Link building has long been considered a staple of an overall SEO strategy. In fact it was once considered that building backlinks was the perfect way to manipulate the search engines into higher rankings… But, that was then and this is now!
The truth is that Google doesn’t look kindly upon those practices that are aimed at manipulating their search results and they have done all they can to sniff out unnatural or manipulative backlinking practices… and they aren’t afraid to wield the axe on those sites that are engagingin “blackhat” methods.
So, What to Think about Backlinks in 2015
Over the last few years Google has been on a mission trying to clean up their search engine results, and as part of that cleanup, backlinks are getting far more scrutiny than they might have in the past.
For most, understanding what Google wants when it comes to backlinks is a perplexing enterprise, and one fraught with dire missteps that can lead to search engine results disaster.
To help avoid that scenario, let’s have a look into some of the best practices for building backlinks moving forward in 2015, and how you can benefit from them.
5 Guidelines for link building in 2015
Make sure you change up your anchor text – These days a site with a link profile containing 95% of a particular keyword is a sure signal to Google that there has been some funny business going on, and a penalty awaits. Your job now is to ensure you vary your anchor text to include a variety of keywords, naked URLs, and a few generic phrases like”click here”.
Seek social links – Links generated from social media can benefit you in at least two ways. First, they are a lot easier to get, and can carry the promise of increased traffic. Secondly, it is a signal to Google that your pages are engaging socially, which will help your ranking.
Aim for natural growth – Any huge influx of links is usually looked at very carefully, and often not all will be counted. This can’t be helped sometimes, obviously, as in the case of a launch or event, but be forewarned.
Don’t buy links – There isn’t any safe way to buy backlinks and you will eventually be discovered. Stay clear of those pie in the sky offers of 10,000 links for $10, because it will definitely hurt you, probably very quickly!
Avoid private blog networks – One technique people have been using to engineer lots of relevant backlinks is through the use of private blog networks. Google’s recent updates have uncovered a lot of these, and you have to be a very smart operator to make that tactic work today, which most of us aren’t or have time to be. Build links gradually and naturally: you’ll win in the end!
Aggressive backlinking was once considered necessary in order for your site to rank highly in the search results. Everyone did it… However times have changed. The best advice is to play it safe with any of your backlinking strategies.
