Link Building Defined
Link building is an SEO tactic used to increase Google PageRank to a page on a website in order to gain better keyword position on Google.
What is a Hyperlink?
A
hyperlink or “link” is a highlighted word or picture in a document or Web page that you can click on with a computer mouse to go to another place in the same or a different document or Web page. Therefore,
link building, as it relates to Link Building Strategies, is the process of distributing these links to websites other than your own, but directing the links to the page you want to improve the Google keyword position for.
The Importance of Link Building
In an oversimplification of the process, link building is critical for search engines to rank your website’s popularity. Search engines look to the number of legitimate links which exist to your website to determine how and where your website is listed among other websites which the search engine returns to its users. A key component of
how search engines determine which sites are linked first uses a tally of the number of links to your website from other websites. The idea is that the more links to your website that there are, the more popular, and consequently relevant to the search engine user’s query, your website is, and it should therefore receive a higher spot in the listing results. Several strategies can be employed to further these ends involving a technique referred to as Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
How Anchor Text Affects Your Site’s Popularity
The way that a site is linked back to your website is through specific code in the linking website’s pages. Web sites use a specific type of code called markup tags. Markup tags look like letters in between < and > characters. The tags occur in the opening and closing pairs, with the closing tag having a / in between its < and > characters. The markup tag which affects link building is called the anchor tag. The anchor tag has a few sections. First the anchor tag tells the web browser that there is a link to another site using the “href” attribute, next the tag allows you to enter text meaningful to an end user in between the beginning anchor tag and the closing tag. This text is visible to the user and can be clicked. An example using google.com might look like
The Famous Google.com Website . These anchor tags are important because software processes called web crawlers scan every website that they know about and read the anchor tag markup code and count the references to your website to determine how it will be ranked to its users.
The Importance of Links in 2016
In 2016 links to your site are more important than ever. Online marketing of your company’s products and services begins at the search engine level. That is starting point where customers begin their looking efforts to find the products or services you’re selling. A poorly ranked website with a great product or service might never be accessed if it isn’t positioned well online. Today’s link building strategies will utilize several available resources, including Social Media websites, blogs, news articles, and popular sites of recognized individuals. Learning how to build links is key to your business’ online success. Many self launched online efforts fail specifically because they do not understand why link building is important.
Parting Thoughts on Link Building
Link building is the primary means of exposing prospects and customers to your business. It requires thoughtful planning. In fact, learning how to build links, is the single most important task your business can undertake in its initial online marketing efforts to promote and popularize your particular brand.
A few questions that today’s businesses migrating into online markets include:
- How can link building benefit my business?
- What is a good link vs. a bad link?
- How can I plan a successful Link Building Strategy?
- Where can I start building links?
- How to hire a link building company?
- What is the Penguin Algorithm?
