When it comes to online marketing, link building is one of the most important strategies to take. After all, not only does it give websites credibility and elevate their online reputation, but it’s also a ranking factor used by many of the popular engines and improves inbound organic traffic. For this reason, businesses both small and large continue to make use of services from a link building agency such as Ocere to ensure that the job is done correctly.
With that said, it pays to know where the traps and pitfalls are when it comes to building links as any mishaps can prove to be costly for your campaign. Here are some of the most common mistakes in link building that any brand or business must avoid at all costs.
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- Buying links
The purchase and sale of links are generally considered a mistake in link-building despite the fact that many professionals have done so in the past. While it’s undoubtedly true that most search engines won’t be able to tell whether or not the links are earned naturally or paid for, there are various patterns and tell-tale signs to indicate that there’s some foul play involved, and these can be picked up by the technology powering their algorithms.
Simply put, buying links is a risk that, if caught, can have a significantly detrimental impact on the ranking of a website and the reputation of the brand. So don’t fall into this trap. It isn’t worth the reward. You’ll only endanger ruining your image by doing so.
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- High-velocity link acquisition
Everyone wants to build links fast. However, doing so at a high velocity can do a website more harm than good because it can signal search engines like Google that there may be some extensive manipulation involved. Even if the chosen links are legitimate, if the growth appears unnatural, there’s a good chance that the site will get penalised. Because of this, you must choose a consistent strategy that will build your links at a reasonable pace.
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- Overlooking irrelevant links
There’s always a chance for low-quality websites to link to yours as a source. What they’re trying to do is elevate their credibility by making it appear to the algorithm of the popular search engines that your site is similar to theirs. And this act can potentially paint an undesirable picture of your domain in their crawlers’ eyes. When you get right down to it, it won’t look pleasant if you let pornographic websites link to your IT services.
Fortunately, it isn’t that hard to defend your website from spam links. All you need to do is regularly check the domain’s backlinks and disavow those that come from irrelevant sources. It isn’t as tedious a task as it appears to be, and there are several free tools available online that can help protect your image from being stained by unnatural links.
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- Prioritising quantity instead of quality
Many search engines prefer websites that have a few quality backlinks more than those that have a multitude of irrelevant and low-quality links. If you prioritise quantity at the expense of quality, your website may be recognised as having shady practices in link-building. Even if it does elevate the ranking of your site for a while, it will eventually fall out of the SERPs or search engine results pages and it may never have the chance of getting into a respectable position again.
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- Spamming anchor texts
Anchor texts are generally used to tell both search engines and users alike what a website is about through referring sources. While this is unquestionably useful, you can potentially trigger a signal that you’re manipulating sources that are linking to the domain if you make use of the same keywords whenever you create backlinks, resulting in penalties from the search engines. As such, always mix up your content’s structure for linking.
Building links can be useful in enhancing your digital marketing campaign, so long as it is handled the right way. By keeping away from all the mistakes laid out in this article, you’ll ensure that you reap the benefits of link-building and enhance your visibility on the World Wide Web even more.