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23 Jan 2013
penguin 4.0 google update

Link Building Basics

Everyone is wondering how to promote their site in Google’s Post-Penguin world.  Since Google devalued link networks, paid links, link clusters, directories, and low quality non-contextual links, the question is – is it still safe to build links?  If so, how do you go about building links in a way that is both safe and productive?

This email will mark the beginning of a series whereby I will be discussing a penguin-safe link building method a day.  I will cover a variety of different types of links as well as give specific examples on how to build these links safely and productively.

There are a few important elements to keep in mind before beginning:

Do Follow Links

Make sure all of the places where you are soliciting links offer DoFollow links.  Check the source of the page, and do a CTRL F searching for “nofollow”.  If you do not find the nofollow code as part of the links, the link will pass authority and PR.  A small number of your links can, and should be, on nofollow sites as you want your profiles to appear natural.

Appear Natural

Appear natural!  As you build new links, make sure you think like a normal user would think and not an SEO.  Consider this when you are choosing what to link and what keywords to use in your anchor text.  Is it natural for everyone to link to your site using your primary keyword?  Most likely not.  People link your domain, company name, an opinion about your site, click here, and much much more.  Keep that in mind.

Interlink your Profiles

As you create content on web 2.0 platforms and other sites, support them with links.  Think of each of your profiles and pages where you add content and links as friends having birthdays parties.  Is it a party if no one shows up, except the birthday boy?  For every profile or page you create, you have to send them “link” friends so that you can support those pages and create some PR and popularity.  Then you link those pages to your primary site.  Create spreadsheets where you keep track of all of your channels and where they are linking to and receiving links from, this will help keep you organized.

With these 3 principles in mind, we will start discussing safe and easy ways to grow relevant, contextual links that will help to increase both your rankings AND, as a bonus, will provide direct traffic to your site.

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Search engine marketing expert with 15 years of experience in the industry, working with small mom and pop shops as well as large corporate websites. I have experience with all aspects of inbound marketing, including SEO, Link Building, Social Shares, Usability, Conversions, PPC, Email Marketing, and more.