Link building for SEO is a skill that requires attention to detail and precision. Whether you hire an outside company or take the project on by yourself, it’s important to consider how many links are needed in order to reach your goal. The type of link also matters as they can either be toxic (low quality) or beneficial (high-quality).
Google is expert at detecting manipulation. For example, using the same anchor text, same URL with a similar technique if you build 50 links every month then Google’s algorithm will pick up on it and may block your site from ranking in their index.
The way to avoid getting penalized by search engines is to think like a computer. If you do and avoid typical link-building patterns, then your site will stay up-to-date with the latest algorithm updates from Google that are constantly being released in order to protect its users’ best interests.
Anchor Text Over Optimizing
Many have heard that using the same keyword to create link over and over is a bad idea. This trend can cause harm to your website’s rankings. Generally, websites naturally get linked to each other without much of any obvious pattern at all. Most times it will be brand anchors or “click here’s” as well as generic phrases like “more info.”
Avoid Same Length Content Placements
If you do a large number of guest blogging, make sure all of the services that you use allows for varying the length. Google’s algorithms are very smart and it can detect these patterns so it is up to us as individuals to avoid this one.
If You’re Going To Graffiti, Don’t Sign It
For experienced SEO, author boxes are a good idea. But if you’re doing scalable guest posting, don’t leave the same name on all of them. That leaves an easy to detect pattern for Google.
Better Still, Don’t Use Author Boxes or Labels
Make sure that the posts look as natural as possible. Having the site owner pass it as his or her own content – we call this ‘ghost blogging’. Of course, author boxes are great for when you’re doing a few guest posts here and there where you know what’s coming up next. But if you plaster them across all of your clients links? You’ll get caught out eventually.
Think about Seasonal Trends and Vary Link Quantities
You want to be sure to always keep your links fresh and new for the ever-changing needs of your clients. One way to do that is by varying quantities month on month, taking particular notice at seasonal peaks and troughs in their business experiences.
For example, let’s say your client is an online toy store. You’d expect their busiest time to be Christmas right? Well, then you would expect more people to mention the brand and talk about it on social media around this period. So getting a few links from these posts should come naturally for any algorithm or human.
Avoid Private Link Networks
Webmasters should be careful to avoid networks and footprints. That includes sites that are on the same hosting, same IP address, or have a similar theme design. A good indicator of whether you want links from a site is your gut feeling about it alone.
Vary Your Link Building Techniques and Types
Mix up your link building by using more than one strategy. Press release distribution, guest blogging, infographic promotion, and directory listings are some of the strategies you can use to get links. Avoid unbalanced ratios like 90% directories 10% other types because it could be penalized in Google’s rankings algorithm or people might not see that as a credible source for information so they won’t want to work with you again – which is bad news bears all around.
Slow and steady wins the race always! Don’t build links at a robotic pace. Slow down your link-building schedule to avoid patterns that Google will notice. We don’t like patterned websites because they are easy for us to find with our algorithms so you need to mix up your approach.
Final Takeaways
SEO is about mimicking popularity, but you can’t do that with a robot. We are humans and we appreciate the diversity of thought and creativity in our lives.