Back before the dawn
of Google, backlinks ruled the web. Through internet natural selection, the search engine evolved into the
dominant species. Despite its authority, the search engine has yet to phase out
backlinks; they are a crucial tool for small businesses.
Background on Backlinks
A backlink is any
link that is directed toward your website from another website. Examples:
- A blogger raving about and linking to a newly discovered site
- A link posted to Facebook or Twitter
Backlinks
lost their corner office, but are still an important cog in Google’s grand
scheme. The more quality backlinks your site has, the more popular Google
considers it, improving your search engine rankings. Think of backlinking as a
petition for Google to recognize your site. Quality links are the signatures.
Digitize Your Networking Efforts
You’re always in
networking mode for your business. This means a steady stream of business cards
flowing from your wallet. Backlinks are digital
business cards leading back to your company.
Research
and interact on popular blogs or forum sites relevant to your industry. Contact the blogger and let them know
about your business and the quality, relevant content you can add to the
conversation. This tactic can get the link train moving.
Keep it Relevant
Like
with their paper counterpart, be conservative in distributing your
backlinks. You don’t pass your card to everyone in sight; you strike up
conversations to see who might want your services.
When
working the room that is the web, seek out blogs and forums related to what you
offer. Like chatting it up with potential customers in person, you’re seeking quality business interactions, not a
saturation bombing of your company information.
When
playing the good cop, “quality” is Google’s favorite word. If you blindly unload a dumptruck of links (known as linkspam) on
irrelevant sites, they send in the bad cop. This side of Google could slap your
site with the “spam” label for snubbing their quality guidelines. Even if
you’re sharing your link to a relevant site, don’t get carried away; over-linking
can also incur Google’s wrath.
Lean Toward Natural Links
Actively backlinking your
site is useful, but can become a crutch. These backlinks are lab-grown; focus on the organic equivalent. Cater to your visitors with your site content . This includes filling
your site up with:
- Well-written, detailed content
- Attractive photos, layout and visuals
Work
toward a site with a strong base of visitors. This will spur organic
link-building through these dedicated traffic drivers. Web devotees post at
every opportunity, EVERY day. Whether it’s to their own blog, Twitter, Facebook
etc, if they like your content, the links will be there.
Beware the Black Hat
At
this point you might be saying, “This sounds time-consuming, I’m gonna farm it
out.” Not a bad idea, but be careful.
Many
SEO services offer
backlinking, but some known as “black hats” will build yours with spam. Google’s
spam bloodhounds will sniff out these links, blow them off the web and impose
punishment on your site.
Market, Market, Market!
In the end, you win
with a good website. Refine
and perfect your content marketing techniques, and with quality web content
comes quality backlinks. Inject content into the web that demands interactivity
and the backlinks, and improved Google rankings, will come.
