Author: Carl Setzer

Authority is a key part of evaluating the quality of a site. And inbound links, aka “backlinks” are key parts of how Search engines develop ascertain that authority.  Additionally, Google has confirmed that links are one of the three main elements for determining a site’s ranking. So, earning quality backlinks is extremely valuable in pushing your site up a search engine results page. Search engines evaluate the quality of the referring site as well. One good referral is worth far more than dozens of weak ones. With that, we want to focus on links from sites that will direct high-quality traffic to our site. I think it’s best to find sites that will send users that are highly interested in whatever your site features. If you focus on providing good and interesting content, you will naturally attract good links.

Below are some key best practices, and a few things to avoid.

Let’s start with a list of tactics to avoid:

• Purchased links
• Link exchanges or reciprocal linking
• Google’s specific guidance is to avoid “excessive” link exchange.
• Low-quality directory links

To end on a positive note, here are some recommended tactics:

• Earn your links! Good, useful content that adds value
• Seek to gain links from pages with high-authority
• You want to increase your backlinks over time
• They should come from topically relevant sources
• Make sure you use natural anchor text
• Publish a blog
• Create “resource” pages