Backlinking 101: All You Need to Know

Posted by Oliver James on May 3rd, 2018

Swaying Google isn’t as easy as it seems. In fact, it is quite difficult. It is only natural for a company to be overwhelmed when trying to look for a Digital Agency in Brisbane.

You have to assess the statistics and claims that each digital firm makes in order to determine which one among them is the right fit for your business. No wonder it is a risky decision.

While it is effective and powerful, backlinking is incredibly sensitive and difficult at the same time. If it wasn’t difficult, why would there be a need for an SEO Company Brisbane. You are doing something wrong if you aren’t working hard to cement your digital presence.

Many believe that backlinking is as good as dead. However, it simply isn’t the truth. White hat backlinking is thriving still and can help you in driving your SEO. It is the blackhat backlinking that has become obsolete.

Consider Google to be the spider and the links to be the strings that connect and control the entire web. The links help you in finding the answers that you are seeking. Your site will be marked as a stinky bug if you resort to bad linking practices. And we all know how much the spider loves devouring bugs.   

Enough with the analogies, though. So where should we begin?

To begin with, you need to understand the differences between white and blackhat backlinking strategies. Although the rules regarding effective link building aren’t as clear cut as you might think, indulging in blackhat backlinking practices is sure to get your brand squashed by Google.  

Blackhat Backlinking – Stay Well Clear of It

In a real world scenario, blackhat practices can be compared to stealing, cheating and false advertising. You can consider a blackhat to be a con artist. This is why it is mostly done by corrupt individuals.

Google penalises the website owners for any use of blackhat practices even though they are mostly innocent. Penguin which is the spam filter of Google’s core algorithm acts as the judge and punishes you if you do the following:  

Link Buying

Just like Facebook’s algorithm determines a page’s value from the comments and likes it receives, Google does the same thing with links and considers them as votes.

Google considers buying a link as a violation of its user guidelines. There are still some sites which deal in the sale of links. Penguin keeps tabs on them and if any site becomes associated with them or buys from them then they get immediately penalised. Similarly, linking to sites that have already been punished can also do considerable damage to your website’s reputation.

Spammy Comments on Forums and Blogs

It is quite frustrating to see comments written with bad grammar which are totally off topic and serve no purpose at all on blogs and forums.

Most of these comments read like this:

”I find nothing good on internet until I see your post. It help me very much. Thank you.”

Such comments usually end with a link to a site which isn’t related to the blog post or some spun article which is hard to read. You can destroy your fragile relationship with Google with such disastrous backlinks.  

It is easy to see how such methods rile us up.

Deceptive Content Marketing and Guest Posting

Blackhats look for sites with good reputation and ask for a link back in return for a guest blog. This post contains spun content and is of a really poor quality, though. Moreover, they love excessive optimisation of anchor text and keyword stuffing and won’t refrain from offering bribes for including links in their posts.

Link-Mania

Needless linking of pages without giving any consideration to relevancy or affiliation looks fishy. Conceited partner pages and websites with links to countries that don’t have any real association with them have both become obsolete practices and are considered red or in our case a black flags.   

There are plenty of other blackhat practices that can get your website penalised. Blog owners have had to get rid of their comments section just so they can avert the threat caused by the never-ending spam. It causes the businesses to forego the opportunity to interact with their audience on the engaging and useful content they have published.   

Those were just four of the many examples of blackhat backlinking. What now?

You now have knowledge of some of the blackhat practices which can get your penalised by Google. It should now be easy for you to refrain from them. Doing the opposite is what you should do, right?

Not quite. There is no such thing as easy in the digital world which is why website maintenance and DIY SEO isn’t for the faint of heart.

All of the blackhat tactics we mentioned have a whitehat alternative which isn’t that dissimilar from its counterpart. You will find a lot of grey space in between white and black in the digital world that you can exploit for your backlink strategy. This offers some freedom and the chance to innovate a bit to SEO professionals whose backlink goals are based not on tricks but on their brand.

Let’s have a look at the four alternatives of the blackhat practices that we have told you not to indulge in. Execute them well and these strategies will definitely offer you many benefits.  

Link Building

Start out with authentic backlinks from local businesses and build from there. Look for relatives, friends and business owners in your area who you have worked with if they own websites. Ask people for backlinks who genuinely support the work you are doing. Links in footers and sidebar generally rank lower than those within the content. A good starter strategy is to make use of testimonials.

Choose the websites for getting backlinks carefully, ensuring that they belong to the same niche as yours. Failing to do this can damage your reputation. The links you get this way have to be reciprocal.  

As your digital marketing labours enhance your online presence, the links you have naturally built will start attracting new links and direct them your way.    

Venture out and begin marketing your content by interacting with the people running the sites you want backlinks from. If you are a start up website and haven’t gained enough trust, it is best to request rather than demanding links.

Helpful Comments on Forums and Blogs

Commenting on forums and blogs is a good thing only if it is done in a safe manner. You can get a lot of promotional leverage by engaging in active (current) discussions. Select your posts carefully and try to comment something useful which is in line with the post’s topic.

Only link to content which is relevant to your site. Avoid the use of over-optimisation of anchors and usage of commercial keywords in anchor texts. Be sure to identify yourself before commenting and only add a single related link if you don’t know the blog author, forum or site that well.  

Authentic Article Marketing and Guest Posting

If someone is willing to talk about you and provide a backlink to your website then make sure that they don’t use anchor text stuffed with keywords and create links naturally.  

Guest blogging done by whitehats is done in a positive manner. They start from the foot of the ladder and gradually move up to the top websites and frame their guest blog offer as per the target’s needs.

Brand mentions are much more valuable than links nowadays and that’s why whitehats prefer them. Your guest post should use relevant keywords and must keep the target market of the blog in mind. Do remember that content is king so create valuable content for the blog and refrain from submitting generic articles.    

Effective whitehat strategies usually are risk-free and incorporate free or cost-effective growth. You have to build relationships with website administrators and focus on your networking skills in order to succeed.   

Proper Exchanging of Links

Link exchange isn’t wrong. In fact, it’s a tool for boosting your website’s SEO efforts. However, the link exchange should be done sensibly and must be interesting, useful and helpful from the user’s point of view.

The authenticity of your strategy for exchanging links must be ensured. The penguin won’t bother you if the link exchange is relevant to your topic.

Why Do the Good Guys Have to Play the Waiting Game?

Sadly, blackhat tactics are successfully used in the short term even today. It isn’t going to last long, though. Google’s Penguin is out for blood for people who use such practices and new algorithm releases in the near future will further tighten the noose around the throats of these tactics. Your priority should be to keep yourself from being penalised. Instead of taking shortcuts, you can focus your efforts on the 200 ranking factors that are available to you.  

Despite the competition being fierce, competing fairly can get you just rewards and you will eventually taste success.

Footer Suggestion

Contact us if you feel that you have been penalised by Google or are worried about the health of your backlink profile. You can recover if the Penguin has found you guilty of some wrongdoing but do keep in mind that it will take time. However, you don’t have to walk this long road alone. Anchor Digital can prove to be the recovery partner you need in this slow climb.