Whether you’re a business owner or a webmaster, if you want to increase your rankings in the search engines, you need to learn how to build links to your website. There are a lot of strategies and tips you can follow to do this, but there are a few things that you need to know first.
Social media
Using social media to drive traffic is no newfangled concept. In fact, a recent study of 2,000 SEO professionals found that 88 percent of them include links to their main website in their Facebook and Twitter profiles. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to increase exposure and boost brand awareness. Aside from increasing page views, these social media connections may also have a positive impact on search engine rankings.
In terms of link building, there’s a bevy of strategies and tactics to choose from. The biggest challenge is selecting the most effective approach. Having a social media presence is a great start, but having the right content on your pages can make or break a campaign. The best way to go about this is to have a strategic content marketing plan. In addition to sharing a variety of content, you can also leverage your presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote content to your followers.
Aside from the content, you can take advantage of the social media sphere by conducting contests. These are a great way to get your followers to share your content with their friends. Similarly, you can utilize contests to boost your SEO game. While the most successful contests may take a bit of work, they can be a big win for your business. This is especially true if you’re a startup and have a small budget. Aside from the social proof, you can also learn a lot from your followers by interacting with them.
The best way to execute a successful contest is to do the research. Identify the competitors, their strengths, and weaknesses and then create a campaign that fits your brand and audience. Aside from using contests to drive traffic, you can use your presence on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as a marketing tool by engaging in the right type of conversation. From there, you’ll have a better chance of gaining the kind of followers that will push your brand into the stratosphere. For more information on the best ways to leverage your social presence, visit the social media experts at Xing.
Black Hat SEO
Having a presence in the search engine results is important for business growth. However, if you are using black hat SEO tactics to drive traffic to your site, you may end up with a penalty that hurts your ranking. The penalties can be very severe, and can have a negative impact on conversions.
You can use some basic techniques to avoid a penalty. For example, you can write original, high-quality content that builds trust with your target audience. You can also use a link building tool to find popular searches. You can also hire a digital marketing agency to help you stay on top of the SEO game.
One of the most common forms of black hat SEO is Private Blog Networks (PBNs). PBNs are a network of websites that are built for linking purposes. Typically, website owners build out PBNs with artificially generated content. This content is a way to make the network look real to Google.
Another form of black hat SEO is cloaking. This method uses 301 redirects to hide spammy pages from the SERPs. You can also scrape content from other websites. This is a technique that is done by people or bots.
Another common black hat SEO tactic is to create content around a topic you want to rank for. Then, you can swap out the original content with a different piece of content while you are ranked. The switch will create a negative experience for searchers.
In addition, you can generate low quality backlinks that will send negative signals to the search engines. These links are often used on low-authority pages. The search engines will then discount these links.
Finally, you can use invisible keywords to keep your content from showing up in the search results. Invisible keywords can cause confusion for users and prevent them from finding your content.
These black hat techniques are not illegal, but they are a serious violation of the search engine guidelines. In some cases, you can have your entire search presence taken down if you are found using these tactics. Ultimately, you should not risk the integrity of your website.
Resource pages
Using resource pages to build backlinks is a tried and true link building strategy that has been around for decades. These pages are essentially lists of links to awesome content on other sites. They are a great place to start when it comes to marketing campaigns.
There are several ways to find these resources, including browsing the directories and looking for relevant keywords. These pages are often built by respected sources. Some resource pages even have an email address or submission form to add your own links.
The trick is to pick the right resource page for your particular campaign. The quality of the resource page will play a large part in determining its value. Some resource pages are merely collections of links, while others are devoted to listing the best third party resources.
One of the best ways to find these is with a tool like Ahrefs Site Explorer. This tool will show you a list of resource pages and their SEO metrics. This will give you a good idea of what’s out there and what’s worth checking out.
Another tool that can help you is the Screaming Frog link checker. This is a browser extension that lets you quickly see whether a given link is external or internal. You can also use this tool to locate links for your blog post or webpage.
There are other tools that can help you, such as the LinkMiner Chrome extension. This extension can turn a red link into a green one. It isn’t exactly cheap, but it can make a big difference in your link building success.
Ultimately, using a resource page to build links is a great way to boost your website’s search engine rankings. Having a reputable source to recommend your own site will help to mitigate any negatives that might occur. The best way to do this is to establish a relationship with the page owner. By providing them with links to your own resources, you can avoid the pitfalls associated with using a free service.
A resource page is a great place to start, and you might be surprised how easy it is to find them.
Negative SEO
During the last two years, the SEO industry has undergone a major change. Many online marketers changed their strategies. In particular, SEOs took advantage of the system by building backlinks. As a result, thousands of links were created. While some of these backlinks failed, others did not harm the site.
Google has been detecting unnatural links since day one. As a result, webmasters are required to keep an eye on their backlink profiles. This can help them detect any negative SEO activities. A disavow tool is available in Google’s Webmaster Tools. This allows the webmaster to send a list of links and domain names to Google. This is intended to help Google determine if the links are legitimate or malicious.
Another way to monitor links is with Open Site Explorer. It shows links to the site in a high-level view. The links can be sorted by date, and a list of the exact URLs can be accessed. It is recommended that the link profile is reviewed at least once a month.
If you suspect a problem, contact the site owner and ask them how the bad links were created. This will give you more information and may allow you to request a cease and desist from the perpetrator.
The best SEO agencies are professional and use the right techniques to boost the website’s authority. Using high-quality contextual link building strategies helps minimize the impact of low-quality links.
Unlike traditional black hat SEO, high-quality contextual link building campaigns build links from relevant, industry-specific publications. They are designed to earn high-quality, authoritative links that are earned in a genuine, natural way.
Some attackers may try to gain a backlink from your website by sending a fake removal request. In addition, they may buy a link farm service, or purchase site-wide ads.
The best way to avoid these attacks is to be proactive. This means keeping your servers secure, monitoring your backlinks, and being sure to use a high-quality link building strategy. Not only will this minimize the damage, it can also prevent future problems.
