Link building is what Google Penguin’s algorithm looks for and, depending on why type of internal and backlinks are found on your website, your site is ranked accordingly (along with a slew of other ranking factors). Yet some companies will do anything they can to improve their organic search results — including Black Hat SEO tactics.
One such Black Hat SEO tactic is purchasing links in order to generate traffic and improve rankings for certain keywords as well as build authority on the Internet. However, natural link building is not considered by Google as bad — just make sure you’re doing it right or you could find your site out of the rankings.
How to Build Links Naturally
- Do it for the users. Just as one should always be writing for their users and not search engines, so too should you be linking to improve user experience. While writing content about a certain topic such as “Best Places to Eat in Boston,” be sure to include a link to the restaurants you mention in the article so users can check out what you’re talking about.
- All about content distribution. If you are posting on social media, it’s fine to include a link about the topic you are posting about. You can choose to either include a link to a page of your own, or a link of a helpful article on the topic that users can click through.
- Links for public relations. If you’re running a press release about a new product or added service, it’s completely acceptable to include links back to your website that direct users to those particular pages. This lets search engines know you have brand authority across your industry.
Keeping Track of Backlinks
It’s always a good idea to be checking in Google Webmasters Tools to keep track of the backlinks coming to your site. Google has recently cracked down on companies who receive bad backlinks from shady websites, even if it wasn’t intentional. If you aren’t sure why your rankings are dropping or your traffic has plummeted, it’s best to check in Webmasters Tools if there are any bad links coming to your site — as you won’t get a warning about it! Again, building backlinks isn’t bad practice, just be smart about it; link for users, not for search engines.