WHAT IS LINK BUILDING, AND WHY SHOULD IT BE INCLUDED IN YOUR SEO STRATEGY

Link building is a strategy that has remained relevant in SEO. It can be defined as getting hyperlinks from other websites that link back to your website. The resulting activity after link building is referred to as backlinks.

It is believed that link-building involves a great deal of work. Still, such a task is achievable, primarily through the help of link-building experts, such as SEO NI. However, any link-building investment should be viewed long-term as it requires more time to take full effect compared to other less ethical methods, like black hat SEO. This method uses many shortcuts to achieve SEO because search engines are continuously updated to identify and blacklist them.

There are several reasons why link building should be included in your SEO strategy. But first, what makes up a link?

What Hyperlinks Are

Links are the primary unit of any link-building activity. It consists of four significant parts, which are basically the separate parts a search engine sees and interprets:

• The Beginning: This part is known as the anchor. It is declared in code scripts as <a>. It is what opens the link tag and tells the search engine that there is something else apart from what is visible.
• The Link Referral Location: This is known as the hyperlink referral, shortened in code as “href”. It is the location to which the URL is pointing. It could be a webpage, an image, or another downloadable file.
• Anchor Text: This is the part of the hyperlink that is quite well-known. It could be a word, or phrase page visitors can click to open. It is often quite distinct from other text around it. It could be a combination of underlining, italics, and colouration to let users know to click on it if they so will.
• Closure Tag: This is the end of the link tag as read by search engines. It is denoted using “</a>”.

Why Link Building Should Be Part Of Your SEO Strategy

To Rank Higher In SERPs

One of the primary purposes of link building is to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Link building has been an underlying requirement for websites to rank higher, dating back to when Google founder, Larry Page, invented PageRank. This invention measured page quality in combination with other factors based on the number of links directed at it.

Link building for a higher SERP ranking is justifiable when you consider links as a form of endorsement from other websites. This means that websites linking to other sites attest that the page is top-quality. The higher the authority of the website linking back to your website, the better your ranking index.

Unavoidably, there have been many manipulations around the correct use of links on websites. These have caused many favoured link-building practices, especially at Google, to be axed and redefined in its search algorithm. However, to date, link building takes the more significant chunk of fulfilment required in search algorithms to achieve better rankings.

To Build Relationships

Link building involves blogger outreach, which consists in reaching out to other relevant and high-authority blogs and websites in your industry to get them to link to your website. If done correctly, blogger outreach can develop into lasting business relationships with these sites.

The primary aim of link building is to get a high-authority link. This is often driven by the need to promote a product, a piece of content, or any offers you have. However, acquiring a link is one of many results you can get from link-building outreach. Building lasting relationships with sites you decide to connect with should also be one of your top goals when engaging in link-building activities.

When cultivating a relationship with high authority sites, you can keep coming back to them instead of getting a one-off link. Remember that you must connect with the humans behind those websites to form these relationships.

It Can Gradually Increase Your Site’s Authority

Site authority is the conceptualized relevance of a website in its niche or industry. It contributes significantly to your website’s SEO. It depends on many factors over the years, such as content, quality, age, traffic, and user experience.

A newer site has less authority compared to an older one. This is rightly so because a more senior website would be better established and likely to be spam-free.

Link building improves your website’s authority by getting a link from another site of considerably higher authority. This is basically a case of a higher website endorsing your website’s content. Thus, the more link you get from such a higher-ranking website, the more impact it will have on your website’s authority in the long run.

Generates More Referral Traffic

Referral traffic is the traffic your website generates from having its link on another website’s landing page. The best link-building practices ensure that your links get posted on sites that rank high in terms of authority.

Most high-authority websites have massive traffic. With your link on some of their pages, you can get a share of organic traffic redirected to your website. Of course, the more traffic you get, the more sales and leads you can generate.

Promotes Brand Building

Proper link-building contributes significantly to building your online brand. It has been claimed that most of what was known as SEO standards have been disrupted with Google’s Penguin update, an anti-link spam update that has dealt a severe blow to black hat SEO.

These changes now favour brand-building actions over keyword-focused link-building. This means that your optimization efforts should project your brand’s core values. Always be sure that the content you are about to post on another blog or website will help bolster your brand. That way, you can be confident that your online brand is improving through link-building activities.

Conclusion

The need for premium link-building services will not end soon. Higher ranking in SERPs, better relationships with authority sites, attaining a higher level of authority for your website, getting referral traffic at no cost, and building a better brand are reasons to engage in link building for your SEO.

It should be noted that Google continues to control the search engine industry, with over 90% of search queries generated from there. Thus, your link-building practices should align with the algorithm of Google as a search engine while putting others into consideration as well.