Best way to build links for seo

This article is about the best way to build links for seo. If you already have a link building strategy, this will help you to improve it.

Links are the backbone of modern SEO. Improving your ranking in search engines involves a lot of link building. I’ll show you the best way to build links for seo.

One of the most visible qualities of your search engine ranking is the number of backlinks to your site. Though primarily used as a ranking factor, backlinks also serve multiple other marketing purposes. Here are some best practices to build quality backlinks for SEO. For more information on building links for seo, email info@hotweblinks.com or use our contact form .

Best way to build links for seo

Link building has been dead for years, for those who failed to adapt to the ever-changing rules and increased requirements on skills, tools, details, and perseverance.

The Golden Rules of Link Building are evergreen rules for the right mindset of successful link building. If you have not learnt about Cemper’s Golden Link Building Rules, then do that before you continue here.

There has been much talk about links being a ranking factor. Many SEOs have only focused on content and On-Page SEO and neglected links saying: “We already know everything about links”. But do they know everything about links?

22 SEO Link Building Methods for 2022

Google said links are the #1 ranking factor, alongside with great content. Ranking without links is hard, and why would anyone try to rank without links in the first place?

Google cares about links more than anything, and so should you.

Before April 2012, one could rather easily buy his ranking position by adding more and more links. A little bit of these and a little bit of those links, and you could manage ranking on the first search engine results page. Well, that time is long gone. The Google Penguin Spam Filter is now part of Google’s Core Algorithm and works in real time.

Links can possess a risk now, and you should know that risk.

A hyperlink is a connection from the referring page to the target page – always has been. For way too long, SEOs have obsessed by looking at the Pagerank or whatever metric of the linking page. To our knowledge, LRT is the only software that takes the link source page and the target page into account when analyzing the value and risk of links, or even potential links.

Links and Co-citations

Today link building has grown into professional practice. Why spend tons of resources on links that would hurt you down the road? Did you know that it is possible to simulate the impact and risk of a backlink relationship before you built it? LRT users that weed the good from the chaff are happy to spend 3x more resources on the 10% great links that matter, instead of going bulk like so many.

Read on and learn more about:

  • why links are the #1 ranking factor and will always be
  • why links are not all the same
  • bad link building vs. good link building
  • simple and advanced link building methods
  • how to attract links with great content
  • SEO tools to help you build the best links
  • why link building alone is not enough to rank well

Do not let the Google Penguin algorithm intimidate you.

Start building great links today!

Cemper Reminds People About Links and Google doesn’t like it.

Want to learn more about link building?

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When we refer to a backlink we mean a reference from another web page to your own web page. This is very different from the “outbound” or outgoing links from your page. Do not confuse the two. A back link is also called an inbound link (IBL) sometimes and these links are very important in determining the popularity (or importance) of your web site for search engines like Google.

We are 100% sure that a website cannot rank without inbound links.

Why is link building important?

  • because links are Google’s #1 ranking factor
  • because links ARE the web
  • because links point to great content (that deserves to rank well)
  • because links pass power
  • because links pass trust
  • because Google confirmed that it would be unnatural to find a web site without back links
  • because it’s through links that Google discovers your website…

the list can go on forever…

please note (both link power

But don’t take it from us when we say that links are important, take it directly from Google.

Content & Links the Top 2 Google Ranking FactorsCopy link: Content & Links the Top 2 Google Ranking Factors

In March 2016, in a Q&A between some smart SEOs with Googler Andrey Lipattsev](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-top-three-ranking-factors-21827.html), a Search Quality Senior Strategist, he said the first two [Google ranking factors were links and content:

this was said at the 30:20 minute mark into the video below

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“I can tell you what they are. It is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.” (Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google)

We’ve seen Google confirming that links are a very important ranking factor and that ranking without links is nearly impossible on other occasions as well.

A case study by Stone Temple published in 2017 proved again that links remain a powerful ranking factor and are likely to remain so for many years to come.

“The more, the better” saying doesn’t go for links. At least not as long as “more” means links you buy without checking if they are risky for your backlink profile](/kb/backlink-profile) or not. You’d better aim for fewer high-quality links, then for thousands of links that bring no value to your backlink profile. Weak or risky backlinks won’t help your rankings at all. It can go even worst. These links can get you a [Google penalty loss of organic traffic.

Links are not at all the same. The point is to understand:

  • how many linking pages, subdomains, domains, and root domains?
  • how many links per month?
  • what kind of links (Follow, No Follow, Redirects?
  • what link Power and Trust?
  • which linking keywords (“money” or “brand”)?
  • what link risk?

Also, these factors can be evaluated differently in different cases. A link can also be good or bad depending on the industry, the country, the language and the keywords. Unfortunately, there is no generic rule. For example, it is NOT the same whether a domain links to 1,000 subpages, or whether 1,000 domains link to a subpage. That’s why we always recommend using the Site-Wide filter in LinkResearchTools.

Because not all links are equal, you need to be very careful when you start a link building campaign. Build links for your business, for your customers, make them relevant and associate them with great content. Your users will be happy, Google will keep you in the search results and your business will grow.

Make sure that the links you build are natural and that Google doesn’t conclude that you’re trying to manipulate its search algorithm.

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site. (Google Quality Guidelines)

We explain Google’s Quality Guidelines regarding link schemes, to give you a clear picture of how to build high-quality links and how to stay away from building bad links.

It’s all about quality, relevancy, and user focus.

Bad Link BuildingGood Link Building
❌ Reciprocal Linking Excessive link exchange (“Link to me and I’ll link to you”) or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking will negatively impact a website’s ranking in search results.✅ Reciprocal Linking As long as you don’t do reciprocal linking excessively and these reciprocal links are on topic and “make sense from a user standpoint”, link exchange is not something bad.
❌Article Marketing or Guest Posting Links with over optimized anchor text in articles or press releases distributed on other sites. For example:There are many wedding rings on the market. If you want to have a wedding, you will have to pick the best ring. You will also need to buy flowers and a wedding dress.✅ Article Marketing or Guest Posting It’s great that people write about you and link back to your website, but just as long as they create links naturally. Stuffing the anchor text with commercial keywords is far from natural and will surely get you in trouble. Using brand keywords or navigational phrases is a good option in this case.
❌ Web Directory Links Adding your site to any web directory just to get a backlink will have a negative effect on your website’s ranking.There are some directories that provide no real value to the Internet users and Google has excluded them from its search results. You don’t want your website to be in there!✅ Web Directory Links The best directories are the ones that also provide useful information for your potential customers.The key to link building is RELEVANCY. Therefore building links in niche directories and directories attached to informative websites relevant to your industry are beneficial for you.
❌ Forum and Blogposts Comments Unhelpful forum or blog comments with optimized links in the post or signature, for example:Thanks, that’s great info!- Jane Jane’s SEO agencySEO Agency Services London✅ Forum and Blogposts Comments If you participate in an active discussion on a forum or blog that is relevant to your business and if your comment provides contextual value to the discussion, then you don’t have to worry about sharing a relevant link. But make sure that you don’t overdo this by using commercial keywords in your anchor texts.
❌ Buying Links… or Not! Google clearly states that buying backlinks to improve your rankings breaches their guidelines.They consider links as votes and paying for a vote is unethical. As well as potentially being a waste of money, low-quality paid links are extremely high risk.Links bought from sites that openly state (on their site or elsewhere) that they sell links are your ticket to a Google Penalty!✅ Buying Links… or Not! Instead of buying links, you can invest in creating high quality content and promoting your site in a way that attracts natural backlinks. Taking this approach doesn’t cost you more than buying a bunch of bad links, and you can ultimately achieve much better results, it just requires more patience.If you want a risk-free approach to SEO then don’t buy links. If you ever have, GET RID OF THEM NOW! Read more about old backlinks and how they can affect your rankings in this blog post: What you didn’t know about your old backlinks.

Although proper link building is not an easy thing to do, there are still many white hat SEO techniques you can start with even today, without considerable efforts or expenses.

This is a good way to start, especially if you are a beginner in this job. Think about your friends, relatives, colleagues, partners, clients that have a blog or a site. All you have to do is ask for a backlink. Ask for in-content links instead of links in the sidebar or footer.

But be careful and make sure that the backlink comes from a website that is relevant to your niche. Otherwise, it will not have too much of an impact and may even be harmful.

2. Build relationshipsCopy link: 2. Build relationships

For good link building, you need to build good relationships. There are plenty of opportunities to build new contacts. You should start with niche-related communities: forums, blogs or social groups, such as the Link Building Experts Group on Webmarketer.Help, for example.

Make the first step and start contributing with interesting and relevant comments and posts, providing contextual value to each discussion.

By actively participating in these online communities focused on your niche, you will not only gain some good backlinks, but you will always have access to the newest industry news and be able to connect to some interesting people that share your passions.

3. Give a testimonialCopy link: 3. Give a testimonial

Testimonial link building is a win-win scenario. Many businesses offer you the chance to say a few words about your experience using their products.

On the one hand, this is a perfect way for them to build customer trust. On the other hand, it’s a great opportunity for you to get a backlink and potential traffic from that site and it usually has a much higher approval rate than your standard link request e-mails.

Companies get another testimonial to place on their site, while you get a new backlink.

 If you’re a LinkResearchTools or Link Detox user and love our tools, you can start with your first testimonial here. We will gladly link back to you.

4. Start a blogCopy link: 4. Start a blog

Don’t make a blog with one post and one backlink to your site. If you do, you not only wasted your time but probably also just created another risky link for yourself. If you want to have your own blog, you need to keep it alive.

Write posts on a regular basis. Focus on your industry and on your client’s needs! In time, it will most likely gain authority. Make sure that your content is relevant, useful and well-structured.

This is the only way to ensure that the world will want to link to it again and again. That’s how you get great backlinks; you earn them!

5. List your site in trustworthy directoriesCopy link: 5. List your site in trustworthy directories

There are many online directories that provide no real value to the Internet users and Google has excluded them from its search results. You don’t want your website to be listed on such pages.

But not all online directories are bad. A directory that not only gives you the chance to post a link to your website, but also provides useful information for your potential customers is a directory you want to be listed on.

Niche directories and directories attached to informative websites for a specific industry are a good choice. Having your business listed with such directories makes it easier to get indexed in the major search engines and helps people find you online.

6. Write a good guest postCopy link: 6. Write a good guest post

There are many sites and blogs that will accept to publish your article. Before you write an article somewhere, make sure that:

  • the website or blog is relevant to your topic;
  • the article is NOT about how great you are/ your company is;
  • you have a focus on quality (well written, professional, and interesting);
  • you keep in mind that a poor article can bring bad reputation.

It’s important that you build links that help your website and not links that can negatively impact your website’s ranking in search results.

LinkResearchTools helps you quickly evaluate the Power and Trust of a domain. You can either use the Link Research SEO Toolbar](/seo-tools/link-research-seo-toolbar/) to check the [LRT Power*Trust of a page or domain or you can use the LinkResearchTools Toolkit to evaluate more link building opportunities at once.