Backlinks: Strategy and Considerations

Linking is an important tactic to build traffic and should be well thought-out strategically before you start.

There are two reasons to commit to a link building program:

1. to generate quality traffic that would be derived from websites that are visited by your potential customers, and
2. to provide a boost in search engine ranking as a result of high quality links.

Because of the potential to manipulate results via linking, search engines have implemented very sophisticated rules in their algorithms to mitagate against manipulation of their indices, so you really have to be careful! You can make mistakes in this area if you get aggressive, while not even realizing you have done anything wrong.

Reciprocal linking will most likely not provide a big boost for a website. Linking is alot like voting… if I vote for you and you vote for me, then it’s just a wash. But if I vote for you without requiring reciprocation, that means I really think highly of you. That’s the way the link algorithm works.

Google evaluates links based on RELEVANCY and AUTHORITY. Google looks at your content, understands what you’re about, then compares or contrasts that with your inbound links. If websites linking to you are related in terms of content, great! If not, they most likely won’t help you and can even hurt you.

Suggestions:

1. Make sure your website is complete before you embark on a link building program. You want potential link candidates to see the full value and potential of your website.
2. The easiest place to get quality links is from companies you do business with. These companies generally provide you with products or services and are “strategic partners”. They have a reason to link to you and an interest in your success.
3. Identify directories related to your business. Additionally, purchasing a link in the Yahoo! Directory is helpful. Paid and unpaid directory listings are a good source of quality links.
4. Avoid getting links from completely unrelated websites.
5. Avoid getting more than a few links in any one day.
6. Do not get linked from a “link farm” or any “banned” websites. That can hurt you and in some cases cause removal from the search index.
7. Be sure your backlinks do not contain “no follow tags”. While you would still receive traffic from the link, a “no follow tag” would eliminate any potential search engine boost.