The Five Rules for Quality Link Building

In the SEO landscape as a whole it would probably be fair to say that link building really is as old as the hills. Ever since the power of Google and Co. was realised quite a few years back, SEO professionals the world over have been using the power of the backlinks to drum up the credit scores needed to climb the rankings. Even today, the power of the seemingly humble backlink is extraordinary – get it right and you’re in for some serious returns.However, getting it right sadly isn’t as easy as it once was. What’s more, penalisations for getting it wrong are more severe than ever. As such, whether you look after you own needs in-house of outsource SEO to the best in the business, it’s important to realise that there is a very big difference between link building and quality link building – the latter being the only one of any use to you and your website.    And as far as making sure all backlinks are indeed valuable goes, there are five rules that must be followed at all times:Rule Number One – Less is MoreAdmittedly, you won’t get anywhere these days with just one or two links scattered around the web – you need a fair few in order to make an impact. That being said, even just five links of quality can be a thousand times more useful than 600 links of little to no value whatsoever. In fact, the spamming approach can end up leaving your site with a lower score than it would have had with no links in place at all – don’t just assume that if you put enough links out there, you will eventually see a happy return.Rule Number Two – Relevance RulesSo following on from the above, it is clear that only appropriate sites need be chosen to house your links which in this instance means sites of relevance. It’s all-too easy for any old site to link to any old other site and so on and so forth – something that has been done to such an extent it is now being stamped out. The only links that will work for you are those placed on sites in some way similar to your own, or at least of a similar industry area.Rule Number Three – Authority MattersAlong with relevance, the host site also has to be one that is respected by the industry and of course by the search engines. The respect and authority they carry will be directly reflected in the value of the backlink you place there, so the more, the better.Rule Number Four – Location CountsNever forget that where your link appears on the page will have a huge impact on its value. Needless to say, a link that appears prominently on a primary landing page along with other high-quality links of authority will score much higher than a link mixed in with a thousand others on page 44.Rule Number Five – Never Overlook Traffic Last but not least, don’t ever fall into the trap of forgetting what it is that links were created for in the first place – to send actual readers to you. If you can get your link in a place that attracts plenty of real-life traffic, it’s a given that some of it will come your way organically and could easily be converted.