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SEO Link Building Tips - Beyond Reciprocal Links
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Link building is among the hardest yet most important tasks for the SEO practitioner. Google loves links, as do the other search engines. But what sorts of links can you get beyond reciprocal links? In this tutorial post, we overview the basic link types.
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By Jason McDonald
Senior SEO Instructor - JM Internet Group.
Posted: May 17, 2010
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Contents:
Links Matter for SEO
Links matter to search engine optimization, because links matter to Google, Yahoo, and Bing. As I teach in our SEO classes, links matter because Google considers a link from Site A to Site B to be a 'vote' that Site B is important. Links, quite simply, are votes to Google in the popularity contest of the Web. Beyond the simple voting concept, Google counts links from sites with high PageRank as more important than links from other sites. You can check your PageRank, crudely speaking, by downloading the Google toolbar.
In this post, we are not going to go into the theoretical details of PageRank. We will leave that to the Geeks. Rather, we will use a common sense approach to Google, and identify these common sense precepts to soliciting links. Your best links are -
- Links from high PageRank sites (the higher the better).
- Links that have proper keyword syntax (that is, ideally your target keywords are located inside the A HREF tag as the 'target').
- Links that are from your community - that is, links that are from sites whose keywords cluster around your own.
- Links that are fresh - new links seem to count for more than old links.
Most people easily get the idea of PageRank, and I think that the Geek community gets it a little too well. A link from a site like the home page of CNN (PageRank: 10) is obviously worth more than a link from the home page of the JM Internet Group (PageRank: 6). But, Google is intelligent, and I would argue that Google can 'figure out' the keyword community in which you reside.
So, all other things being equal, if you are a New York wedding photographer, a link from a wedding site (PageRank 5) is worth more than a link from a wedding site (PageRank 4). But what about a link from a non-wedding site (PageRank 5) vs. a link from a wedding site (PageRank 4)? It is simplistic to assume, as many Geeks do, that better PageRank is always a better link.
Instead, I would argue that you should pursue links in your communities. To continue our New York Wedding Photographer example, that site would be a member of several overlapping communities:
- The New York community - think New York tourism, chambers of commerce, newspapers and blog sites on NY.
- The Wedding community - think wedding sites, other wedding contractors (think florists, rent-a-priests, facility rentals, etc.).
- The Photography community - think other photographers, photography blogs, etc.
Bottom line: in identifying possible link targets, don't just fixate on higher PageRank, also attempt to get links from sites as closely related to your communities as possible. And remember that communities is plural. To do - jot down a list of your overlapping communities, and search Google for link targets in each one (not just one!).
Reciprocal Links - Keep to Your Communities
Reciprocal links, of course, are an exchange of links. Site A agrees to link to Site B, if (and usually only if), site B agrees to link back to Site A. Now the SEO geek community usually argues that the reciprocal nature of this link - the reciprocal, voting, as it were, nullifies the value of these links. Never link outbound, they say, and do not engage in reciprocal links.
I agree, in theory, with their position and certainly do not encourage you to engage in outbound links that are not reciprocated. But not always. I also believe that Google analyzes the link structure of your website and looks for outbound links that communicate your 'community.' Using our New York wedding photographer, example, I believe that outbound links that are in the communities of a) New York, b) weddings, and/or c) photography are not only not bad but also probably good. They indicate a participatory site on the web. So I encourage moderate outbound linking in your communities, but discourage linking to non-related websites.
In addition, with respect to reciprocal linking, this implies that you should indeed engage in reciprocal links as long as they are in your communities. Engaging in crazy link schemes won't help, but the wedding photographer linking to the wedding DJ linking to the wedding Rabbi, etc., probably do in the end count for something. So I encouarge reciprocal linking in your communities.
Indeed, people often ask me about non-reciprocal outbound links. These are also OK. In this post, for example, I link to the Google Toolbar because it is useful to our readership - even though, the Google Toolbar will never link back to me. As Google often says, worry just as much (if not more) about your readers than about the search engines. Build good content, and part of good content is relevant web links!
Beyond Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links, however, are just one component of an effective SEO link building strategy. Look for directories or catalogs that cover your industry - many of them are either free or will link back to you in exchange for a reciprocal link. Look for blogs, portals, and other websites that cover your industry and try to get coverage and links.
Use tools like Yahoo's Site Explorer to reverse engineer competitors, as I teach in our session on SEO link building. And finally, don't forget news. News and news syndication services are quick and easy way to build links. Some SEO experts denigrate news links, but in my own research I have clearly seen that a systematic and content-based link strategy that includes news-based link building can be very, very effective. Generate news and syndicate it - those links, count too.
In the end, link building is a lot like vote getting. Each and every vote matters, so don't stress the analysis so much. Shake hands. Kiss babies. Get votes.
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