters, and moderators, offering to post your content. How many such emails should you send? Practice shows that their number should be measured in hundreds or even thousands. To maintain the quality of your emails in such difficult conditions, use GPT-4 or other generative AI models.
Natural link building techniques
The best results are achieved when your content is shared naturally — without monetary or other motivation. You can get a better conversion rate that way. Moreover, it is very profitable because you reduce the burden on your business budget.
One of the most effective natural link-building strategies is social media activity. Make sure that your company has an official profile, publishes high-quality materials, and responds to comments promptly. Don’t limit yourself to traditional social media. Create accounts on Reddit and specialized forums if this is in line with your business policy.
To increase the effectiveness of link building with relatively little effort, create an image of an expert. Register on sites like Quora or Yahoo Answers. To achieve this, follow these recommendations:
– Choose a narrow topic that corresponds to your specialization;
– Don’t rush to be the first to answer — think it over to make it as accurate and comprehensive as possible;
– Provide links only where appropriate to avoid arousing suspicion.
An interesting natural link-building technique is called “ego bait.” The idea is that you contact beginner bloggers who already have a stable community of followers but don’t consider themselves stars yet. You offer them quality content to publish, which allows them to demonstrate their knowledge of the topic. And all this in exchange for one link. This strategy requires a lot of effort to find influencers and create content, but sometimes, it yields phenomenal results.
When quality is more important than quantity
Google and other search engines regularly update their ranking algorithms. They also periodically change their policies regarding backlinks in SEO. Currently, the requirements for them are very strict — they must be placed on authoritative resources, in texts of the relevant subject. If the general direction of the site does not match the topic of your content, such materials may be considered spammy.
This means that quality is more important than quantity for backlinks for SEO. To succeed in link building, you need to conduct research and use specialized services that help you select reputable sources.
By focusing on quantity, you can harm your site. This fact is even used for unfair competition — competitors can post spammy links to your pages on suspicious resources. Google has created a tool called Disavow specifically to deal with them.
What You Shouldn’t Do in Link Building?
A quick disclaimer — we provide these strategies so that you avoid them at all costs. The use of black hat link building carries enormous risks. They can cause you losses and even lead to the collapse of a prospective project.
Top 5 black-hat link-building techniques to avoid in SEO
- Low-quality guest posts, especially those generated by artificial intelligence. They harm not only you but also the resource where you post them. As a result, you get a double blow — on traffic and business reputation.
- Buying low-quality links. Usually, the placement of such materials is very cheap — sometimes, less than $1 per article. However, the low price should be a reason for additional verification of the resource rather than a quick publication.
- Redirects. Hidden redirects can lead the user to a completely different site, which helps to avoid penalties for off-topic posting. However, search crawlers consider redirects a technical error, and therefore, they still lower the site’s ranking.
- Spam in the comments. The only effect you will get from blatant advertising in comments is bans and other types of penalties from moderators. And even if the messages are saved, search engines will consider similar materials as a negative ranking factor.
- Use of private blogging networks (PBN). Instead of a real link building outreach, you can imitate such activity by creating entire clusters of sites for your links. However, modern search engine algorithms can easily identify them and exclude them from the rankings.
Black-hat link-building strategies that can harm your SEO
The main rule is to never trust automated link-building services. They usually generate a lot of links with the nofollow tag, cloaking such activity from search crawlers. However, Google’s artificial intelligence still detects them and applies severe penalties for spam.
Another losing strategy is spamming links in expensive, high-quality materials. To get a positive effect, one or two links will be enough. If you need more confirmation of certain facts, choose other sources (but not your direct competitors).
Conclusions
The main tip for successful link building is to focus on quality. This applies to all aspects — content, links, and resources where they will be published. Avoid spam and automated publishing services. Instead, focus on outreach techniques in link building and on creating content that will make people want to share it.
