Originally posted on https://ghax.io/new-link-building-guidelines/

What is link building? Link building is a way of directing people from one web page to the other. If you have links on other websites that lead back to your own, then you increase the chance of users (and Google) finding your pages.

If you want to achieve a top Google ranking for your small business then launching a link building campaign is a good way to go about it.

First of all, you should know that there are several kinds of links out there, including internal links. These are links that you can place on your website to point customers to another part of your site. Internal links are good for your SEO, too.

That’s because they give Google a way of working out the structure of your website and allow you to define the hierarchy of your web pages.

Moving forward, there’s one type of link that Google won’t tolerate: spammy links. Search engines like Google can determine how internet users view links based on special algorithms. 

But who’s running these algorithms, anyway? The key to how algorithms work is through a simple concept called E-A-T. This stands for:

• Expertise
• Authority
• Trustworthiness

For those who are unaware, these are the guidelines that Google uses to prevent the spread of spammy links. If your site doesn’t have these qualities, then it might not be that surprising that it’s not making the front page of the search engine results.

On the other hand, the websites that do display these qualities are the most likely to gain more clicks online. If your site shows expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness on your specific niche, then you’re far more likely to rank highly in the search results.

So, how can you create a website that meets these guidelines? Writing helpful content on your niche is a great way to boost your page views. Once you can show what you know, more people will begin to trust your site. 

The Current State of SEO

Let’s take a moment to talk about the current state of search engine optimization. When it comes to link building, there are two types of links that you need to know about:

• Dofollow links
• Nofollow links

Allow us to explain. Dofollow links are links that will tell the search engine to follow the link and give the target site an SEO boost for having good backlinks. Meanwhile, nofollow links do the exact opposite, telling the web crawlers that they shouldn’t follow the link. The nofollow link was originally developed to stop the effectiveness of people spamming comments pages of sites with good authority with links to their own sites.

Pro tip: building more dofollow is the #1 way to gain higher search rankings. You can always use a free online backlink checker to find out how many dofollow links your site has. Once you figure that out, you can see the amount of nofollow links that you have too. Remember that if a backlink isn’t nofollow, it will boost your SEO. If it is nofollow, then it’s not helping you.

Getting high-quality dofollow links doesn’t come easy. You can buy links, although we certainly wouldn’t recommend it; buying links is the quickest way to get your site banned from Google.

Also, Google can easily tell when a major news outlet is using a guest post to gain viewers. How so? By quickly scanning the words on the page. If a post says “former contributor” and “guest contributor,” these are clear indications that it’s not exactly an original post.

A Peek At Google’s New Link Policy

Want to take a peek at Google’s new link policy? We’ve got you covered. Here’s what you need to know.

First things first: the whole concept of nofollow links is set to change. Google has said that where before this was a clear instruction to their web crawlers not to follow those links, nofollow will now be seen more like a “hint”. That means that Google may start using nofollow links in their algorithms in some cases.

Next, whenever someone is paying you to promote a link or vice versa, Google wants you to label it as “sponsored” (Rel=”sponsored”). 

On top of that, you also have to denote whenever you’re building links with user-generated content. For instance, if you have a website that has a lot of user-generated content, your link should contain a special code that lets Google know this (i.e. Rel=”ugc”). 

You can use a combination of these tactics with the whole nofollow disclaimer as well. For example, if your company is posting a paid link, then you can write that in the link as well (i.e. Rel=”nofollow sponsored”).

So, why is Google implementing such a huge change to link building? According to Google itself: “all the link attributes — sponsored, UGC and nofollow — are treated as hints about which links to consider or exclude within Search.”

Google continued: “we’ll use these hints — along with other signals — as a way to better understand how to appropriately analyze and use links within our systems.” To keep it simple, all Google is trying to say is that making these changes will allow them to figure out whether they should crawl the hyperlink or not. In other words, they’ll decide which links should and shouldn’t count towards your ranking.

For those who are wondering when these rules are going into effect, the answer is simple: March 1, 2020!

What Does This Have to Do with SEO?

You might be wondering: what does this have to do with search engine optimization? The thing is, the algorithm that Google uses to rank search results isn’t exactly perfect. 

That’s why they’re requiring search engine optimizers and webmasters to label their links more efficiently. The result is that Google will learn how to read various types of links super quickly. Once that’s done, Google can use that information to make its algorithm way more accurate. It will be able to tell straight away whether a link has been earned through providing useful information, or it has been paid for.

If a large number of people start to use rel=ugc” to generate links through guest posts, then it could help Google pick up these links more effectively. Although Google can already spot forums, wikis, and other forms of user-generated content, these guidelines are going to help it run even more smoothly than it does now.

Additionally, Google can potentially use this type of data to take a more lenient stance on certain links. For example, it could decide to count user-generated links as link building but might give them a little less weight than they would organic links. If you’re scratching your head, don’t be too concerned. The secrets behind Google’s algorithms are well guarded.

The hope is that the more accurate Google’s algorithm becomes, the happier internet users will be. These changes are intended to ensure that only the pages with the best and most genuine EAT get to the top.

What isn’t likely to change any time soon is that one of the best ways to earn legitimate backlinks is by partnering with another company to create a guest post.

The Future of Link Building

Google lives and dies by the quality of its search results. That’s why it’s so important to them to rank sites according to what their users want to see.

Regardless of algorithm changes, the most important thing is to create a user-friendly experience on your website. Offer a fantastic service, produce creative content, and make yourself stand out from your competition. You might just make the top of the search engine results someday.

Here’s the deal: if you’re having a hard time building links yourself, you can always hire a search engine optimization pro to do it for you. The good news is that it’s their job to keep on top of all the algorithm changes, both now and in the future. Leaving it to the experts means that you can be sure your SEO will always be up to date, without having to keep up with all the complex changes yourself.

What’s the bottom line? Google’s new link policy will help search engine optimization experts to create more advanced hyperlinks, which is used correctly could help your company’s website get higher rankings online. You shouldn’t fear the changes, but rather seem them as another opportunity to get your site up the rankings.

There’s plenty of advice out there if you’re struggling to build good links. Do your research to find the best methods, and remember that it’s not the number of links that’s most important. It’s all about those high-quality backlinks.

How to Rank Higher With Link Building

SEO pros have been manipulating links since the moment they realized how powerful they are. Many have, and still do, try to game the system to gain a higher ranking on the search engines. 

Even though some digital criminals can get away with these tricks, chances are that it’s going to get you into a lot of trouble with Google someday. That’s because these tactics are 100% against the terms of service that Google created themselves. What happens if you end up breaking one of Google’s many rules?

Sadly, Google can end up deindexing your company’s website if that’s the case. That’s why it’s vital to keep only healthy links on your site. A healthy link shows Google that you’re gaining your links fair and square. Trying to boost your rankings by turning to the dark arts may work in the short term, but the long term consequences could be devastating.

At the end of the day, it’s going to take a whole bunch of hard work. Similar to how regular society functions, the rules of the internet are much the same way. So, no lying, cheating, or stealing to build traffic!

If your content is good enough, you’ll start to earn natural links added by web pages to want to be connected to your site. Whenever you create stellar content, it’s common for another company to reference your site.

That’s why it’s vital to create high-quality content that is genuinely useful to other people. As long as your company website can provide the most official information on a subject, then you should have no problem getting linked by other organizations. This process involves absolutely no action on your part. Just turn out great content, and watch the number of backlinks grow.

Sounds good to us!

Keep Up With Google’s Rules For Building Links

Having a hard time keeping up with Google’s rules for building links? You’re not alone. Hopefully, this guide should make Google’s new link building rules a little easier to comprehend.

If you’re a small business owner, there’s no telling how much traffic link building will bring to your site. But you’ll never know until you try! If you’re concerned that you don’t even know where to start, there’s no shame in bringing in professionals to take the link building off your hands and leave you to concentrate on growing your business.

Set up a free strategy session with us by clicking the button below.

CLAIM YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION + PLAN