Linking Strategies in 2012

SEO companies and SEO experts have long howled that “content is the ruler and key.” We at Designtorontoweb.ca know that Quality content affects both the quality and amount of inbound links.” By: Mark Jackson 2007, what does this statement  mean? Is all you need is good linking strategies?

Some SEO “fanatics” would have you think so. However, refining the worth and quantity of your inbound links doesn’t rest on the shoulders of good content alone. Let’s look at some tactics for inbound linking campaigns. Also, lets look at some training to help increase the value and relevance of the links being targeted for acquisition.

Many SEO companies strongly advise the need to “act natural” when constructing  links to your website. People say “Links should have a assortment of anchor text.” Or “links should be pointed to deeper pages than just the home page.” These people are tenets that will remain valuable when considering link development. Yet still, these have become progressively leveraged. In some to most cases, people and companies  have gone too far.

Using anchor text to link to exact deeper pages on a site can certainly help from a ranking perspective. Data still shows that we see incremental boost in associated rankings and traffic.

Don’t forget, it’s natural for a large percentage of links to point to a domain where the real brand is used as anchor text. Whenever we take on a client with a fairly well-known brand, this pattern is very evident.

In reality it could almost be a new system for link building defined as “anchor text density.” The total number of links pointed to the site should probably be comprised of “X percent” brand or product-name words and “X percent” of various iterations of relevant anchor text.

The idea of “keyword density” is somewhat dated. There’s merit in aiming for a exact”anchor text density.” You should probably strongly consider building a certain percentage of branded anchor text links if you really want to stay looking “natural.”

This blog isn’t about tactics. It’s about the strategy that is defining the tactics you’ll use to build links. In the essence of remaining “natural,” take a look at your inbound linking patterns. This will help define which tactics make the most sense for your site. Most people typically have numerous press releases and news articles being circulated and syndicated. This is an area you would want to address.

You will have a number of links coming to your site around various seasons. So, work more during these seasons to match the pace. It’s smart to keep seasonal content live all year, from a holistic SEO perspective.

You might have a natural linking pattern from social networking sites, forums, and blogs. Strongly consider hiring a front man to become your “face” online. Using social media as a communication medium allows for unobtrusive links to be built to a site. Also, it will allow popularity for specific pages that address relevant conversations. It’s very important to respect communities. However, accepted members who provide occasional links to the solution to a problem are typically not shunned, and are considered important members of the group.

Link growth brainstorming shouldn’t be restricted to link specialists and project strategists. Brainstorming everything from directory targeting to more progressive link baiting strategizing is far more effective. Especially when participants are familiar with the products or services being supported. This continues to be a treasured strategy. Much like SEO strategy often isn’t fully formulated until after the keyword research is completed. Link strategies shouldn’t be finalized until many potential sources of relevant content are listed.

Making the time to figure out what makes sense from a semantic connectivity perspective can yield tactical execution plans for link development with far more breadth than simply targeting everyone directly associated with the product or service

Linking will continue to be a very strong asset to your website traffic strategy. Keeping natural while enhancing the growth of your inbound links will be like using fertilizer — just make sure you spend the time picking the right types of fertilizer and the proper watering schedule, and you should be well on the way to increased rankings and traffic.

So to sum it all up, sound linking strategy is more crucial than good content on the site. The saying “if you build it, they will come” mentality hardly ever works. But search engine experts like ECA Technologies / Designtorontoweb.ca and 2SEO.com  know the importance of creating something worth linking to.I’ve always supported the power of good writing as a link building tool. same reference.

We forget that the Web was originally set up as a research tool and that the whole Google algorithm was based on that premise. A link is like a citation, so if you provide good information — or funny pics– they have the capabilities to get links from other Web sites.

Also remember  social media links are valuable now, but there’s no substitute for a well-written blog  with authority. And this is becoming especially true as things move to “trust rank.”