SEO 102 – Starting Your Link Campaign

(See our introductory article, Search Engine Optimization 101)

Now you know that you need to have a popular site to get noticed by Google. So the natural question you’re asking is: how do I make my site more popular? How do I get invited to the big high school party, so to speak? The key to getting a higher rank is to establish quality links from quality sites. In other words, make the right friends or connections.

When obtaining any link, make sure you have the web developer create descriptive links which are much better for SEO purposes. (Instead of click here to visit XYZ Plumbing for all your plumbing needs. Use: Visit XYZ Plumbing for all of your plumbing needs.) Essentially make sure to use your keywords in the links, but not overuse them so links do not make sense. Here are some of the things that you can do to build links and get your site noticed.

1. Get partners & business associates to link to your site (Links from sites in your industry are more important that links from unrelated sources). If you’re thinking that you don’t have enough associates that will link to you, attend industry trade shows and other local events and start building relationships. As with any new relationship, you'll most likely need to take initiative and make the first move.

2. Get links from local or regional construction associations. Getting listed in either the industry news section or as a member will not only improve your SEO, but will also build your reputation within the industry.

3. Email bloggers in your industry with links to your content. The more popular the blog the better. This is great way to have your website gain recognition and give it an SEO boost.

4. Add your company and your website to industry directories. This is another easy way to get links to your site and some directories are free.

5. Create content that is easy to link to. Content such as resource articles, expert advice articles, and other articles that provide information that is helpful to people in your industry. People will link directly to information you provide or give you credit in the bibliography or footnotes. Again this will generally help you get industry specific links.

6. Add Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn links on every piece of content. This is will make it easier for people to share and distribute the content that you have created, and in the process, creating links to your site. Make sure you use descriptive names for content for SEO purposes (Make sure to use your keywords in the URL, but not overuse. Instead of xyzplumbing.com/article-101.htm, Use: xyzplumbing.com/resource-drainage-pipes.htm. Use -hyphens to separate words, not _underscores) Links from social media sites are not as important from sites directly in your industry, but these links add up providing your site a boost.

7. Have your family and friends link to you using their Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts or their websites and in the process distribute your content and generate links. Again, more links from social media sites help your ranking.

8. Self-created, non-editorial links. This can include any type of link, such as posting a comment on someone else’s blog or forum. These links have low value similar to links on social media sites, but can add up and have a significant impact.

9. Use a free service like Craigslist, Yahoo! Answers and Google Groups. You can either answer questions people may have with links to your content or ask for advice by providing links your content. Also, you can place advertisements with links to your content.

10. Create a blog. If you post regularly and post content that is informative and useful, others will link to your content. Also it is very easy to add Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn links to blog articles.

Equally important to healthy SEO is being aware of what not to do to improve your rankings. Here is a list of things you shouldn’t do to when building a link campaign, all of which may do more harm than good when it comes to SEO.

1. Paying for links from sites that are web brokers is not a good practise; these sites eventually get caught by Google and other search engines. This can cause you to get blacklisted and lose your credibility which can be very difficult to get back, if at all. Not all paid links can be bad; if it’s a paid advertisement with a website you know and trust, it may be okay. You have to do your due diligence because if the website becomes flagged by Google you will suffer the consequences. Essentially, hanging out with the wrong crowd can do irreparable damage to your reputation. Although, here at ConstructionSites.ca we recommend that you treat everybody equally if you’re in high school, hang out with whomever you want.

2. Using reciprocal links. Essentially providing someone a link from your site, so that they will provide a link from their site. These types of arrangements have been flagged by Google and will not help you get a better ranking. It could actually get you in trouble with Google and give you a lower ranking. This is especially the case if your site does not relate to the other. It is okay, however, for two construction industry sites to link to each other, as the content is related.

3. Self-linking, or, creating a bunch of domains owned by you and linking to each of your sites in a network. This type of idea while it sounds ingenious has been marked as Search Engine Spam and will not yield any gains. Aside from that, you only really benefit from linking to and from other quality sites. Linking to and from poor sources of information will hurt you twofold: it will alert search engines that your site is Spam, and it will lower your ranking because of the poor quality information you associate with. Essentially, all this does is marks you as a web slum-lord.

4. Linking from low quality directories and websites. While linking from a directory can be great as mentioned above, Google will take action against directories that are just in place to inflate rankings by either selling links or taking part in practices that are deemed as spam.

5. Creating content for the purpose of generating links, without providing content that is worthwhile. This is self-explanatory, if you copy content from other sites or just put up nonsense with keywords you wish to rank for, you will find that this adds no value to your site or product and will also hurt you in Google’s PageRank. Your content should at all times be written naturally. Sites that intentionally copy great content and use it for their own SEO benefit are called scrapers, and are frowned upon by all major search engines.

6. Hiding links. Another way to hurt your chances of SEO survival is to intentionally hide links on a page. This could involve making a link the same colour as the background of your site so that users cannot see it. This is dishonest, and Search engines dislike dishonesty. It'll only take one web-savvy user to notice hidden links on your site before you're reported to Google and you find yourself kicked back to square one in your rankings. If it is on your site but can't be seen, it's dishonest.

7. Using the same page titles or link names multiple times may also hurt your rankings in a strange way. Instead of reinforcing what your site is about by having multiple titles of the same name, you are most likely competing with yourself. Be sure to switch up the titles of your pages, as well as the titles of your links. This will ensure that you aren't your own biggest competitor. If you have two pages with similar content, it is best to rearrange words a little to differentiate them. For example, 'Workplace Safety' could be the title of one link, and 'Safety in the Workplace' could be the title of another link, assuming there are two different pages on your site dealing with the same type of content.

Following these guidelines will lay a strong foundation for your SEO success. If you have something to say, say it well, stick to the topic, and be relevant to your audience. All Search Engines focus on the user experience as being the most important part of attaining good rankings. Make your user experience a good one, and your rankings will improve.

Keep posted for our next SEO article that will go more specific ways to strengthen your SEO performance.