Timeless Link-Building Tactics

Google has released its Panda and Penguin updates to improve content quality and cull spammy backlinks. While these changes are ultimately good for searchers, they have wreaked havoc on some small business search rankings. Try some of these techniques to help your website recover from the Panda and Penguin pounces.

Step 1: Police Your Backlinks
If your website has incoming links from either low-quality sites or sites that are completely unrelated to your website, then you need to both purge these links:

Research your incoming links. If you have a Google Webmaster account (and you should), then click on your website’s name. On the left sidebar, choose “Search Traffic” and then “Links to Your Site.” You’ll get a list letting you know which websites link to yours.

Conduct spam patrol. Go through your links (you can always export them to go through them while you’re offline) and look for spammy sources. Signs include:

Reciprocal links. Someone links to your site, so you link back, creating a reciprocal link.

Incestuous links. Incestuous links occur when you own a number of websites, and they all link back to one another.

Links from bad neighborhoods. “Bad neighborhoods” online include links from pages that have been removed from the search index for spamming.

Link farms. Possible “link farm” links come from completely unrelated websites and from sites that have minimal content and many unrelated links. If you purchased your website, then its former owner could have paid someone for low-quality inbound links.

Brand-new sites. Sites that are six months old or younger may not be good sources for backlinks. Give them a pass if the website is of high quality and is relevant to your niche.

Get rid of bad incoming links. Start by e-mailing the webmaster of the spammy site and politely but firmly asking that all links to your site be removed. If you receive no response, then you can use Google’s Disavow tool. If nothing else helps, then you may have to rebuild your website from scratch.

Check your webmaster tools frequently. Google usually sends a message if it notices that a large number of unnatural incoming links are pointed toward your website. If you get one of these messages, then follow the directions and apply for reconsideration.

Step 2: Create Good Incoming Links
Use these timeless tactics to build high-quality incoming links. When you’re producing great material, then other sites will link to you:

Provide excellent content. Make sure that the content on your site is relevant, interesting and well-written.

Mix different types of outgoing links into your content. Link to brands, articles, forums, blog posts and comments to create a well-rounded outgoing link profile on your site.

Create infographics. Publish an infographic that takes complex data and makes it easy to understand.

Presentations, whitepapers and PDFs. If you post one of these helpful items on your website, then share them on your blog. You can also consider uploading them to SlideShare, which can be a great source of high-quality traffic.

Videos. Add videos to your website or start a YouTube channel.

Comment and guest blog. Look for chances to leave relevant comments on people’s blogs, and seek opportunities to guest blog on sites related to yours. The more often your name or site is featured along with your niche topic, the more likely that Google will recognize you as an authoritative resource.

Finally, always consider your audience. Think about who’s reading your material and who would click on your link if it did rank on Page One. To talk to a professional that can help your website bounce back from Penguin and Panda, contact Infintech today.