SEO Blog

Marketing yourself online is by no means an easy process. If you haven’t had too much experience developing successful sites, then the idea of gaining links and the importance of doing so is probably slightly lost on you. But don’t be fooled, link building is absolutely essential to your website’s future success.

Most search engine algorithms, the mathematic protocol in place to determine rankings, are built on the strength of links. Each link passes on some strength, which in turn is assigned to the page in question. Of course the pathway of a link can be long and stretch across numerous websites; however the first thing that you need to sort out is your own internal linking structure.

Every page should be accessible within a few clicks, even less for the top level pages. If for any reason your site isn’t easily interlinked throughout, this can prevent the positive benefits that get passed around. By creating a Sitemap you instantly have a portal to each page on your site, from here you can better see where issues may arise. Google also offers Webmaster Tools which will inform you of any 404 errors (page not found), which will highlight exactly where issues lie.

From here you can begin looking into gaining inbound links. This is often a long process, at least it can be when done properly. The first and easiest way to build links is through directory submissions. There are a number of directories available online, all catering for different sectors and most providing a link back. Whilst these may not always be the strongest, particularly the free options, it is a good point from which to start.

If you need quick links you might also want to consider writing articles and releasing them for syndication through article submission sites. By embedding a link within an optimised phrase you can gain strength from not just the site that you’ve submitted it to, but any others who may choose to pick up and use it for their own site. So a single article could in fact create numerous link backs and start building strength.

The quality and relevance of links is incredibly important, probably more so than sheer volume alone. Therefore if you spy an opportunity to create a reciprocal link or for a site to offer a one-way link, investigate further, this could well be a great source of link strength. Although, don’t ever pay for links or gain links from disreputable services. Whilst they may look good in theory, Google and the other search engines will punish your site if it is found to hold these kinds of links, resulting in a significant drop in rankings.

You could also try to become involved in social networking and bookmarking, using sites like LinkedIn, Digg, Twitter and Facebook to attract links back to your main site. This is obvious a little outside the zone of influence for SEO; however, you need to explore all of the available avenues to try to expand your linking profile, without of course straying into any murky territory.