Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Link Building Basics

By Steve Prylon

Apparently it is here to stay: the power of the inbound link. Google values the inbound link in a powerful way. It's a vote for your site, and without the votes, you don't get that Googletrust and you don't get that ranking. Getting the right mix of links is crucial, and how to even get these links is a mystery to most, and a pain in the rear to the rest of us. But with the right effort and knowledge, you can create a logical mix of inbound links that will indicate to search engines that your site is valuable.

But first to point out the obvious, without a decent, valuable site, your link building will be wasted. Search engines try and mostly do reward sites that are relevant to search terms, useful to visitors. So gaming the system without trying to truly have a worthwhile site will not work. It may work for a short time, but for longevity, you are still wise to focus on what the visitor wants and needs.

But still, it is a hard fact that is here to stay: the SEO work must be done or your site will end up ignored. Obtaining links, proper structure, not too much flash, fresh content, fresh content, add a blog, directory and articles submitted, press releases, widgets, meta tags, keyword density not too high not too low. All the basics have to be included or even that wonderful site that sells purple pillows shaped like mushrooms will not rank for 'purple mushroom pillows'. (Ok that is pretty long, maybe it would... but you get the point) There are only so many articles one can provide to their visitors about the benefits of purple mushroom pillows, and how to best care for purple pillows, and the reasons mushroom shaped pillows are the best. Early on in your SEO work, you will realize that all of this manipulation is not adding value to your visitors at all. But it just must be done.

It is reality that the incoming links are an integral part of this manipulation of your campaign for the search engines. Your link building campain will include the natural links that occur by chance (or by link baiting, adding lots of content and press releases and viral marketing). And you should balance this with a large volume of small links and a handful of heavy duty links from higher PR pages, or from some EDU links or GOV links. The sites ranking high in results have plenty of links, most likely a portion of them are paid links, it is just reality.

The basics for a good link campaign: Well rounded, and well timed. A variety of links from numerous sources, some from authority sites and some from new sites and blogs. Watch not to build too many too fast, a spike will be detected. Keep anchor text relevant but varied. Use internal pages as well, especially high content pages. Links embedded in relevant content are hands down the most valuable, strive for as many as possible.

Overwhelming? Link building is not for the faint of heart, and the SEO companies that are taking this on are worth every penny.

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