The number of Incoming Links to ones site, has been for a long time, one of the major underlying principles behind Google’s ranking algorithm in determining how high your site ranks for particular keywords.

With Google holding the largest search engine market share, it is imperative that web site marketers and owners follow the policies that adhere to the guidelines set forth by Google for Link Building.

A brief excerpt from Google’s Policy on Link Building:

“Your site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to you. The quantity, quality, and relevance of links count towards your rating. The sites that link to you can provide context about the subject matter of your site, and can indicate its quality and popularity. However, some webmasters engage in link exchange schemes and build partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. This is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact your site’s ranking in search results.”�
- Read More on Google’s Policy on Link Building

There is no better explanation on Link Building practices than the guidelines set forth by Google. But, there are still some questions that we frequently get asked by our clients or come across that need to get addressed.

Here are the Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions about link building practices:

Q:  My site already ranks well in the search engines do I still need a link building campaign?
A:   Yes, it very important that a continuous link building strategy be in place that will

• Help maintain your Search Ranking
• Increase your Link Volume – More Quality links you get will push you ahead of your competition
• Keyword Discovery – Being found for New Keywords
• Maintaining Website Reputation and Credibility

Q:  There are many sites that say they can get my links to my website from 1000s of directories.  Should I take the offer?
A:  You have to be careful when you come across these types of offers. Most likely the directories are part of a link farming scheme, where every site links to the other site.  Links added to these directories are most likely not targeted or qualified and therefore would not be of any value to your website. Also this type of tactic is usually frowned upon Google and it can have a serious negative impact on your overall search rankings.

Q:  Why does everybody talk about getting one-way text links vs. reciprocal links?
A:  Generally, one-way links are more advantageous than reciprocal links. First of all, Google does penalize for excessive reciprocal links or link exchanges between two sites. The main advantage of one-way links is that you do not have to worry about linking back to a bad territory or basically a site that may have a penalty against them.  If your site does link back to one of these sites and they point to link farms or free-for-all sites, you may not gain and could actually lose page rank. So you want to focus on obtaining a one-way link and not a reciprocal link from a site.

Q:  What is Link Bait and how is it beneficial?
A: First of all, link baiting is one of the few linking strategies that Google has publicly approved.  To simply define Link Bait: “Link bait is the practice of writing content with the intention of getting other people to link to it. “

Q:  I have more backlinks to my website than my competitor and they have a better PageRank. Why?
A:  It all depends on who is linking to your website. It is not about the quantity of links to your site, it is all about the quality of links to your web site.  If your competitor has less backlinks and better PageRank, it most likely means that they have a larger number of quality backlinks to their site than you do.

Q: What are some good one-way linking sources that I can add my site to?
A: There are a number of ways to get links from other sites back to yours. The list includes:

• Providing free content, such as access to articles, white papers, online tools, or e-books
• Directory links, listed under the category related to your topic
• Business directory links, listed under the category related to your topic
• Original articles, submitted to  topic-related websites or appropriate categories in article directories
• Press Releases
• Informational Webinars
• White Papers
• If you do not have a blog, consider getting one developed; a blog is an excellent way to get one-way text links.
• If you have a blog:
• Submit your blog to various blog directories
• Make sure you have an rss feed of your blog entries so that you can add to rss directories
• Remember you must write frequently so that you provide value at all times and readers will want to link to your blog post.
• Promote your blog posts through various social networks

Q: What criteria should I follow when choosing a potential site for a link?
A: The main criteria should be as follows:

• Topic/Category/Industry Related – Link will be from a relevant/complimentary industry, bringing value to visitors
• Make sure the site has been indexed in the search engines. You can use the following query in Google to check if the site has been indexed:  site:www.xyz.com
• PageRank 4 or Higher – If you have not already, install the Google Toolbar to easily access PageRank info for any given web site.
• Make sure the page your link is listed does not have a Robots tag of “No Follow” otherwise it will not be indexed or taken into consideration by the search engines

Q: What are the benefits of using an SEO Agency for my link building campaign?
A: The main advantages or benefits of using an SEO Agency :

• Resources and tools to monitor and measure Link Building efforts
• Knowledge, Experience and Creative Thinking – You do not want to do anything that could potentially harm your sites ranking in the search engines.
• Constantly are in touch with the latest techniques and solutions for effective link building and what will be of most value
• Always adhering to Google’s Guidelines and Policies to ensure positive link building.

Q: What is the maximum number of links that should strive for?
A: When you are talking about inbound links that are coming into your site, there is not a maximum number, but the one thing to keep in mind is to build your links so they are growing in moderation, in a very natural way. You would not want to have anything to inflate the volume of links coming in by a few thousand over night. That would send up a red flag by Google and could seriously harm your search rankings.

Q:  Is it a bad thing to buy links from directories?
A: Yes. Google has reiterated often and has warned about buying links on high PR sites.  You don’t want to do anything for the purpose of “manipulating rankings.” You can buy advertising from people, but don’t buy links. Read Google’s Policy on Paid Links

If you have any other link building questions, please don’t hesitate to send us your questions or comments.

Ankush Agarwal
Senior Search Marketing Analyst
MarketNet.com

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