June 5th, 2010 by Susie

Link building strategies can easily get search engine optimization novices into difficulties. Without appreciating the evolving principles associated with the relevant techniques, it is easy to fall into using methods which not only do little for a site’s position in the search engine results pages, but also have a negative impact on the reputation of the firm concerned. The major ‘take home’ message is that the links sought should be of good quality.

A multitude of links to sites, which are not related to the site under scrutiny, can easily have a detrimental effect on the fortunes of the online firm. This is because Google appreciates result diversity, and wants consumers to be pleased by the results triggered by their search queries. Google and the other major search engines do not appreciate any practice which undermines the service they provide, via what is considered to be excessive manipulation. Anything of this nature is categorised as a black hat technique, and is thus liable to incur a search engine penalty. If a site is penalised, it can be banished from the rankings entirely.

Link building, then, has to be carried out in an appropriate fashion. Google does not approve of paid links, even in competitive sectors. It contends that paid links are ‘spammy’, and thus a black hat technique. However, not everyone in the SEO industry seems to accept this judgement. Nevertheless, using paid links in an effort to advance a site up the search engine results pages, is clearly inherently risky. Google’s stance is firm with regard to paid links, because it wants its queries to be met with information-rich sites, not sites that have merely bought success.

Google’s position on links has been repeatedly articulated by Matt Cutts. Matt Cutts has attempted to ensure that everyone knows where they stand. Although some observers have felt that affiliate links are in the grey hat territory, Matt Cutts has maintained that the same principles apply to them. If a link is purchased, it is open to being viewed and treated negatively.

In the world of search, it is well to remember that techniques which work well for one site, do not necessarily achieve positive results when applied to others. Despite this caveat, recommendations can be made about good ways of attracting links. The site concerned has to be made attractive to other sites. The provision of high grade and up-to-date content can establish a site as an authority in its sector. Sometimes, innovations like the shrewd use of competitions or the hosting of guest blogs, can stimulate interest in a site. Displaying information about other reputable sites can also attract links on occasion. Whatever legitimate techniques are adopted in the struggle to obtain links, it is vital that they are tailored to the needs of the specific site concerned.

It is crucial that practitioners keep in touch with developments in the sphere of search and continue to act appropriately. Searchengineoptimization.co.uk monitors the horizon with care, and always makes sure that effective techniques are deployed on behalf of their clients.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 at 3:14 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed.

Link to us

If you want to link to this blog, copy and paste the following HTML code to your website.

4 Responses to “The basic principles of SEO link building”

  1. [...] Some of these may have secured the assistance of black hat firms. If they are sites which have used unethical link building strategies what limited success they have attained is not likely to continue for long. However, if their [...]

  2. [...] acquisition is a difficult area for someone without experience and expertise. Simply purchasing links is treated as unethical by Google. Worse than this clumsy method’s lack of effectiveness is its [...]

  3. [...] search engines. This would be counterproductive and risky. It may be that the rules which define black hat techniques will change, so monitoring of the world of search is [...]

  4. [...] boundaries. This is because there are no automatic features of the search engines which stop black hat methods being temporarily efficacious. If the slide down the rankings is not just a small downward [...]

Leave a Reply

Latest Articles more >

Do You Know the Importance of Online Reputation Management?

Those involved in online business today tend to focus all of their time and attention on their website and getting traffic to their web pages. This is extremely important and is a major part of any search engine optimization campaign, but having a high quality website is no longer enough to ensure a...more.

Posted on 09/02/10 at 15:38

What Type of SEO Link Building Works?

Link building is an extremely important part of any search engine optimization campaign. If you have a website and you want this site to be ranked highly in the search results and to attract relevant traffic, you need to put a considerable amount of time into your link building strategies. There ...more.

Posted on 08/31/10 at 15:15

4 Crucial Tips on Why Website Structure’s Important for SEO

How much website structure affects search engine optimization very much depends on who you ask. It’s probably a question that many businesses now wish they’d asked a long time ago, especially if the structure of their sites is preventing them from moving with the times. Our four tips on ...more.

Posted on 08/30/10 at 10:00

SEO Link Building: 3 Quick Tips for Beginners

As a business with a website you need to promote, the need for good links to your pages may be glaringly obvious. You want visitors and they need roads down which to travel to your pages, and links should present the web user with just such sign-posted roads online. What must also be apparent to you...more.

Posted on 08/29/10 at 9:49

6 Splendid Tips for SEO Link Building

As you are no doubt aware, links are the paths that ‘spiders’ sent by search engines use to reach your pages on the web. For this reason alone they’d be crucial to the success of any venture involving the Internet, since search engines need to see your pages to be able to present t...more.

Posted on 08/28/10 at 9:12

Think About Trust for Good SEO

Let’s face it, the web features a lot of content that we’d all do well as users to mistrust. As people with an interest in using the internet to shop for goods and services, we know what we like to see and what we don’t. Trust is probably one of the most important SEO tools at your...more.

Posted on 08/27/10 at 9:00

Blog Categories

Latest Posts

Archive

Authors

Free SEO Analysis

Chat Button

Client Login

Subscribe To Our RSS Follow Us On FaceBook Follow Us On Twitter Follow Us On Youtube Follow Us On Digg

Latest Blogs more >

The case for video inclusion

Posted on: 03/09/2010 in About SEO

Search engine optimization is made problematic for novices because the advice which is distributed about it is often conflicting. Given the fact that the ‘search world’ is in perpetual motion this is perhaps unsurprising. It is also true that the increasing complexity of the sphere of search means that reasonably experienced commentators had hold different... more

Bookmark and Share 3 Comments

Sometimes individuals elect to engage in social media marketing without adequate preparation. They therefore participate in social media optimization without being cognisant of the formal and informal rules of the game. This means that they are prone to make avoidable errors in the course of their campaigns. As SMM is a highly competitive sector, these mistakes can pr... more

Bookmark and Share 3 Comments

Search engine optimization is not a straightforward activity. There are several tactics which have to be implemented properly if they are to have the desired impact on a site. Each site is unique and the tactics which are utilised have to be appropriate and thus in accordance with the specificities of the site. In addition to this layer of complexity, the ‘searc... more

Bookmark and Share 4 Comments

It would be a very rare thing for a successful small business in the ‘real world’ to ignore the views of its local customers. This is because the face-to-face contact means that it would be hard for an astute business owner not to perceive how crucial it was to keep their regular local visitors content. However, doing business online is different in terms ... more

Bookmark and Share 4 Comments

Signup to Our Newsletter