Around 14 million small businesses nationwide have now invested time and money into SEO because they acknowledge its value. And as any professional SEO firm will tell you, there are a number of ways to build your web presence and overall reputation through SEO. One of the many SEO services offered by professional SEO firms in your area may include link-building strategies.
Link-building essentially involves obtaining links back to your site from other reputable websites. While this is only one facet of search engine optimization, link-building (when performed correctly!) can be a good way to show Google that your site is trustworthy and worthy of positive attention. But whether you try to DIY or you’re entrusting a professional SEO expert to do this work for you, it’s important that you understand the dos and don’ts of link building. To ensure you’ll be seen as an excellent source of information while you build your presence online, here are just a few tips to keep in mind.
Do…
- Focus on Creating Incredible Content: Ultimately, other websites aren’t necessarily interested in doing you a favor by linking to your site; what they really want is high-quality content that will interest their audience. The best link-building strategies involve impeccable content creation, as the allure of excellent content can gain the interest of site owners and independent publishers. Instead of getting caught up in the ways you can get a link on a given site, work on creating the content you think that site owner would like to share. Remember that back-linking should be of mutual benefit to you and the site owner. If people want to read and engage with the content, you’ll have a better chance of enticing someone to share it — and link back to you in the process.
- Exchange Links Smartly: There’s nothing inherently wrong with link exchanges. This can be another way that two different site owners can benefit from this type of relationship. However, it’s important to go about link exchanges properly. That means that the backlinks to your site and to the other person’s site should be seen as an organic and relevant part of the content. It also means that the relationship you form with another site owner should make sense for both parties. While you should absolutely focus on site quality, you should be careful about agreeing to link exchanges that may seem out of place.
Don’t…
- Buy Backlinks: It may be tempting to purchase backlinks to your site, especially because this can seem like a highly affordable option that will save you a lot of time. Unfortunately, it can end up being a huge mistake. Buying links is typically seen as a violation of Google’s policies. While there are certain instances where it might be a relatively low risk to buy a link from an authoritative site, it’s generally a practice that you should avoid. It’s simply not worth the potential penalization.
- Try to Pitch Guest Posts to Irrelevant Sites: Professional SEO firms may offer guest post services, which can be a good way to secure high-quality backlinks and ensure you’re creating stellar content. But you’ll want to make sure that your guest post outreach efforts reflect all the time and effort you’ve put into your strategy. Pitching this content to sites with no observable overlap or any kind of connection to your products, services, or topic of choice can be a waste of time at best. Whether you’re working with a professional SEO analyst or you’re handling guest blog outreach yourself, always keep relevancy as a top priority when pitching your content.
Link building can be an important part of any SEO strategy. And when you do it well, you can help your site be seen as more authoritative. Refer to these dos and don’ts when starting your link-building journey — and reach out to Studio98 today to learn more.