SEO Link Building is the most critical skill that you can develop to organically grow the authority of your website.  With the surge of information available at individual’s fingertips online these days, tactics to share your content and web page with a target audience are becoming increasingly difficult to manage. One of the main tactics for increasing online traffic to any desired site or web page is developing them for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes. The strategies necessary to create an SEO page are constantly morphing. Search engines are always changing their algorithms which determine what a web page, or site, requires to increase their rankings on search engines.

SEO Link Building is a tried and true method of increasing the number of inbound links to a web page or site, which directly increases SEO and search engine rankings of that specific site. Increasing the number of high-quality, genuine links online increases a web page’s likelihood of appearing higher on search engine result pages.

Increased SEO and links available to a web page can have drastic positive effects on brand awareness, and how you portray your product or business. But to get the desired effects of a successful link building campaign, you must strategize how you’re going to share links that generate organic, high-quality traffic and showcase your brand in a good light. There are many sloppy link-building tactics that may unintentionally damage the reputation of a business or individual.

When creating an SEO strategy for your business, avoid these common link building mistakes:

Exchanging Links

Many link exchanges are set up in the same fashion: “I’ll share your link on my web page if you share mine”. Exchanging links with other web pages or sites just does not work, for a variety of reasons. Web pages which easily accept exchanges may contain many additional links, and act more as a spam site than a legitimate web page. Maintain the integrity of your link, and stay away from link farms through link exchanges.

SEO Link Building and Guest Blogging

Don’t demean the brand that you’ve worked hard to develop by guest blogging on a website that is unrelated to your business or ideas. Writing blogs for irrelevant blogs makes your content appear thin, and the link dropping appears obvious and fake. Instead, find fellow businesses and bloggers that complement your brand and message.

Commenting on Blogs or Forums with Intent to Leave Links

Engaging on various blogs and forums related to your field is an important part of brand building, along with relationship development. But linking to content in an obvious fashion is frustrating for the blogger, and can damage potential relationships in the future. Commenting on a forum or a blog simply to leave a link is noticeable, and spreads a thin image of your website and business.

Instead, leave genuine, honest, and professional comments on blogs or forums that are related to your business and mission. By interacting with other blogs and web pages with integrity and meaningful comments, you can slowly build a link base that will eventually lead to increased traffic.

Obtaining a Large Volume of Links

Organic SEO link building as a strategy should be a slow, progressive process. When links are purchased in bulk, the sudden and large appearance of links floating around on the web looks suspicious, and unnatural. Outsourcing your link building is a good option when searching for various marketing campaigns, but ensure that you find a company that will build your links gradually, and naturally.

Using Automated Link Building Programs

You know how hard you and your team have worked to build a reputable and professional brand, organically, with hard work and integrity. This reputation is too important to risk by choosing to share links to a web page or site using an automated program.

Automated bots are repetitive, awkward, and obvious. Avoid using this tactic to link build at all costs. In place of using an automated program, try to interact with related blogs and businesses via social media or forums at least once a day. Building links in this fashion is an organic process, and will bring in organic traffic more than a bot link would.

Over-Optimizing Anchor Text in Links

Anchor text is the text left accompanying a link. In the past, SEO “experts” regarded this text as a vital piece of SEO formatting, and that the chosen words were just as important as the link itself.

Nowadays, this SEO technique of over-optimization of the anchor text is outdated. The text that you leave alongside a link is important, but relevant phrases and thoughts are more important than using specific keywords repetitively. When you are link building, vary the text that accompanies the web link across a variety of related web pages and businesses.

Including Links that are Unrelated to the Site

In the same way that leaving a link on unrelated blogs or forums appears fake and unprofessional, including links that are unrelated to a website’s content can bring negative views and damage your brand’s reputation. Leaving irrelevant links seems like spam, and as much as you know this is not your intent, viewers of this link may not feel the same.

Links from Sites with No Real Content

A site that has no “real” content is one that has little to no relevant or specific information on any topic. Leaving links on sites like this can appear spammy, and gives little value to the link, no matter how great your content is.

Link building, when done in a slow, gradual manner by a professional team of passionate individuals will bring the desired high-quality leads. But when you’re developing SEO through link building practices, there are also some less obvious tactics to avoid, including:

Don’t Pay for Links

If you are considering paying for a link on a specific website, don’t. Be cautious of websites that offer you to purchase link space on their website, as they are probably promising the same to other companies and businesses. Your link and information is valuable, and should not appear amongst countless other web pages, also known as “link farms”.

Don’t Forget Social Media

The ability to interact with other businesses and individuals on social media has changed the way that link building is practiced. Creating meaningful connections with relevant and similar brands or companies can boost organic traffic, and overall business. Collaborate with similar brands, utilize a variety of hashtags, and switch up these hashtags frequently. This ensures that a wider audience has access to your social media accounts, and creates a wider opportunity for traffic to your website.

Don’t Simply Link to a Homepage

Sure, your homepage may contain relevant information, but you have an entire website that boasts great, interesting, and informative content. When seo link building, ensure that you share links to various pages of your website to build brand appeal, and demonstrate a wide range of content.

Don’t Recycle Content

Recycling content is a risky and dangerous game. This simple method may save time that can be spent building SEO and links, but chances are that if an individual is searching for specific keywords or content, they may come across your link more than once. This repetitive content can diminish the validity of your brand and make your website seem thin.

Don’t Fake It

If you should avoid any specific tactic related to seo link building, it is appearing fake. As in the offline world, individuals browsing online can pick out genuine and helpful links from the ones that are quickly placed, or which are irrelevant to a website’s content. Appearing “fake” online can occur in many fashions, including the use of bots, commenting on blogs with the sole intent to leave a link, or recycling content just to speed up the link building process. Aim for relevance, quality, and the creation of organic traffic through link building.

Here’s a summary of best practice to ensure a link building regime that will be effective, and bring in the high-quality leads to your business:

• Vary the links that you leave. Link to a wide range of web pages on your website to present your professional knowledge, experience, and range of services or products.
• Engage daily on social media, whether that is posting a high-quality photo to Instagram, actively engaging with customers on Facebook, or using Twitter to interact and leave links with related businesses or complementary companies.
• Leave genuine, well-developed comments and links on blogs or forums that hold relevance to the message or web page you are sharing.
• Build and spread links gradually. Link building is a slow process, but when done correctly, can generate organic traffic, and the best possible results.

If you, or your business, are looking for SEO link building professionals to assist you in the link building process, the experts at FireRock Marketing have the expertise and the experience to attract the right customers. By helping you to develop successful marketing strategies, your website and web pages can appear higher in search engine results, and drive organic traffic to the content you want to share. Gain confidence in your digital marketing by connecting with FireRock Marketing today.