Search engines do not explain the workings of their algorithms to their users. Many businesses frame their SEO strategy based on the updates released by the search engines, believing that to be the only concrete data. This is why the wrong strategies are pursued rather than those that work. Here are 7 common link building myths that hold back SEO campaigns.
1. Backlinks are the number one ranking factor on Google
The top three search results for every keyword invariably have a large number of backlinks. Several studies have proven this and hence many tend to believe that getting more backlinks will mean ranking high. The truth is, great content and several other SEO factors help them get a lot of high-quality backlinks that helps high ranking on the SERPs.
Search engine optimization involves several factors that have to be worked upon. Framing an SEO strategy for a business and constantly monitoring it to see the results is what helps to rank on the search engine. Link building is one of the factors in SEO that works along with the others in order to bring up the website ranking.
2. Penguin does not trigger negative site ranking
Penguin is an algorithm that catches malicious links on websites. These malicious links are caused by spammy link building resulting in negative SEO. To avoid this, remove the links that are qualified as spam on your website, avoid link farms & networks; pursue good linking strategies to recover from negative SEO.
3. Domain authority determines the quality of a link
Domain authority (DA) is not a ranking signal. Websites that are link farms can also have a high DA, which proves it is not a ranking signal for a link. Domain authority is one of the many criteria that determine the quality of a link.
Quality of a good link is determined by:
- Linking domain has high traffic value
- Linking domain offers content that is relevant to your offerings
- The page linked-to offers value to users
- Anchor text is contextual
4. Link exchange is spamming
Exchanging links between websites or asking a domain owner for a link is spamming – this is a common myth. People do reach out to directories, publications, etc. for a link. The activity between all the parties is the same – to exchange links. The only criterion is to reach out to sites that will benefit you.
There is a lot of content floating around the internet that says when you get a backlink from a website that reaches out to other sites for a link – it will lead to a manual penalty. The only activities to be avoided are – resources link building and broken link building. Building quality backlinks helps to improve website ranking.
5. Several backlinks to a single piece of content can attract a penalty
People who misunderstand the concept of link building acquire many links for a single piece of content, even if the links are of low-quality. They concentrate only on acquiring links regardless of quality. When Google bot reads their website and constantly finds such links, the search engine slaps the site with profile devaluation and a manual penalty.
Acquiring a link requires checking for certain factors to ensure the link will impact positively on your SEO. When the content on your web page is of high quality, it will obviously attract high-quality backlinks. Constant creation of high-quality content creates a cycle of high-quality link building for your site. This is what every business aims for – organic link building.
When your site has constantly low quality and irrelevant links, this is what attracts penalty. Good quality links to good quality content do not attract penalties.
6. Guest post adversely affects link building
Guest posting demonstrates your domain’s authority. When you publish content regarding your products and services on other websites that offer something similar to your offerings, the visitors to that website or directory get to know your brand. This establishes brand value and awareness.
The myth that guest posting has a negative impact on link building came into existence because people started guest posting only to get a link. This distorted the purpose of the guest post, hence the search engines penalized when irrelevant links were placed. Such actions were mistaken by the public at large to an understanding that guest posting was inadvisable.
Now that the myth is clarified, we understand that guest posting is still important. Guest posting gives you no-follow links which benefit digital marketing by increasing your brand visibility. Guest posting is the right way to market your business in a highly relevant and trafficked publication.
7. Link building is all about increasing the number of backlinks
Link building is not only about increasing the volume of links to a website. It is about building relationships with other websites for marketing. When you reach out to sites relevant to your business, you build long-term relationships with other businesses and key influencers in your industry. Just like companies get to know their competitors and other businesses in their industry when they have a brick and mortar office, similar activity is performed online to build relationships.
Building good relationships within your industry will help build your brand. When you create content based upon industry data and publish it on another website that is relevant to your industry, it shows your expertise. You can showcase this piece of content while reaching out to new business and establish a similar friendly relationship.
Here are a few benefits of link building:
- Helps in getting indexed quicker in search results
- High-quality incoming links bring more visibility to your blog
- Increases a brand’s visibility across the web
- Showcases the brand’s value and authority
Link building can be performed using:
- Guest blogging
- Infographics
- Videos
- Directory submission
- Writing high-quality blog posts on your website
- Dofollow blog comments
- Dofollow social bookmarking websites
Link building is an important part of any SEO strategy. Formulating a link building plan involves choosing the form of content to be created based on the audience. The next step would be to reach out to the platforms/websites that accept the kind of content you want to market. Reaching out to other businesses in your niche might require modifying your plan.
Just like any strategy, a link building plan also needs to be monitored constantly to see if the results match with what was planned. Any intermittent changes should benefit the SEO in the long-term. Search engine optimization is a long-term process, and so is link building. It takes a few months to show results, but it is the organic way to constantly improve your website ranking.
Conclusion:
Link building strategy has to be customized time and again based on your SEO strategy. Link different pages of your website to other sites and refrain from linking only to your home page. It is a good idea to keep a note of all the sites reached out to and linked to, so you can check on the linked websites frequently. Always follow the best practices of link building to see the best results for your online marketing campaign.
