Is Link Building Dead?
Is link building dead? After the turbulent events of 2013 such as the link-building scandal with rapgenius.com, many website owners have been wondering if this is indeed the case. Almost every other day some website owner claims that some strategy of online marketing is dead, but this is not true at all. But what has happened is that link-building has simply evolved. Here’s what you need to know in 2014 about link building.
What Happened With Rapgenius.com?
At the end of 2013, rapgenius.com was busted by Google for trying to force users to build links for them. Google has come out very strongly in the past stating that unnatural or paid link building was against their terms and that they would penalize any sites that were caught involving themselves in this practice.
While it flew under Google’s radar for a while, eventually rapgenius.com was caught in a scheme involving social media sites in which they were essentially offering users a reward for building links for them. The site was promptly deindexed by Google, and the owners of rapgenius.com reached out to Google to inform them that they were discontinuing the practice, and the website was eventually reindexed in the Google search engine.
Other Link-building Schemes
Software programs that are designed to build links via spamming have been around for quite a while and as time goes on, these software programs are having less and less impact on search engine results. The result is that webmasters will no longer be able to easily obtain high search engine rankings through manipulated practices. Instead, they will need to focus on link-building practices that are beneficial to search engine users and are not abusive.
What Do SEOs Think?
Some SEOs are saying that while the importance of tier 1 links, those links pointing directly back to your website, may decline other links such as tier 2 and tier 3 links which are indirect website links will likely remain relevant.
With this option off the table for small businesses to stand out in the search engine rankings, they will need to work harder than ever to outshine the big brands. Small businesses will need to get creative with their link building and focus more on relationship building rather than building tier 1 links.
To many small businesses, this would mean focusing more on social media. However, the fact is that social media is open to spam and there is a good chance that these links could end up being devalued in the future as well.
However for the present moment, despite Google’s denials, social media signals are having an impact on search engine rankings and are assisting in creating quality backlinks to websites.
Ahead in 2014
Despite the fact that link-building is not dead, Matt Cutts has announced that he is aware of the fact that paid guest posting is going on and is a paid link-building scheme in the case of some websites. While we have yet to see how this issue will play out, if paid guest posting is part of your link-building strategy in 2014, you should be on the lookout.
Are you wondering why link building is important on the first page or are you planning to implement link building as a part of your online marketing strategy but don’t know how? Let Infintech Designs assist you. Give us a call or chat with us today for further assistance.
