Link building: To understand the impact of link building we need to start with an understanding of how regular Google updates on search algorithms have resulted in this being an important parameter for sites to consider and incorporate for better rankings and higher trust:
Introduction of PageRank algorithm: Google’s dominance as the top search engine was established with its path-breaking PageRank algorithm, which puts link building as one of the prime factors for a page to increase its rank amongst competing pages. This was the first time search engines went beyond just keyword density and meta tags as the key-ranking parameters and brought forth the concept of choosing the best site across through web voting. This seemed like students of the same class voting for a particular student as being the brightest among them (the most credible and democratic way of knowing who the best is!).Vince update (April 2009): This was Google’s first major change to its algorithm in which it started favoring trusted brands over smaller competitors.Panda update (February 2011): A Google update which penalized content farms like EHow, EzineArticles.com to stop websites from gaming the system.Penguin update (April 2012): This update targeted sites that used black-hat link-building tactics, specifically over-optimized anchor text.EMD update (September 2012): In this update, Google penalized sites that used the power of exact match domains to get an edge.
The relevance of the above information is to establish the importance of parameters like link building which have retained importance and gained prominence in the world of search engine rankings and how it is crucial for firms to invest time and effort to white-hat link-building strategies.Link building essentially involves the set of techniques towards getting quality sites to link to a firm’s site, thus affirming the quality and authority of its web pages. Links are like votes from other sites in similar business/functional areas which help increase the page rank for that site (and its specific pages).How Link Building Happens Link building (also known as back linking) typically is a long-term activity which requires persistent efforts, managing not only content but reputation, trust, quality, and branding. There could be multiple strategies to increase link building but the most basic link acquisition types include:
Editorial links: Also referred to as natural links, these are the most authoritative and sought-after links acquired through relevant well-developed content, authority blog posts, credible whitepapers, useful how-to-guides, videos, eBooks, etc.Outreach links: These are manual links requested from top sites and bloggers with a strong reasoning provided on the benefits of linking. This is also the hardest type of link-building technique which involves a lot of effort and persuasion to get links which would stand out in comparison to competition.Self-created links: This is the most undesirable type of link building which involves developing links not directly related to web content and with the sole aim of improving rankings through black-hat practices. Typical examples of self-created links include social profile creation, social bookmarking, blog/forum commenting, answer marketing (Quora/LinkedIn Answers), Online PR. It should be noted that search engines are heavily penal-izing such strategies of late.
Other link-building types which are also applied include:
Acquired links: Links acquired through payment or distribution. Examples include paid linking, article distribution, directory links, etc.Reciprocal links: Links set up in a mutual reciprocation manner between two websites to ensure traffic. Such links are not given credit these days.
Link-building Strategies There could be multiple ways in which link building can be executed successfully. A few of those strategies are shared here (as mentioned in The Beginners Guide to SEO by SeoMoz):
Getting customers to link to sites: It involves sending partnership badges to top customers and partners with graphic icons that link back to the firm’s sites.
Developing a company blog: Blogs, by definition, are vehicles to build and showcase unique content which is refreshed regularly on a consistent basis. They help to showcase new ideas which induce conversations, help earn listings and links from other blogs, promote sharing, all of which are strong ingredients to improve SEO.
Creating content that inspires viral sharing: Also known as link-baiting in SEO, it involves using viral elements like information, usefulness, humor, entertainment, etc., to promote content through link sharing. Such content promotes editorial links which are high quality in nature and which naturally build authority and trust.
Being newsworthy: Other strategies could also include developing content specifically for promotion, like releasing a new product, getting attention of media sites with unique articles, and even starting something controversial which people would want to talk about and share.
Social reputation: With the emergence of social media and newer platforms to disseminate and share information and articles, a firm’s social presence also strongly testifies how much their content is liked and shared. Social links specially to prominent sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, etc., have become key parameters which tell search engines how much the site is liked by specific audiences over and above competition. Thus, it becomes important for brands to be present on such social pages and forums and have similar branding and messaging as an extension of the major websites.Also, it is crucial that to leverage social reputation, websites should link to quality accounts rather than those which are considered fake. While social media could be easy to set up, it also has to be ensured that companies manage their online social reputation by constantly mapping social sentiment across sites and quell any negative comments or feedback that may arise time and again, and could affect rankings dramatically.
Website authority and trust: Apart from link building and social reputation which are more of promotional in nature, it is also crucial that companies build websites which have authority in terms of being widely recognized as one of the most proficient sites in their specific field or area of operations. Thus, building authority and trust through positive reviews across the web helps a lot in positioning the company as an authentic source which the audience wants to visit as soon as they see an article being shared. Also, marketers who showcase their strong history and maintain a good track record of not violating guidelines get a preference over others in terms of rankings.
Personalization and localization: Finally, establishing a strong identity on the web and promoting personalized and localized experiences also goes to show in a long way that a business is committed to its endeavor of keeping customer first and wooing them on a regular basis with strong, credible, and engaging content. If a site is an official site on any subject or has accreditations both from public and private bodies, it helps build a unique identity and credible relationships.
Personalization involves the site-taking efforts to develop content specific to the tastes and preferences of its audience which includes parameters like country, city, location-specific personalization. This also becomes crucial with the fast rise in mobile devices and geo-location, which can help support sharing of content in an individualized manner, which is one of the prime objectives of search engine marketing, for example, Google’s Venice update placed good importance to sites physically located in visitor areas.
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