What are links?
Links are where one site places a hyperlink from their site to yours, or vice versa. Traditonally, serach engimes viewed links as a vote from the site who created the link to the site they have linked too. Sites would build up a page rank and this was determined by the page rank of the site that was providing the link and also there authority and quality.
Are links still important?
In the not so distant past, these links where one of the main determinants of how webistes where ranked in the SERPS (search engine ranking pages). Throughout 2012, we have seen the importance of these diminish greatly. It appears that search engines are now looking a lot closer at social signals and good quality, original content.
Links are still important though; but there is now more emphasis on context and relevance. The days of building thousands and thousands of links are over.
Where to from here?
Today, the best link building strategy to undertake is one where users will benefit the most from your links. There’s no point having links all over the place if users are not going to click on them. Search engines won’t reward you with better rankings just because you have more links than someone else. Make your link building strategy about users; not keyword rich anchor tags or links from sites with no relevance to your users querries.
Should I use keywords in links?
Traditionally, link buuilding was about having links from keyword rich anchor tags. These days, search engines are punishing sites that over use keyword rich anchor tags. Try to make 70% of all links from your business name and the reamining 30% from keyword rich anchor tags (a variety of keywords and phrases).
What sites should I link from?
A good place to start your link building startegy is with directory submissions. Directory submissions are listings in directories that list businesses (like yellow pages). Don’t over do your submissions. Choose a handful of quality directories that people use and keep all your information up-to-date. You should be aiming to make updates to these listings once a month. If you can’t keep them up-to-date, consider not mlisting your site at all, oe list with one or two of them. Just imagine what it would look like to a user if your information was out of date. What would that say about your business?
Key points about linking!
- Only create links that you can edit or undo
- Choose quality and relevant sites to link from
- Always keep potential and current customers in mind (not search engines).
Some Quality Directories in Australia
True Local – http://www.truelocal.com.au/
Hotfrog – http://www.hotfrog.com.au/
Flying Solo – http://www.flyingsolo.com.au/
Start Local – http://www.startlocal.com.au/
Local Business Guide – http://www.localbusinessguide.com.au/
Yalwa – http://www.yalwa.com.au/
