Link building remains a key factor with search engine optimisation and can have a massive effect on the way a website ranks. Anybody can find links within the web, though finding highest quality links which will provide more leverage within search engines can take time and sometimes become a little tedious. It’s worthwhile to put the effort in, however, and you see the best way to do it below.

When acquiring links for their own website, many people concentrate mainly on the overall page rank of the page they are getting the back link for (usually shown on the green bar which appears on some of our web browsers), and this is the first mistake when acquiring quality, ethical links. The overall score shown in this green bar does not give a clear insight into a page’s actual rank and will be very different to the page rank taken by Google. Therefore, valuing links this way is almost pointless in terms of SEO.

Quality links are built up in various different ways. Below is a descriptive list of exactly what should be looked at to achieve your goal and find better quality links for your website.

Is the site you are acquiring the link from a trusted site?

Always use sites which are trusted. If the link you are acquiring is from a trusted site, search engines will attribute more power to it. There are different ways you can check this, one being the age of the domain. An older domain will gain more respect from an engine.

Is the targeted website relevant to your business?

When acquiring a link for your own website always make sure the link is relevant, from a site providing similar services or information. By attaining links from random sites that have nothing to do with your service, firstly you will not be targeting the right audience and you will not get a lot of respect from the search engines for that particular link.

How much traffic does the website bring in?

Checking the amount of traffic a website produces will give you an idea of link quality. If the traffic is very small the chances are the ranking for that site is not particular high. Also, if the site is receiving low traffic then it is not going to feed your site with much either.

Is the site indexed within Google?

Check the site has been indexed by Google. If it hasn’t, the site will not appear anywhere within Google’s rankings.

Does the website you are getting the link from allow you to use your own text?

Using your own text within a link brings more weight as you can produce more keyword rich content and deliver exact information on the information your business offers.

How many links are already on the page where your link will be shown?

If the page you are acquiring a link from has numerous links already listed, the chances are that the page isn’t picky with which links they list. Search engines can view this is as spam. Avoid getting links from these pages!

Does the website look like a good build?

What does the website look like? Is it professional? If the navigation, usability and layout are not clear, the link is most likely worthless.

Check each of the questions above to help you attain the most effective links and give your site the best chance of success, producing more traffic and more clients. When link building for your own website, always choose quality over quantity –  if a search engine picks links up as spam, or if you choose a link from a site that has been penalized, your website ranking will start to go in the opposite direction…

Tags: link building, quality links, search engine optimisation, SEO, SEO UK
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