Links are one of the most important ranking signals in Google’s Search algorithm. Building links back to your website is just as important as creating quality, well-researched content. Effective link building also helps to generate traffic to your website. Before you embark on link building, make sure you have a comprehensive understanding of the top five focus areas.

High-Quality Authoritative Links

The quality of the links is one of the most important elements that Google’s search algorithm focuses on when analysing the websites that are linking back to your website. When reviewing your current links and the links you are looking to pursue, you need to ask yourself whether these websites are trusted, quality and respected websites. One area to pay close attention to is the relevancy of the site (is the website’s content relevant to your website content?) You can also assess the Domain Authority and Page Authority using the Moz SEO Toolbar, and whether the links are do-follow. Pure Seo provides a Link Cleanse Service to help clients remove unwanted links from their website.

Link Building Through Outreach

Outreach is one of the most difficult but worthwhile forms of link building. Reaching out to other websites and bloggers is a way of creating natural backlinks that are of high authority. You can reach out to existing networks such as your partners or respected bloggers in your industry. Once you have identified a link to target, you need to reach out to the target website and communicate the value of linking both of your websites together. Often, outreach involves an exchange of something (e.g. a guest blog post or special offer).

Another tip is to look for websites that have mentioned your brand or the products and services you sell. It makes a world of difference if the target website is already familiar with your brand.

Link Building Anchor Text

Anchor text is the clickable and viewable text in a hyperlink. The importance of anchor text is that it provides search engines and website visitors with better context of the content that is being linked. Many websites simply paste the URL they are linking to without using optimised anchor text. Whether you are creating internal links or external links, using keyword optimised anchor text is the best practice for links.

Number Of Links

The number of links pointing to your website is also an important factor when it comes to link building. Ideally, you want to target many high-quality links to your website. Generally, more quality links lead to a better chance of ranking well in search engine results. Quality and quantity is a balancing act in itself.

Buying Spammy Links (Avoid)

Buying links is a massive red flag when it comes to search engines. Paying for more links may sound like an easy and fast way of gaining a large number of backlinks to your website but it will do more harm than good in terms of your search engine rankings. If you see a website that offers something such as “Buy Backlinks from $1.00 a link”, it is best to avoid these types of link building opportunities.

For more information about link building and how to succeed online, download our SEO Business Guide or get in touch with the Pure SEO Team.

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