7 deadly sins of Link-building

Within the world of websites and Search Engine Optimisation (S.E.O), building links has become the main activity to provide power and influence for online business. Put simply, links and more specifically, high quality back-links will ultimately give you a high page rank and a high page rank will rank you higher in the Search Engine Results Page. (S.E.R.P's). This therefore means more traffic and so, more money.

Back-links currently are estimated to make up 90% of your Google rank – Google have never shared the complex calculation made by their algorithm and therefore this at best can only ever be an educated guess.  However, because of this, link-building has taken on a life of its own. Mostly it is misunderstood completely. You need know that not all back links are good links. Bad links can do you more damage than no links.

Google did not design their ranking system to be manipulated, nor will they allow it to be. It was designed to reward good sites that get linked to it naturally. That's why getting the right links can be incredibly difficult.

However, to be competitive, you have to build in-links otherwise you will be the best kept secret. If you wait around for sites to link to you, you might wait forever. The positive side of Links is that it also gives the "small guy" equal chance to get good rankings in Google, Yahoo and M.S.N.

Most link builders put in Back-links in a haphazard style; that is they go in there and just get as many links they can from wherever they can and at whatever cost. This is a recipe for disaster and can lead to your site getting marked by Google, at which point you might as well start over again.

Rogue link-building techniques can render months of hard work useless, so be very careful when building Back-links. Here are the 7 deadly S.E.O link-building mistakes. Avoid them at all costs.

1.    Mass Link Packages - SEO is the new “thing” and as such there are entities who advertise the ability to create large numbers of links to your website, quickly.  Don’t do it, these are, at best, blasts of your web to directories and ads, and at worst linking to “banned” sites on Google.

2.    Link Exchanges -  Link Farms started up when Links became important, and so now, Google puts little store in Reciprocal links – unless the information on both sites can be seen to be appropriate, providing complimentary information.

3.    Not Using Anchor Text - Informative text on why the link if useful, not the “click here” variety, gives credibility to the link.

4.    Not being Relevant - You link to a site which adds value to your website, so make sure the links into your website add value to the followers.  Do not point links to the Home Page if the information is on the About us page.

5.    Linking from Non Indexed Sites - If the site it comes from isn’t indexed, it isn’t worth anything.

6.    Inorganic Links - Google is looking for a slow, organic growth of “Trust”, not a mad dash to stardom.

7.    Purchasing Links - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!  Saying that, for some directories you have to pay, but that’s another fact sheet.

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