Backlinks for SEO/SERP

[Didier Penine]

Hi all, I'm a fairly new business and I'm putting a lot of time into making my website search engine friendly. One thing I'm not able to do on my own is the creation of backlinks.

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

Are there any businesses out there that would like to have a backlink exchange? I link to you and in return you link to me?

Having multiple links can only benefit your SERP, for your information I am a business that has a foot in the gift market and also the drinks industry, my domain is sayitwithchampers.co.uk if you would like to see what we are about.

Thank you,.

 

[Calvin Crane]

Didier gets it! Yes links still and probably always will be a better mark of a better more relevant website as google hasn't yet found a better way. Moments ago I was looking at a product on amazon with clearly fake reviews. My point being that no matter what method a big online giant does it can't eradicate abuse. They are big but we as laptop and internet owners form a big bunch of people and we get a publish button. And so actually links are harder to come by than fake reviews- it gives a great indicator of the best website. So links will continue to work for a good long time.

Didier the issue you will have is that many people don't get the power and they also don't get that it is good to link out. Google likes links. Tests have shown that identical pages apart from links rank differently; the one with links better..

So your shout is not a bad idea just that people don't want to do it! I will PM you as I can help but wanted to post this of value and in the vain attempt to get web owners to link more! Just keep it relevant so you don't want a plumber linking to you but then again one will help

 

[Didier Penine]

You are right, it has crossed my mind that people may not have access to the admin section of my website, I obviously do and to create a link is no more than a 5 minute job so fingers crossed people will be in the same position.

I agree about the non relevant websites linking thing, so if anyone is in the gifts/drinks industry and fancies a link drop me a line and we'll go from there

 

[Matt Tomkin]

Didier, please be very careful of this technique to build your links. This is a fairly old link tactic and has been punished by Google in the past.

Links are the backbone of how they rank websites but they are very good at spotting a "link exchange". What I would suggest is you look for relevant websites who would be interested in potentially featuring you on their site.

Another way to go about it would be to see how your competitors are currently building links and try and use similar techniques, I wrote a guide last year on how to do it. You can find it on the Tao Digital Marketing blog if you want to take a read.

Honestly, please stay away from "link exchanges" for the long term health of your website.

Make sure you have all the directory submissions you can set-up too as these won't necessarily help with rankings but will who Google you are trying to promote your site in the right way and then other types of link won't stand out to them as manipulation.

 

[Calvin Crane]

"This is a fairly old link tactic and has been punished by Google in the past. " - That's quite a sweeping statement Matt! Natural reciprocal links are fine and they were never punished. But you may have been meaning volume based?

Reciprocal links were 'banned' (nothing is really banned) when they were created through sites because of how those sites created the link and the volume they gave. Those days have gone because now people don't use those techniques. If you are talking reciprocal links in volume. Normal relationships of businesses trading links is fine. NO PUNISHMENT.

PEOPLE- With absolutely every link it's the same! Use this test to see if it's safe. (it's the same test google uses from hypothesis)

LINK TEST
a) Will I be getting a lot of links quickly?
b) Will I be getting links of the same structure?

If the 'tactic' you use to get links answers yes to either then don't do it. Google looks for patterns of links and it IS easy to spot reciprocal links but within reason this is absolutely NORMAL.

 

[fisicx]

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

Not quite. Google is looking for citations - this is where a site a log cabin says they used red paint from XYC to do their decorating.

Are there any businesses out there that would like to have a backlink exchange? I link to you and in return you link to me?

Only if the link is relevant and adds value.
If you sell socks then a link to retail outlets stocking your socks is good as would be a link back from the retailer saying why they like your socks.

But a random link from an MMA site to a site about nose hair would be pointless.

Ranking a site is so much more than building links or even being SEO friendly. There a millions of sites, Google is looking for those that are interesting, informative, add value, answer questions and are authoritative. Most of this you can do without building any links.

PS: just had a quick look at your site it's not at all sEO friendly - Google only scores you 13/100 on the speed test and there are dozens of other issues you need to get sorted.

 

[antropy]

Blogs are a very good way of sharing/ linking sites and creates good backlinks. Also a lot easier to reach out to people with this as they will be more willing to collaborate. Alex

 

[Calvin Crane]

Great tip there Alex, also make sure you have your own blog on your site too. Don't be afraid to link out (where correct and appropriate) as this makes your page MORE valuable.

 

[billybob99]

This is all the biggest load of BS.

Yes that's right, lets all just link to each other and rank #1 on Google.

 

[billybob99]

PS: just had a quick look at your site it's not at all sEO friendly - Google only scores you 13/100 on the speed test and there are dozens of other issues you need to get sorted.

It's a good thing you didn't check out the guy who built the site then.

 

[Didier Penine]

It's a good thing you didn't check out the guy who built the site then.

thanks for the patronising comments billy, if you have nothing positive to contibute then you are better off not commenting at all.

none of us suggested that just linking to each other would get us to number 1, links are just a small part of SEO which is a rather large subject. unless you are a still in shorts and using your dads computer during half term you should know better,

 

[billybob99]

unless you are a still in shorts and using your dads computer during half term you should know better,

The first bit is correct I'll give you that.

Apart from that, all of the above is still BS.

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

You don't say.

 

[fisicx]

none of us suggested that just linking to each other would get us to number 1...

I thought that's what you were suggesting. Link exchanges done the way you suggest will not work. They are a waste of time and energy. I explained how to do it properly.

 

[webgeek]

Local businesses linking to one another will help you geo-lock your results. If you're only local - then there's some bit of merit to a big web of reciprocal links.

Please tell me those aren't the only links you're planning on building.

The best techniques are not free. They take time. They take money. They take know-how. They take connections (or more time, money and know-how).

 

[DigitalSheppard]

There are lots of ways to build backlinks and we know Google wants to build an internet based on expertise, authority, and trust (EAT). Therefore, your backlink strategy should follow a similar approach. For example, if I operated a company which sold stationery to schools (odd example but hey ho) I would:

Ensure I had a presence in all local and industry directories
Look into sponsorship opportunities with related companies
Approach the schools I supply - look into getting mentioned by them
Approach education publications, provide case studies, interviews, guest posts etc
Monitor brand mentions of my company - approach those which haven't linked

There's a lot of tactics you can do. It just requires a bit of creative thought. Also, remember that it's not the number of links but the quality.

 

[Charles Rice]

You can generate quality backlinks for your site that improves the results of your SERP. If you agree, guest blog posting is the best option to drive massive traffic to your website.

 

[fisicx]

If you agree, guest blog posting is the best option to drive massive traffic to your website.

Complete twaddle.

Guest blog posting can work but it takes time and a lot of effort and is unlikely to ever drive massive traffic.

 

[webgeek]

As fisicx has pointed out - guest posting can bring in some traffic, but rarely massive.

It can be good for backlink building and can gain some amount of brand familiarity by introducing you to part of your target audience.

However, you can gain so much more exposure with a bit of on-domain publishing (not off-site) and then syndicating it socially, particularly boosting it with a bit of paid advertising budget.

The Smart Marketer's Guide to Web Hosting pulled in thousands of visitors to the KnownHost site at an extremely low cost per click. It wasn't exactly a viral buzz, but it did introduce a lot of people to the brand at an extremely affordable cost per introduction. Hopefully it made a positive impression as it also drove (and still drives) a fair few number of immediate sales as well.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Just copied my post from another post feel free to comment
Quote
Once again links comes up, perhaps someone can explain why links are important now , i agree when i started in 2003 they were important, but that stopped about 2010, maybe before that
outward links, take those highly expensive to find viewers away from your site, probably never to return

If you have a look at analytics you will see the vast amount of solid data Google has from your site, which is not fake, but first class data, so why should they base any importance to links, which as everyone now knows are manufactured to fool google (are google really that dumb)

As google suggests make your site for your customers first of all, with the help of the google guides which are free

 

[dan19900]

Just copied my post from another post feel free to comment
Quote
Once again links comes up, perhaps someone can explain why links are important now , i agree when i started in 2003 they were important, but that stopped about 2010, maybe before that
outward links, take those highly expensive to find viewers away from your site, probably never to return

If you have a look at analytics you will see the vast amount of solid data Google has from your site, which is not fake, but first class data, so why should they base any importance to links, which as everyone now knows are manufactured to fool google (are google really that dumb)

As google suggests make your site for your customers first of all, with the help of the google guides which are free

If there's a link to your website on the homepage of the BBC, Guardian and Gov.uk then that's a much better indicator to Google that you've got a nice website than if you've got no links but paid someone to write you some nice content.

 

[webgeek]

Google still relies on links for relevance, trust and rankings.

A couple of years ago I noticed that a previous client site had picked up some major rankings gains for their core keywords (several across multiple pages). They hadn't been buying links but had gotten mentions on related sites, including partnering announcements and new project announcements.

Those related links were highly relevant in their niche, but were generally fairly low authority and average trust. The impact of a handful of those links was amazing.

When you're rankings seem stuck and you've tried the usual optimisations, internal publishing with interlinking, social mentions, etc, and your rankings haven't budged.... often that's a time to earn, beg or buy some relevant backlinks.

That said - I'd advise people to spend somewhere between 80% and 90% of their budget for rankings improvements on building new internal content and optimisation efforts of it, with just 10% to 20% on backlinks. That's a strong contrast to 7-10 years ago where I would have advised the opposite.

 

[Oli Baise]

Hi Didier,

Doing link exchanges can be useful, but more so for traffic than for SEO purposes. If google sees websites with mutual links, the links do not mean as much to them in terms of indicators of authority. However if you feel that there is a particular business who's customer profile is extremely similar to yours than by all means collaborate on content for mutual links.

If you want to build links for SEO purposes I would suggest a 4 step strategy of:

1) Create high quality, non-commercial content for your site
2) Build a list of sites that have an audience that will find your content interesting/helpful
3) Email the site owners of that site showing them your content and asking if they will want to link to it (maybe offer some exclusive related content for their site to sweeten the deal)
4) Follow up with the webmasters, by phone if necessary.

Ive worked in some of the best, most expensive link building agencies and this is what they do. Hard work but reaps results.

Hope this helps Didier

 

[Aishley Giles]

Most of the sites provide nofollow links, therefore, I don't think it works until the site has huge traffic.

 

[House of Silver]

Hi all, I'm a fairly new business and I'm putting a lot of time into making my website search engine friendly. One thing I'm not able to do on my own is the creation of backlinks.

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

Are there any businesses out there that would like to have a backlink exchange? I link to you and in return you link to me?

Having multiple links can only benefit your SERP, for your information I am a business that has a foot in the gift market and also the drinks industry, my domain is sayitwithchampers.co.uk if you would like to see what we are about.

Thank you,.

Hi,
Let me be the first who actually suggests something:

1. It seems your images are .png files. Change them to .jpg as they are much smaller and should improve your website speed.
   
2. like my page on facebook (let me know when you do by message) and I will like your's (that applies to other businesses here too).
   
3. open twitter account and automate posting on social media to save time and effort.
4. try competitions and giveaways

Regarding link exchange, once we start selling engagement rings, we might be interested in exchanging links, especially if you offer to our customers discount. So I'll keep your site on my files.
Other things to consider is leaflet exchange as well.

 

[fisicx]

@House of Silver - none of your suggestions will be of any use at all.

 

[Oxfordlocals]

Hi all, I'm a fairly new business and I'm putting a lot of time into making my website search engine friendly. One thing I'm not able to do on my own is the creation of backlinks.

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

Are there any businesses out there that would like to have a backlink exchange? I link to you and in return you link to me?

Having multiple links can only benefit your SERP, for your information I am a business that has a foot in the gift market and also the drinks industry, my domain is sayitwithchampers.co.uk if you would like to see what we are about.

Thank you,.

Hi,
I am with Chris on this, you need to have a blog on your website, which should be updated with user friendly nice content, going back, yes, these were a signal for google, not anymore, if someone likes your content, you will gain links, create articles, share on social media sites, if you are not good at article writing, then get someone else to do it, "content is king"

Hi all, I'm a fairly new business and I'm putting a lot of time into making my website search engine friendly. One thing I'm not able to do on my own is the creation of backlinks.

For those that aren;t aware, one part of SEO is having backlinks, as Google sees each link as a 'vote' in your favour.

Are there any businesses out there that would like to have a backlink exchange? I link to you and in return you link to me?

Having multiple links can only benefit your SERP, for your information I am a business that has a foot in the gift market and also the drinks industry, my domain is sayitwithchampers.co.uk if you would like to see what we are about.

Thank you,.

 

[fisicx]

Hi,
I am with Chris on this, you need to have a blog on your website...

No you don't. Blogging adds little value unless you are blogging about thing people want to read and are searching for. There is value in adding customer stories but it takes a lot of work and you need your customers to tell you their stories.

...if someone likes your content, you will gain links, create articles, share on social media sites

Happens less and less these days.

 

[Brands-essential.com]

A good way to generate high quality backlinks is by creating high quality content: blogs, articles, press releases, social media posts which are properly bookmarked and business listings.
You will soon see a difference once your content goes viral and creates backlinks to your website.

 

[fisicx]

You will soon see a difference once your content goes viral and creates backlinks to your website.

Not going to happen. Thousands of posts, articles and videos are created every minute. Only a tiny tiny fraction ever gets seen by more than a few people.

 

[Dotzo.networks]

Guest blog posting is the better way to drive huge traffic, which is pretty good in building backlinks

 

[fisicx]

Guest blog posting is the better way to drive huge traffic, which is pretty good in building backlinks

No they aren't.

They can be but they mostly aren't. Those that do have value are hard to get.

 

[StevePoster]

Reaching out to your popular influencers in the field will be your best start to build quality links. Showcase your offer of content features for them to consider your information.

 

[Happy Koala SEO Agency]

Moz or Ahrefs did a study and found something like 40% of the websites had reciprical links, so it is perfectly normal to have reciprical links.

however i would make sure that they are either
1. in your niche
2. in your local area

this will be the best reciprical links.

As an added note - it is good to have some high quality blogs to link to - and from that blog you should link to your main product or service page.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I am still amazed that people look at Analytics data and don't fully understand how much data the search engines have about your site, they know what links to your company are used, if they are just a single bust like a link to a news item on BBC, or a constant 5 uses of that link every day/ week and can base this on their algorithms, all the time adjusting the value of any part of the data,

In the early days they had limited information and links was a simple basic measure, nowadays with the vast amount of proven data they have all moved on

Results are what they are looking for and most of that comes from the content of your site and how well its used by your customers and viewers, and that where you should be spending your energy