As we have seen in the second chapter, the authority of a website depends directly on the number of pages that link it , the authority of these pages, the level of thematic similarity between your website and the one that links you and other factors related to the content surrounding the link, such as its anchor text , the words that surround it and even the position of the link within the content.
That is why much of the SEO work, in addition to optimizing the web and its content, is the generation of links with the purpose of increasing the authority of the web and improving its positioning . This practice is known as link building Service.
In this chapter we will focus on what Google values about links , why people link to other websites and the main ways to obtain a link , including the main link building tactics .
How Google interprets a link
When the Google robot crawls a website, pay special attention to the links it finds and "follow" them by going to the page they link and also analyzing it. The links work as votes in an election, in broad strokes if you have more links, you have more chances to go out first. If you can expand this information, review chapter 2: Web positioning factors .
It is necessary to know that there are many factors that determine the value of a link, many hypotheses about points that could influence and some discrepancies between professionals. The main most important points are:
• Relevance : A link on a page that talks about a theme similar to yours gives you more value than another that talks about a totally different topic. For example, if the world's most reputable page about chocolate cookies links to your website about desserts, it will be much more valuable than a link from a generalist newspaper, even if it has more authority.
• Authority : A web page linked to another 100 will provide more value through a link than another to which only 10 link, if we consider that the average quality of each link was the same in both cases. Thus a link on a page with authority is much more valuable than another on a page without it .
• Trust : Google chooses some websites that it considers the most trustworthy for its robots to start a search. These pages have a maximum trust value. Google follows the links on these pages and discover new websites. The more intermediate websites between the initials and you, the less confidence Google will give you .
• For all this it is more important to generate links of pages with great authority, relevance and confidence than to build links without any type of filter.
How has the link building changed?
A few years ago the link building was done automatically through signatures with links in forums, bots that commented on publications randomly inserting links, exchanging links, and a series of easily scalable techniques but that today do not give results. The latest updates of the search engine (especially the Google Penguin versions ) have focused on better identifying these unnatural patterns and not only do not convey value, but penalize the SEO of a website .
The speed with which Google changes forces us to consider not only what Google values now, but what points work now but can be penalized in the coming months . In general, it will help us to put ourselves in the shoes of Google : Your business is to offer its users the best possible result for a question , links are just a way to identify it, so we have to start by creating content that really is the best answer to that question before looking for shortcuts.
If you really get it, that content will receive links effortlessly, and if the page is optimized you will start uploading positions on Google.
Why do we link?
First of all, it is important to understand the psychology behind a link. The links are not usually born from desperate attempts to get it, rather, the big pages that have the most huge link profiles do not usually get them actively: people simply link them.
The generation of passive links is when your page receives links without an external effort to obtain them. But why would they link you?
• You are relevant : This happens to brands like Coca Cola, Sony, or those that are very relevant in some niches. Just being relevant in other channels in an online advantage.
• You are an authority : If within your industry you are a reference, you will get links from people who link you to complement a content.
• You bring value : People put links in articles, news or portals to offer additional value or complementary information. If with what you do you offer a value that complements the content of others or generates new / interesting information such as news, they will link you.
• They appreciate you : It may be your friend or someone whose content you love. In any case, this relationship can lead to a link.
• Partners and partners : When two people collaborate and therefore the improvement of one is good for the other, it is normal that they link together, as this can improve the SEO of both domains. EYE! Do not force this technique, the exchange of links is penalized by Google.
Many pages have a specific section for partners and commercial agreements. Pay attention to possible alliances!
• Others : It may be that people link you because they hate you , because they want to criticize you or because you are relevant for a negative reason . This is not a type of link that will benefit you in the long term, because it damages your brand and because in the medium term Google could detect that it contains a negative feeling.
In short, build relationships, love those who see your content, add value, become an authority and, finally, get relevant. This is the path to a page with a great link profile that generates SEO traffic.
Link Building Tactics
There are concrete link building tactics that can help us systematize our task and generate a greater benefit for a website, but always based on a main idea: think of the user, generate good content with the keywords in mind and share it.
• Through content : This technique condenses what we call obtaining passive links in the previous point. It consists of improving your content in a way that brings value and is a source that everyone wants to link. A variant, the link baiting , implies generating concrete content with the purpose of generating attention and links. Within the link baiting we would include the creation of infographics, controversial websites, reports and studies, etc.
• Through contacts : A person or organization has a series of relationships that it has built over time . When you are more connected, a greater number of relationships will be established. And these relationships can be moved to the online world in the form of links . For example, it is very possible that among your family or closest friends, several have blogs or other types of web. It is normal for employees of a company to have their own page. It is normal for distributors, customers and people serving an organization to have an online presence. Therefore, it is important that an SEO is well connected and always has a good number of contacts in the online sector. Don't see it as asking for a favor, but asA way to add value with your website to another page .
For example , in the case of a restaurant, you could try that your staff and your trusted clients with websites link them from them. You could contact suppliers and associates to request that they put us in the sections of their websites dedicated to it. We could even go to blogger conventions to invite the most important to eat for free or with an offer to get mentions and links.
• Directories and social repositories : All the pages in which you can put a link to your page by registering or registering. This is one of the most dangerous points in SEO, since there are hundreds of free resources on the web, but they are potentially harmful to our page. There are good and bad directories and repositories; The maximum to know if they are positive for us is: Will it bring me traffic from people who click on the link? In general, a link that generates this type of traffic will be positive.If you want SEO value, focus on the following points:
Niche directories: Niche directories are those that try to provide information about a very specific sector. For example, directories of technology blogs or directories of technology companies. Here you can even put listings or compilations that fulfill the same function on pages or blogs, for example: «The best marketing agencies in Spain». Here we could try to communicate with the author to justify why we should include ours or try to reach him by other means.
Local directories : These are especially relevant for local businesses such as restaurants, bars, driving schools, etc. Not only do they provide great value, but Google reviews many of them to verify your business information, and the activity and comments generated in them have a great influence. You can find more information in the post how to improve your local SEO.
Top comments (4)
Did you use ChatGPT to generate this?
You have to make bedding, select a few places and successfully implement the linking plan.
This is a good article on backlinks. You have also give example of nchor text wtih your links. I do like it. :)