March 20th, 2010 by Susie

You might assume that search engine optimization is an alchemy between high-quality content and prolific link building; the distinction between these two practices is not so clear cut, however, and when SEO link building you should be as concerned for quality and relevance as if you where writing content! How exactly do you wage quality link building strategies, therefore – and what is the advantage?

Google isn’t stupid, and therefore any attempt to diminish the quality of a results set will inevitably be unsuccessful; this is true not only for written content, but is also equally true when it comes to link building.

When Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet he made hyperlinks a fundamental part of its functionality, which enabled navigation from one page to another as easy as a mouse click; this design feature is still very much a defining characteristic of the web, and is still an important way in which we navigate online.

In term of SEO, hyperlinks offer us a unique opportunity but also an obvious challenge; basically, whilst creating backlinks from other pages is easy, in keeping with the spirit of the internet, these links must be relevant. Of course we’re talking SEO here and relevant backlinking isn’t just an ethical issue! Instead it offers some distinct technical advantages; firstly, Google doesn’t base your rating on your number of links, but it’s the number of links clicked and therefore you should be linking from content associated to your product or service, with this in mind it is sometime helpful to mention your products within the content, or tantalize your readers a buying guide. Always be aware of your surroundings, however, and don’t turn an article into an advertising board – the trick is often to turn an informational query into transactional intent.

Whilst relevance is a highly important aspect of link building strategies, you shouldn’t neglect the mechanics of link building; that is to say unlike content creation, which should have an even balance between quality and optimization; link building should be weighted more towards pragmatism. Your links, therefore, need to come from loads of sources – but where exactly?

Static Submissions

By “static” submissions, I mean submissions to article submission sites and the like; “static” because a good “how to” article could linger near the top of a search engine’s results for a long time, and also because once an article is written and submitted it’s unlikely to change. Some of the most ubiquitous article sites are free, which make article submissions an affordable way to initiate an search engine optimisation campaign.

Social Media Marketing

If you really want your links to perform, then you should take advantage of the social media trend; whilst the benefits of posting links in discussions and comment boxes can be immense, you should avoid sounding like a spam operation, often this is will be a case of active participation and “human” interaction.

Link Buying

For “white hat” SEO link buying should be avoided, briefly link buying involves the buying up of links on directory submission pages; remember – the last thing that Google wants is for its prominent search positions to be bought by large corporations, and instead they will always prefer relevance.

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