The Dos and Don'ts of Link-Building and Driving Traffic (Beyond SEO Tricks)

One of the ways search engines judge the value of a website is by evaluating the links that point to it. Few or no links tell Google that your website is unimportant; a large number of links from quality websites indicates that your site has useful content, which increases your search engine visibility. While on-page SEO is important, inbound links rank up there as one of the best ways to assess the quality of a website because it essentially crowdsources the process of evaluating a website’s reliability, usefulness and trustworthiness. So how do you get those high quality links to your site to establish your authority? You do it through link-building. How to build links In a best case scenario, you’d have a great website and people would link to it because they believe your content is worthwhile. Unfortunately, “if you build it, they will come” is rarely a strategy that works when it comes to digital marketing and SEO, so you have to take a more proactive approach. Here are some ways to build links to your website. Do: Create superior content Be the best at what you do, then make sure people know it. Build resources, create infographics and share valuable information on your website to make it worth linking to. Once you’ve done this, reach out to relevant websites and ask if they’d like to link to the resources you’ve created. Do: Ask for help HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a great way to get links from high authority websites. Journalists post there when they’re looking for sources for their stories. If you have the expertise they’re looking for and they quote you in their article, they’ll typically link to your website. Do: Utilize guest-blogging Email websites that are relevant to your niche and ask if you can write a guest post for them. Then, be sure to deliver a high-quality post that adds something valuable to their website. Most businesses get a number of guest post requests each week, and the vast majority of them are low-quality, poorly written content, so make sure your post stands out. Do: Pursue unlinked mentions Set up a Google Alert for your business name; when you see it mentioned on another website without a link, send a quick email to ask if the text can be hyperlinked. You won’t get a response every time, but since it only takes a minute or two, it’s worth asking. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you could do the same with mentions of a service or product you offer. Do: Engage in local outreach Reaching out within your local community is an effective way to build links as well. Directories, chambers of commerce and even other businesses are all safe bets. If, for example, you’re an accountant, you may want to reach out to local estate planning attorneys and ask them to link to your site as a resource for their clients. What to avoid when link-building Link-building doesn’t always have the best reputation, but don’t let that put you off. As long as you avoid these practices, you’re good. Don't: Link spam This one is easy: Don’t spam comment sections on blogs with links to your website. Most of these sections are no-follow these days anyway, so it’s a lot of effort with no reward. (You’ll also look like a jerk, which isn’t exactly the first impression you want to make for your business.) Don't: Link low-quality sites Links from low quality sites have little value to Google, so again: It’s just not worth your time. Don't: Link to unrelated guest posts If you have a conveyor belt business, writing a guest post for a parenting blog about how to make the best peanut butter cookies isn’t a winning strategy. Google is sophisticated enough to suss out when a link is irrelevant versus spammy. Don't: Link to paid links Google considers paid links an attempt to game their system, and they don’t look kindly upon websites that do this. You might think no one will know whether or not you paid to place a guest post, but it’s better to play it safe.