Do you think all links are created equal?

The fact of the matter is, they are not.

Link building was simple before. You'd write a few articles, publish them on an article submission website and then earn a link back to your website.

This technique no longer works today. The right inbound links can grow your ranking, brand, and revenue, but the wrong ones can get your website penalized. Google takes it very seriously now.

To remain safe, many people simple stopped trying to acquiring links at all. The thought behind that being people have been struggled with knowing what sites would be considered OK to have links on. If doing business online, this is probably the worst mistake. It’s time to learn ways to build links naturally.

Backlinks will always be a vital Google ranking factor, but effective link building is chiefly about popularity and trust. Domain trust or authority represents as much as 23.87% of the ranking algorithm of Google.

The link profile has been one of the core pillars of ranking throughout the history of Google search. With time, the meaning, as well as the value of the profile, has changed a lot only complicating things.

Let’s have a look at some link building strategies.

Know What Google Wants

As soon as it comes to marketing and search engine optimization, Google dictates the pace. It’s vital to understand the mission of Google. This goes a long way to shape your link building strategy.

So what's Google's mission?

“To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

To try and build links without getting penalized, you need to understand that mission. To attempt building backlinks with no plan or consideration of Google's requirements will result poor results and ultimately being penalized by the search giant.

Here are a few points to consider before you start building links.

• Is my content perfectly organized?
• Am I providing useful details to the websites that will link to mine?

Getting the navigation right is the very first step when it comes to organizing content. This helps people and the search engines to find information that is relevant and useful. The next step is to build a solid foundation.

Use Guest Posts

Yes, guest posts are still relevant. You need to use the right strategies to accrue maximum benefit. Some guest post links perform better than others. The typical guest post bio links are at the bottom of the page. Though this is fine, this is not very effective. If it’s a typical link at the end of the blog, most readers do not even see it. If it’s there in the ‘bio box’, Google can devalue it. Though this will drive traffic and give SEO value, this is certainly not as much as you ought to get.

Good guest posts are done on authoritative websites and that automatically makes it a trusted page. Some blog owners are quite paranoid about linking back to your website, but most are fine with it, provided it adds value. Your goal should be to write a guest post that is useful and relevant and if you can provide additional information that is on your website, place a link.

The content that you can link to includes:

• Ultimate guides
• List of resources
• Studies or data
• Infographics

The stronger your guest post is, the greater are your benefits.

Do not just rely on publishing your guest posts. You need to promote them as well. Share your posts on the social media platforms not just once but multiple times. Make sure to use different titles while you post them.

Do Something Advantageous for your Community

As a marketer, it’s easy to be selfish and ask, “What’s in it for me?”, but doing something for community can benefit you both. It can be something altruistic like setting up a scholarship. The content generated on other sites pertaining to it, which generate high-quality backlinks.  Or it can be something lighthearted like a promotional giveaway or content. People simply love free stuff. You can give away products or subscriptions to individuals who give you their email addresses or share the contest. With bigger prizes, it will go viral and ensure you better results.

If you want to build safe links, you either need a great product or great content. A significant part of your investment will go into product development or content development. As soon as you have that, you can use the above-discussed strategies to give a boost to your search ranking and website traffic.

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