now it's been a while since penguin hummingbird pigeon remember that one
or any other massive google algorithm overhaul
but don't be fooled in the absence of these big announced updates
underneath the hood google actually releases some 500 smaller algorithm updates every year
that's over one update per day and then some
so it's important to keep this fact in mind as we monitor our search engine rankings
not every update they implement has some radical change that makes
those in the seo business run screaming for the hills
sure the notorious benchmark updates grab some headlines
but they're certainly not the only updates google releases throughout the year not even close
with the rollout of panda and penguin like a lot of these bigger updates
plenty in the seo crowd is left confused at first and for good reason
google tends to take whatever isstandard about optimizing and then turn it on its head
now keeping all that context in mind backlinks have always been the foundation for seo
everything outside of backlinks is just the cherry on top
as long as you have the right types of links
for the longest time you could rank for any term with any website
then google came along and changed that
it's not just a numbers game anymore and you have to be careful
as we saw with penguin even if you're building up your presence with
only just slightly gray hat links you may be penalized
for example often when someone develops a piece of software or website theme
they give themselves credit in the footer
usually by linking back to their original site
so if someone uses that theme or that software their website will automatically link back to the creator's website
fair enough this is a great idea to get credit to link juice
but google finds it manipulative
so we've seen these websites with these types of incoming links penalized
so in the end it's clear that backlinks are no longer what they used to be not even close
google seriously monitors backlinks
and any seo strategist who continues to use old seo principles will be penalized it's that simple
so here are some types of link building strategies to avoid
article directory backlinks
this used to be a big one this was the place to get easy backlinks
write a handful of articles spin them get them slapped onto every article directory in existence
and number one rank here we come
then mayday came and that proved to be Google's most aptly named update
because when it was released there was
widespread panic google changed how everything worked
some internet marketers even had hundreds of sites ranked at number one
sites that provided them with a full-time income
but after mayday all these sites were removed
and with it all their income
then panda came along
and put the final nail in the coffin of article directory sites themselves
absolutely crushing them out of existence
what mayday started panda finished
and at this point getting backlinks from article directories is
the equivalent to painting a target on your website for google anti-spam bots
so don't do it
forum posts signature links or blog comments
folks if you're still using forum
post links or blog comments we strongly suggest you stop
not only have these links been significantly devalued
but like article directory links
these types of links raise an immediate red flag for google bots
now sure it's okay to post your site in a forum signature
if that's a forum you regularly participate in
but it's not okay to have hundreds of accounts on hundreds of forums
each with the same forum link and anchor text
and it's definitely not okay to have any bots spam forums with your link
in the signature web 2.0 properties
this used to be another big one just like article directories
squidoo hub pages blogger blogs etc you never hear about these in seo anymore
why not because they're no longer effective
when was the last time you saw a hub page's site on page one it's probably been a while
google directly penalized these types of sites so why bother getting a backlink from them?
so instead let's look at some good practical strategies for building quality backlinks
everyone who knows seo understands just how important the practice of building quality backlinks is
however
for many it is also the most difficult and time consuming component of search engine optimization
not only is it important for you to build inbound links which come from the right kind of sites
you must also make sure that your link
building strategy doesn't cause your site to be labeled as a spam site
so let's dive into the most solid and effective strategies for building backlinks
practical effective and easy to follow
choose only the most credible sites
the first thing you'll need to do is search
for credible sites to build incoming links from
linking whether outbound or inbound
to sites that have been labeled as spam sites can hurt the reputation of your site
while linking to sites which already have a good page rank
is good for your reputation with the search engines
so the first thing you'll need is a tool for determining the seo stats of each website you look at
tools such as seopen for firefox and seoquake
can be used to determine a site's page rank keyword density bounce rate and many other things
as you're using these tools though
be careful that you don't link to any sites listed as having a page rank of zero
as this means they've most likely been penalized by google
another thing you can do to make sure you're not linking with the wrong sites
is to type their domain name into the various search engines
if they don't come up that means they're not listed in those search engines
likely because they are either brand new
or they've been removed from the results by the search engines themselves
so where to find sites to build your incoming links
the first place to begin building quality backlinks is to submit your website to directories
starting with the largest and most credible yahoo dmoz and google
once this is done you can refer to a tool like planet ocean's ultimate directory list
where you can find other credible places to submit your site
some of these resources will charge you a small fee
while others will allow you to submit your site for free
now when considering whether or not it's worth it to pay the fee
it's important to remember the value of the time which you would spend acquiring these links on your own
it's also important to consider this
free can have a very high price on the internet
any company that provides you with a free service is going to need to recover their expenses in some way
many of them do it through advertisements
many of which are spammy or unrelated to the niche of your site
so submitting your site to a free directory
could mean that you endup building links from sites that are going to hurt your site rather than help it
considering this it might actually be a more economical idea to pay the fee and
submit your site to reputable directories only
now how to submit your site for fast and valuable results
be sure that in submitting your site
you are as accurate as possible when choosing which category to submit it to
this will prevent delays in getting your site listed
or the possibility that you don't have your site listed at all due to improper submission
also keep in mind that these directories especially the free ones
might take some time in approving your submission so be patient
another thing to be careful about
is to make sure that the site directory provides a static link back to your site
this is important because there are actually site directories that will filter your link
through what is called a redirected link
for the purpose of tracking who clicked on your site
these redirected links have no value when it comes to boosting your search rank
because the search engines don't see any connection between your URL and the redirected link
other strategies for finding sites to build backlinks
in addition to submitting your sites to reputable directories
it's important for you to think outside the box in finding additional sites to contact
who might agree to link to your site
of course there's always the option of reciprocal linking
but too much reciprocal linking can do more harm to your site's page rank than it does good
as a rule of thumb
try to keep your reciprocal links below 15
and make sure that you're only using reciprocal linking as a method for attracting traffic to your site
and here are some more out of the box methods for finding sites that might want to link to yours
how about seeing who links to your competition
by using one of those same tools like seo pen or seoquake
you can analyze your competitors sites and find out exactly which sites are linking to them
this will provide you with dozens of great ideas for sites that you yourself can request to link back to your site
and as you're doing this you can also the sites with which your competition is linking
both inbound & outbound
and see who they are linking with as well
ask yourself where your site could add value
are there businesses or professionals that are in the same industry as you
but not in direct competition with you?
if so there is a very good chance that their customers might benefit
from the information and products which you provide on your site
using the google search results and tools like seopen and seoquake
you can find these sites contact their owners
and offer to create content such as an article which they can post on their site to add value for their customers
most of them who agree to do this will be more than happy
to allow you to link back to your site somewhere within the content of the article
write and submit articles and press releases
many sites exist which allow you to publish articles and press releases
which other site owners can post on their sites as long as the site owner links back to your site
this can prove to be a great viral method
for building backlinks without you having to invest a lot of time
so in the end
two things are very important for you to remember as you are applying these link building strategies
first be patient
one of the biggest mistakes you can make in seo is expecting instant results
second build backlinks to more than just your home page
linking to multiple pages engines your site will help your link building to appear natural to the search
feel free to check out our other videos on so you can keep
fine-tuning and getting the most out of your seo
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