Does link building still make sense in 2013?

DOES LINK BUILDING

STILL MAKE SENSE

IN 2013?

Karol Pokojowczyk from Colibri.io

Links are one of the criteria used by search engines to rank your website’s authority.

Essentially, the more pages that are linking to your page, the more valuable it is to the search engines.

In the past, link building was based on quantity more than quality.

However, because of ongoing changes in Google’s search algorithm, it is now, more than ever, crucial to focus on the value of the links.

• links coming from pages that

spontaneously link to your website,

• links acquired through outreach,

• self-created, non-editorial links that are

posted on forums or in comment sections.

There are three types of links, depending on the method of their acquisition:

The most common forms of link building include:

• guest blogging • content marketing initiatives • resource page link building • digital PR

Guest blogging refers to offering other blogs in your niche a place to post your content. Ideally, it’s a win-win situation that brings advantages to everyone.

Interlinking means making the most of your own websites. You can direct a user from one sub-page to another, and from blog to landing page, etc.

There is a wide range of link building tactics that are based on a submission of your content, whether it’s your website, your blog or a single article.

Those are, among others:

• Article directories – where you can upload your articles for more exposure and traffic

• Web 2.0. websites – where you can submit various kinds of content such as pictures or videos

• Press release submitting (e.g., PRWeb.com)

According to research, the biggest obstacles to overcome when using link building tactics are as follows: 1. Finding link prospects 2. Creating effective and efficient processes for link building 3. Getting a response from link prospects 4. Distinguishing between high quality and low quality links

In order to search for link prospects you can employ several techniques.

Google search. You can use advanced search queries to receive the most relevant pages possible or employ local searches through Google Maps as well.

Monitor competitor’s backlinks sources. This way you can identify the sources with high potential for your business.

Social media search. This is literally a gold mine of link opportunities.

Does link bulding still make

sense?

There has been a dispute over the Internet on the utility and effectiveness of link building, especially in the light of changes that have been made in search engine algorithms.

We’ve already established that high quality content is the key.

But there is no guarantee that a great content will promote itself. It needs to be done and link building is one of the ways to do it.

Link building based on example of HigherClick.com

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Higher Click is an inbound marketing

consultancy business, which started in 2010

and is based in Budapest while operating in

UK and US.

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Their back linking strategy translates into

actual traffic and is focused around high

quality content, great backlinks and last but

not least conversions and ROI.

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They not only provide their customers with the

truly informative and readable content, but

also this content is optimized for search

phrases that clients of their clients search

Are there any tools that

can help me out?

In order to manage your inbound links, you need to monitor them constantly, measure their impact on your traffic and, more importantly, on the conversions that drive your business.

Some of the tools not only deliver above information but include SERP tracking, competitor monitoring and even more enriching insights on how to make your online business efforts more effective.

Colibri IO tells where your Customers are on Google, Bing, Quora, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and 3rd party blogs. It delivers crafted Growth Ideas on how to increase traffic and sales. Colibri IO provides you with a simple, yet Advanced Monitoring platform for SEO, Social, Traffic and Conversions.

The future of link building

Having proved that link building is still a valid SEO method, it’s time to ask the question – what about the future?

The Link Building Survey 2013 showed a tendency for the outreach-dependent forms of link building to be taking priority for the upcoming future.

This involves investing in tactics such as guest blogging, digital PR, infographics and building long-term relationships with bloggers.

This implies a constantly growing importance of the content quality and relationship building.