SEO is not constant – one technique is working today, tomorrow it may spell doom to your website mainly due to the infrequent Google algorithm updates. But, Link Building has remained relevant to SEO and has the most impact on the search engine rankings.
Most SEO experts appreciate the importance of link-building, but some still make some costly mistakes. Some of these errors include;
Incorrect anchor text format
Anchor text refers to the text you click on to visit a link. There are several types of anchor text:
- Exact match – text that exactly matches the keyword you are ranking for
- Partial match – contains the keyword phrase
- Branded – contains the name of your brand
- Naked URL – the exact URL as it appears on the browser
- Generic – phrases such as ‘click here’ and ‘more information here’
Anchor text has to be natural, and you should not go overboard with a particular format. Keyword rich anchor text is good for SEO, but Google may deem its overuse as keyword overstuffing and penalize.
Quantity over quality
Most people prefer quantity over quality, but in the case of backlinks, you have to go with quality. It seems logical to have many backlinks, but you have to be careful about the source of the backlinks. One backlink from an authority website is more valuable than several backlinks from mediocre sites. Why? Because the authority site commands massive traffic, increasing the chances of people clicking on your link.
Ignoring social signals
Social signals are hard to manipulate. So, Google depends on them more than it depends on inbound links. Consider the number of people on social media before ignoring the impact of social signals in link building.
For example, your events planning website has a blog post titled “What to consider before hiring an events planner”, which has 1,000 shares on Facebook, 50 +1 on Google Plus, and 500 tweets. The post will rank higher than a similar post on another site with no social signals. Make those social media buttons on your site very visible.
Buying links
Buying links could attract a penalty from Google, which is the last thing your marketing campaign needs. You might not get caught, but clicks from such links are of poor quality compared to natural links. A good alternative to this is guest posting on authority sites, with a backlink to your site.
Link building is an SEO strategy that works if done the right way. For effective link building, hire the top SEO in Singapore.
