To achieve a top position on the Google results page (SERP), SEO specialists engage in various measures, focusing on the SEO optimization of the web resource. SEO optimization involves a set of actions aimed at improving both internal aspects of the website (such as filling it with thematic content, semantic layout, structure, and eliminating technical errors) and external ones. A significant component of external optimization is link building. In this article, we will analyze in detail the basic concepts of link building, where to find reliable links, what link building strategies exist, and how to avoid search engine penalties.
What is link building?
Link building is a method of promoting a site in a search network by placing links to your website on other resources. The link profile of the site—the number and quality of sources that link to the site—is a significant factor in ranking. The site on which the third-party link is placed is called a donor. The donor transfers its trust to the acceptor—the website to which the link leads. The more links that lead to a web resource, the greater the trust it has. Link building, in simple terms, helps to increase the presence of your website on the Internet.
Link building is a long process that requires a lot of time and effort, as the links must be of high quality, open for indexing, and relevant to the subject of the site.
Advantages of link building:
- Link building has a long-term effect. A significant reference mass increases the authority of the site for search engines.
- Increase in potential customers and organic traffic.
- Saving the budget for promotion. Some links can be obtained for free or without significant cash investments.
Who needs link building?
Increasing backlinks as part of a promotion strategy should be considered by all businesses that want a steady increase in organic traffic and high positions on the results page (SERP). Link Building is necessary:
- New sites that are just starting to promote.
- Web resources that lack traffic.
- Web sites that work in the competitive sphere to reach more potential customers.
However, some websites, such as casino websites, face challenges in obtaining proper links. These sites often attract low-quality or irrelevant links, which can negatively affect their search engine rankings. For casino link building services, it is crucial to acquire proper, high-quality links. To achieve this, you should carefully select appropriate sites or hire professionals who specialize in this field.
Types of links and their role in website promotion
There are several classifications of links. Let’s consider the main ones.
According to technical characteristics:
- Anchors – the text depicts the corresponding word or phrase, most often the key in which the link is hidden. For example, order link building services.
- Anchorless – the text displays a URL or neutral words with a call to action – “click here”, “more”, etc.
- Link-picture – the link is embedded in the photo or image. This is a common option for social networks and forums.
According to the perception of search engines:
- Indexed – without additional attributes in the url address or with the dofollow tag. Google automatically scans the backlink and links it to your site.
- Non-indexed – with the nofollow tag. The user can go to your site from another resource, but Google “does not see” such links. Non-indexed links do not affect the ranking of your website.
By method of receipt:
- Natural – the owners of web sites publish them of their own free will without prior agreement. For example, useful content for users of the donor site.
- Purchased – for money or on the basis of other agreements. Such backlinks also work effectively under certain conditions.
At the location:
- Contextual – organically embedded in the content – in a blog article, in a review on the forum or in the news.
- Sidebars are located in the sidebar of the website – sidebar.
- Footer – placed in the footer (bottom) of the site.
Separately, there are spam links – not tied to the subject of the donor site. For example, advertising of gambling on gardening websites.
The best place for link building is considered to be the placement of trust links. These are eternal (without a specified validity period) backlinks that are received from reliable (trust) web resources, for example, from.edu and .gov domains.
More about trust links: what is it, how to make and get?
A quality link that will make a significant contribution to the ranking of the site includes much more characteristics than just placing on a reliable website. The trust weight is affected by more components.
The trust weight of the link is the traffic that the link transmits to the acceptor site. It is impossible to determine the exact weight. It is possible to potentially increase trust (quality) by the following methods:
- Use of accurate anchors that match the content of your site.
- Thematic design around the link – placing other keys in the text that will strengthen the anchor.
- Organic addition to the content of the donor site, that is, content with a backlink should be potentially interesting to visitors to a third-party site.
- Embedding in the contextual part.
- Lifetime validity period.
- Openness to indexing.
- Placement on an authoritative web resource.
- Limiting the number of links to the acceptor site from the donor site. It is believed that the weight is distributed among all links.
In addition, there is an assumption that the backlink trust increases with age.
Donor sites for link building: where to get links?
As noted above, there are two ways to get a link:
- Agree for free, for money or on barter terms;
- Wait for it to be placed by hand without your participation.
Of course, SEO specialists are considering an option that can be influenced more – that is, agreements in various ways. Global link search can be divided into 3 separate methods:
Outreach link building
This is direct cooperation with donor sites. A webmaster or other specialist of the acceptor site agrees directly with each individual donor. To place links, you can use:
1. Popular web sites. Publication of articles on resources that are of interest to users. These can be information articles, materials with life hacks, seasonal trends – the main thing is that the material corresponds to the theme of your resource.
2. Guest publications. Today, a large number of businesses are developing their own blogs. Some of them are happy to publish texts by other authors on different terms. The rule is the same as with the previous version, the article should be interesting to blog readers and relevant to your site.
Link Building on forums
This method is called crowd marketing. Specialists place links to the site-acceptor on thematic forums, social networks, in comments to relevant articles.
The peculiarity of crowd marketing is nativeness. The comment left should organically fit into the discussion on the forum or approach the subject of the material, and not look like an advertisement.
Purchase on specialized exchanges
Link exchanges are complex intermediary platforms where you can buy links. There are platforms of different specializations:
- For crowd marketing;
- The purchase of eternal links (collaborator, seoware) – are the most popular among specialists.
- For automatic purchase with minimal specialist participation – you only need to specify keywords and topics, the exchange will do the rest on its own.
Other link building methods for obtaining links
The following methods help to get organic backlinks naturally:
1. Development of your own blog and social networks.
Interesting materials will allow:
- increase organic traffic thanks to regular readers;
- to improve behavioral factors;
- create an opportunity to share your articles on other web resources, for example, make social media buttons under each publication.
2. Interviews with famous people or experts in your niche
Conduct an interview and post it on your website. The expert will likely distribute the material on his social media page or their website.
Linkbuilding strategies
Before starting work, it is worth deciding on the performer – this can be done by a webmaster, SEO specialist or even a donor site. In the latter option, you will have to cooperate with a new performer every time, so it is better to entrust the work to your own team or SEO agency.
If you decide to develop the reference mass on your own, we recommend that you adhere to these recommendations:
- Develop a long-term plan with a specific goal.
- Focus on creating useful content that you want to read and distribute.
- Combine different methods – outreach, crowd marketing and purchase on the stock exchanges.
- Create events that can be shared on news platforms – announce new products, organize webinars and charity projects.
- Strive to achieve leadership in your own niche – conduct research, share interesting cases.
Why is useful content important for link building?
In March 2024 Google updated its spam policy and introduced three new rules, one of which is directly related to link building. It’s about “abuse of the reputation of the site.” This means that Google is already applying sanctions against sites that massively place backlinks on donor sites of inappropriate topics.
The new spam policy does not consider all third-party content a violation. The search engine begins to apply fines only for publications that are created only to “manipulate the search rating”.
SEO link building is an effective but difficult tool that covers much more nuances than just buying links. A specialist who is engaged in increasing the trust of a website needs to understand many nuances: carefully choose content and donor sites, monitor updates of the search engine and strictly adhere to its rules, track traffic and correctly interpret changes.
Link Building can and should be used to bring the site to the top positions in Google, but it is better to entrust the process to professionals who understand all the intricacies of link building.
