Link Building for 2015 – A Curated Guide
Some say there’s no future for link building, that investing on it is just a waste of time. But, being in the world of Digital Marketing for more than two years now, I’ve witnessed how link building helped a lot of websites not just with ranking in major search engines, but also on increasing conversions – in fact our clients can attest to that.
Perhaps it is the same reason why no matter how many people are saying it’s dead, I’m never convinced. I still believe that the most logical way to approach the ever changing search engine algorithm is to nurture the continuous will to focus on creating more compelling content, to develop your link building practices and to neglect all the unnatural ways of doing it.
And now another year is about to end, isn’t it the best time to evaluate your strategies this year, and think of how you can improve it this 2015? To help you with that, I’ve compiled some of the best and most effective ways to build links the natural way this year and the years to come.
1. Link Earning
Gone are the days when you could just plant links wherever you like. Now, the way to acquire link juice and recognition from readers is by creating fascinating content that people would love to link to.
a. 11 Link Earning Strategies to Spice Your Content Marketing – Digital Philippines
b. The Art of Link Earning – Dejan SEO
c. Forget Link Building. Think Link Earning! – Titan SEO
Being mentioned in social media sites is another great way to earn links. With billions of socially active people around the world, it is much easier to reach your target audience, thus increasing your chance of being recognized and cited as a source.
d. Bye Link Building. Hello Link Earning – Market Domination Media
e. 7 Legitimate Ways That Social Media Impacts SEO – ClickZ
f. The Foundation to a Sound “Link Earning” Strategy – Web Presence Group
2. Avoiding Identical Anchor Text
Before, we used to invest so much on optimizing parallel anchor text. But this isn’t the best option now, why? Having too many identical anchor texts is an indication to search engines that your website is over-optimized. Keep in mind that a natural variety of anchor texts is what Google loves – in fact, what we all do.
h. Brace Yourself, Google’s Penguin Algorithm Update is Coming – Quadw Technologies
i. Google Penguin 4.0: How to Solve an Over-Optimization Penalty – Erick Danzer
j. How to Avoid Google’s Three Most Common Ranking Penalties and What to Do If You Get Slapped By Them – Search Engine News
3. Link Diversity
Simple rule is to not point all your links to your homepage or a certain page on your site especially if you have numerous content. Take time to balance your external links out, and try to build links for other pages of your site.
You also need to consider acquiring links from different types of websites, or sites with different extensions (eg. .gov, .net, .com, .edu, .org).
k. Why You Need to Diversify your Backlink – Agarwal Inno Soft
l. Want a Natural Backlink Profile? Think Diversity – SEMrush Blog
m. The Importance of Diversity in Link Building – Open Codez
4. Giving Value to Nofollow Links
I know it doesn’t pass link juice, but remember that gaining link juices isn’t the only way to rank on Google. Nofollow links is still a good referral, and could help boost your traffic. We all know that traffic is one of Google’s indicator of how your website is performing.
n. The Hidden Power of Nofollow Links – Moz
o. Follow Links Vs. No Follow Links: Should You Care? – Word Stream
5. Acquiring Links Through Testimonials
I love trying out tools and applications. I’ve done many reviews of many different tools for the past few months and I can say, in all honesty, I think that this is one of the best parts of my job.
It’s like hitting two birds with one stone – I get to have a premium version of tools by just doing a review, and then offer them a pretty good testimonial linking back to my site. We all know that tools’ websites have good PR and traffic.
Warning: Don’t do this for the sake of link building. Testimonial pages are sacred, and meant to show customers a sincere commendation on how that tool helped you, and how it could help others.
p. The Secret Strategies to Successful Link Building – SEO Hacker
q. 17 Untapped Backlink Sources (Updated) – Backlinko
r. SEO 101: 5 Link Building Opportunities for Blogs and Small Businesses – Search Engine Journal
Conclusion
Take time to analyze your link profile. It is not enough that you have too many backlinks if:
- They’re not quality
- All point to your homepage or a specific page on your site
- They are all dofollow
- They have the same anchor text
- The anchor text doesn’t support the link
Over to You!
The way search works has been evolving into a more user-friendly approach. And as harsh as it may sound like, you need to stop working within your comfort zone. In the link building world, this is the only way that you could excel, or at least go with the flow – to build links in a more natural way, and focus on quality.
So, what are the link building strategies you’ve done this year, and will still help you this coming 2015? Share them with us by commenting below.
