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The Delicate Art of Linking
While Google is searching (and finding) new ways to stop search engine abuse, ethical SEO companies like ours have to keep up, or disappear.
Right now the biggest challenge for SEO companies is linking. As all of you may already know, linking remains an essential part of search engine optimization. But with the last couple of years, a lot of changes have forced spammers and SEO people alike to change the way they do things. But what were the methods used to get links?
Link Farming
Link farming basically means to create an artificial community of websites linking to each other and to no one else (or almost no one). Spammers quickly caught on to this method, creating hundreds of websites that they linked to and back. But Google saw right through them, changing the algorithm so that link farmers would be penalized. These days, it’s just a well known fact that link farming is evil in Google’s eyes and will quite probably get you banned (with good reason!).
Free for all directories
Automatic free for all directories became really popular for quite some time, because it was easy to fool the system and get lots of links for free. Again, Google caught on to the trick and changed the algorithm so that directories that were not human edited were not credited as a valid link. Basically, when you subscribed your link to a general directory that is not human edited, it won't help you get better SERP results.
Directories that are human edited and that are related to your business are still a good choice. When Google sees a link to your site from a website that has related content, it can help your SERP because it is considered as a related resource.
Exchanging links
For the last few years, pretty much everyone exchanged links to boost their PageRank and everything seemed to be ok. People simply exchanged with whatever high PageRank websites they could find and that was that. But people at Google are not easily fooled: they worked on a solution to help diminish this kind of promotion and got it through. The new algorithm took in account the relevancy of your link (if it’s connected to your industry or not) as well as the number of links on the page. Basically, a page with more than 50 links on it is now discounted automatically and getting random links from- let's say- a pharmacy website for your car engine website is NOT going to help you. Actually, it may even harm you.
It’s really simple: Google wants to promote natural results for their search engines, meaning natural occurring links, quality content, simple programming, fresh content, dynamic activities onsite as well as trustworthy websites citing you. Well guess what? Getting a link from that pharmacy site is not considered natural if your company is a car engine manufacturer! Logically, your website should get and give links to related websites about cars, engines, mechanics, etc.
Getting links if just half the battle according to us. We think that Google also takes into account not only your incoming links but your outbound links. This can be explained by the fact that Google wants your website to be a part of the web community, in other words, it wants you to participate and point links towards other resources. It's as simple as writing a College report: If you don't cite your sources, it gives the impression that your work was not done seriously, that it is unprofessional and that your research was not well done. So the trick is to link to trustworthy resources from your secondary pages (not your home page) that have good content related to your webpage.
But more and more, we have found that the best links to get -the cream of the crop- is one from a content rich page that is related to your own webpage. Forget about links page, the future is linking through content pages. Google can easily see that a links page is not natural, especially if it’s filled with junk like Viagra websites and -dare I write it- porn websites. It's still unclear if the actual links page on your website is hurting you or helping you; opinions are divided on the subject. But most SEO people will agree that a links page filled (50 and more) with useless web resources are not helping.
Blogging
Blog Spammers became Bloggers' worst nightmare when the whole world started to post useless comments on blogs to boost their PageRank. A few months back, Google proposed a new way of keeping blog spammers from doing their evil deed by adding a new attribute rel="nofollow" or rel="external" on anchor () tags. This meant that spammers could not benefit from putting links in their commentaries when posting on blogs. When this little trick was born, a lot of bloggers could finally breathe easy. Wikipedia was also a victim of this practice, and has also adopted the new attribute for its external links.
Paid links
Paid links is a touchy subject right now. Some people swear by it while others fear it like a black cat on Halloween. Google is taking action against paid links through a form. It’s all too easy for someone to report that you are paying for links using the Google form, so we don’t think it’s worth the risk.
Conclusion
As you can see, a lot of these techniques were abused by Spammers worldwide, prompting Google to quick action. But when you are an ethical SEO company or SEO person there is a way to get valuable links without the headaches. The basics are simple:
1) Generate natural occurring links. This can mean writing articles on your website, asking partner companies to exchange links or to feature you as a partner/client/supplier, etc. The key is to generate links allover your website and with related content.
2) Put a linking form or linking information on your website. Yes, we know that this will probably attract spammers more than anything, but once in awhile you will get a good valuable offer.
3) If you are doing link exchanges, try to get a link on a related website that would actually be useful for your website! This may sound simple -and it is- but it is so efficient! The quality of the link you are getting (or giving) is directly linked to the quality of the content and programming. Forget about PageRank: if a website seems interesting but has a low PageRank, give it a try anyways. Just be careful about “gray bars” and PR 0: check that they are not banned by Google or being punished.
4) Keep away from the spammy or “staged” look. What does that mean? That means no links pages with huge amounts of links, no links that are not relevant (i.e. Viagra, porn and gambling or anything that is not related to you). Try to think “natural” when linking.
5) Don’t be selfish. Don’t just receive links, give some! Sure exchanging links is ok, but outgoing links that are not returned can also benefit your website. Be sure to link to industry leaders and websites that have a spotless reputation as well as great content that is related to your page (not only your website). I know, I am repeating myself, but it is crucial. Outgoing links show that you are an active member of your community, that you know your industry leaders, hence, that you are informed. Logically, a website that is knowledgeable will also attract a better reputation.
But linking, as I said before, is just half the battle. Once you have visits, there is also a question of keeping them on your website. Our next upcoming article will address this issue that is getting more and more important every day.
For more information about links and Google, we recommend you read:
http://forums.seochat.com/: One of the most used forums about SEO, Links and Internet Marketing.
Who links to me: The best tool to find out who links to your website. Great tool for cleaning your links.
Directory of links about links : Find out all you need to know about Google straight from the source!
Webmaster central Links: Learn from the horse's mouth how links work.
Matt Cutts' instruction for reporting Paid Links: We aren't the only ones who frown upon paid links. If you're like and hate paid links, here's Matt Cutts nifty instructions for reporting them.
Search Engine Journal: Get your daily fix of SEO information, rumors and articles with this insightful magazine.
BBC buys a link from Google: An interesting article that questions the linking market as well as Google and the BBC's practices.
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