Build Links to Increase Search Engine Ranking
Pin ItLink building is a practical way to increase the reach and effectiveness of your website in an abstract way. What I mean by that it is simply this, anyone can see you doing link building, but it is very hard to see and understand how link building benefits your business.
The main value and utility from link building comes from increasing your SEO ranking in search algorithms and boosting your ranking higher on search engine lists. Obviously, you want to appear higher, but how important is this? This study from leaked AOL data shows how valuable being at the top is. If you are at the top, you are almost four times more likely to be clicked than the number two result and more than five times more likely than the number three result. No matter where you are currently in the ranking Effective link building can make you number one and bring in significantly more traffic to your site.
Unfortunately, the value of link building is abstract and not exactly quantifiable. Outside of the people designing search algorithms, no one really knows what goes into the calculation and ranking of pages. Outsiders have an understanding of how they work, but there is no simple way to just jump to the top. Even still, with a few proven tricks, you can inch your way up.
Link building can happen in a variety of ways. The best and most organic way for this to happen is to have outside media link back to your content and website. This way you are getting link representation without paying or having to do work in any special way. This does require interesting and unique content that people want to read. A great way to do this is to run a company blog where you can write about important things related to whatever field you are in (such as social media marketing, if you were so inclined...) and try to get your stories to go viral or referenced. This will attract people to link to you, while also attracting and educating customers.
Another semi-organic way to build links on the web is through your customers. By giving backlinks that they can display on their site or social media accounts, you can drive traffic to your site while still making a profit. If you have a good product, your customers will want to tell their friends, and this gives you a good opportunity to have them spread the word. Both this and content creation allow you to do more than boost your ranking, they allow you to improve your brand image and company reputation. If people are interested by what you are writing or their friends are telling them how awesome your products are, they will be more interested in you.
Finally, you can go the inorganic route and go out and place your links in certain locations. You can submit your links to directories and listings, some of which are paid. These simply cause you to be viewed and recognized among other companies on the website you submitted your link to. Also, you can post links on guestbooks or in forum signatures on websites around the internet. The problem with the inorganic method is that there is very little value in most of these links. You are getting a small ranking bump from these links, but nothing to improve your reputation or image. These methods are a last resort that should be avoided if possible.
So link building is simply raising your ranking and improving your spot on search engines. Though it is confusing and a little mysterious, this process can be achieved several ways, and it will help attract more clients that are already interested and want something you are offering.