It is no secret in the SEO world that quality links are a favorable ranking tool used by search engines like Google. Links that connect back to your website help Google know that your information is valuable, usable, and most importantly helpful to the consumer. Sadly, many have taken advantage of this ranking factor and abused its use. Now Google has tightened down on its qualifications for a quality link, making the job of promoting good SEO tactics harder. Google has made link building a human relationship. Here is what is considered bad link building and how you can create quality links to supercharge your SEO strategy.
Quality Links Only
Long gone are the days before the Penguin Update where you can tap into directories located in Serbia to create links back to your website. Google has devalued and is now penalizing some who abuse foreign directories and other spam sites to create links. These are not valuable link backs and lead to more viruses and malware for consumers than legitamite information.
What This Means for You
Manual labor and outreach. You as a marketer must reach out to credible websites and collaborate to create these links. This means contracting their webmaster or manager with your valuable information. Beware: just as those abused foreign directories, some are now abusing content swaps. Research sites before submitting information to see if they are there solely to create links. These sites may seem legit, but in reality they are a new form of link creation and Google is quickly finding these sites as well.
Content is King for Links
So if you can’t just reach out to any site how can you create links that are beneficial? Content. If your site is creating powerful, useful, and entertaining content, it is likely to be valued by others in your industry and area. Good content builds on itself and creates opportunities for your content to be featured on other sites. Once your content starts to be seen as a valuable tool, you may begin to receive requests for more content and create natural links that Google adores.
Hard Work Pays Off
Creating links is not an easy path these days, but very rewarding in SEO rankings. Be sure that your business is taking time to create content to optimize not only link building, but drive natural SEO tactics, improve social media engagement, and push new visitors to your site.
Ready to boost your SEO management plan and tactics? Atria Media Group can easily implement a national and local SEO & PPC plan that can generate ROI for your business today.