Link Building 101 – Why It’s Important; How to Avoid Pitfalls

Many business owners are hesitant to use links on their websites. Either they don’t know how to do it, or they’re scared to try. There are good reasons to be cautious, but if you create the right links you can draw traffic and increase your Google ranking.

Usefulness of Links

80% of SEO ranking factors involve links, including social media and citations. They’re a valuable way to increase your Google profile and draw more people to your site. There is a definite correlation between your rank and the number of links on your pages.

Avoid the Pitfalls

SEO is fluid and constantly changing. Google is getting better and better at detecting “unnatural” links. If they suspect you’re creating content that is not organic, you may be penalised, your keywords might be filtered, or you can be forced to remove the links.

The best way to create links that Google will reward is to place them in the first paragraph of your blog or content, when possible. You want to remain on-topic and use content that is germane to your website/profession. This helps your text read as reputable, reliable and quality-driven. Create a comprehensive strategy, and check the analytics on the links you already have. Change or remove the ones that aren’t working.

Link Tips

There are a number of ways to establish links. Some are more sophisticated than others:

• Write for other websites/blogs, or write guest posts.
• Offer a discount on products or services to a particular group. Mike Ramsey of Nifty Marketing recommends getting creative and searching for people with the search: City inurl:employee, discount. Then you can list your business as a discount provider and get a link back to your site!
• Use “linktations” – citations that link to you (like Yelp). Take some of these higher authority pages (TripAdvisor, Yahoo!Local) and link to the profiles on different pages on your site, not your landing page.
• Put the top members of your team on high-authority sites and list their degrees/specialties. Ask if your university or alumni association will post a link to your business on their page.
• Create an appealing infographic and post it on your site. Both your users and, ideally, the media, are drawn to information provided in an eye-catching way. You can get a lot of attention with something like this, especially if you promote it to bloggers and publish it on infographic submission sites.
• Do you sponsor a local little league team or charity? Don’t ask for a certificate or plaque; ask for a link!
• Use local influencers like discussion forums, Subreddits, and city pages to promote a blog that is relevant and hyperlocal – make sure the information is useful and doesn’t read like an advertisement.

It takes time and strategy to build links, but eventually you will see results. If you need assistance with link building, hiring an SEO company can be a worthwhile investment. Contact us at LocalSEOSearch for personalized help that will build traffic to your site and get your business the attention you deserve!