While linking structure has always been an important piece of the SEO equation, it seems that a more intuitive linking structure is becoming more and more necessary for modern SEO development. The day of submitting to random directories or commenting on unrelated blogs is long gone. Spam comments and unrelated directory listings cause damage to website relevance and search engines are constantly looking for ways to counter their effects. That being said, there are highly effective methods of getting related backlinks, they just require more work than the spammers and scammers are likely to give. Web Designers and Developers must be careful to not get caught in the grey sides of SEO. A web developer who upsets Google can damage not only his own site, but all of his clients sites as well.
If you’re wondering, “is Christian about to rail on the Spammers again?” the answer is always, yes! Web Development and SEO Spammers not only made the system harder for all of us, they’ve caused themselves to become endangered. Yes, you can still find tons of affiliate websites offering their “Link Building Software”. This software is usually some form of Blog Spamming software. While these sites can be found all over the place, they’re owned by only a small group of spam-jockeys who and are becoming marginalized by people becoming more aware of affiliate scams and MLM’s.`
Ok, now that we got that out of the way, blog backlink software is going to do nothing for your site but possibly get it banned from Google. Not only is the software disastrous for your reputation with the SERPS, they almost always have a very short and mitigated list of sites to choose from. They claim that their program makes searches through Google, but this is only a half truth, they are most often pre-rigged with a select amount of search criteria. The resulting searches leave the user with the same tired group of blogs that were used 1,000’s of times before by other Spammers. Most of these sites and pages that have been bombarded by spam are already flagged by Google. Add your link to this page, and you risk being considered spam as well.
That out of the way, the question of how to get the quality links and avoid being all spammy is going to be asked. Unfortunately, the answer will have to wait until tomorrow. We’re out of coffee.
Most everyone with a blog has visited or even pursued Tecnorati… (if you haven’t you will after reading this.) Within Technorati, you have access to blogs that are separated by category and relevance. There are other blog index sites that maintain a strong list of blogs by content, but Tecnorati tends to be the most reliable for the search engines.
Once you are on the site, search for a blog that resembles the topic of whatever page you wish to link to. If you are choosing to link to your main page, choose a blog that is closely associated with the Keywords of your entire site. If you are using the link of a specific page, search for a page that has that specific topic. Tecnorati has a ranking system that allows the user to comb through different levels of relevance. Obviously, you want to get links from the most relevant site to the topic being covered.
Using this method, you’ll want to start by performing a “Time Honored Blogging Tradition” RTFA!!! Read the article people. Seriously, if you don’t know what the topic is, it will show in what you’ve written. Once you read the article, then it’s time to interact.
Make sure that the comment you leave is more than the following junk:
“nice post”
“I agree with the points you made”
“good thoughts but I take issue with your points”
These comments are common and quite annoying pieces of spam. These statements will likely be caught in any filter and removed from any site that cares about their relevancy. It would always be suggested to be Part of a conversation. If you’ve read a post, use enough of the material within it to make a valid statement.
Here’s a list of other rules that will avoid negative treatment for blog comments:
* Only leave comments that are a full, comprehensible sentence.
* Sign up for updates on future comments. This can ensure many links and a future relationship between your site and the site you are commenting on.
* Leave only on link on the site, the one in your name description. Leaving tons of links in the content of your comments makes it strongly resemble an unwanted communication, leaving many to list your comments as spam. If your site links or email addresses becomes associated as spam, it’s very likely that your future comments on other blogs will be filtered as well.
* Leave the auto commenting software to those who don’t mind being banned from the search engines. It’s just not worth it.
* Read the articles!!! There will always be a better exchange of ideas when you do and you’ll likely receive more convertible visitors to your website if they believe your communication to be respectful.
This article was originally posted in two parts at Naper Design Here.
