Link Building – Is It Really That Important For Achieving High Rankings?

Fact vs. Fiction: A Look at Link Building

If there was ever a more misunderstood topic dealing with search engine optimization practices, then link building just might be it. There is so much misinformation floating all over the internet about how to go about a link building campaign. It really can get mind-boggling.

Why? Because the independent professional or small business owner who’s earnestly trying to get their website high rankings, has to plow through a lot of conflicting information about LINKS! In the big picture of achieving high SERP’s, just WHAT do links really have to do with your website’s success?

The Search Engines Love Quality Links

One of the keys to not only achieving high rankings, but building long-term traffic is to obtain as many relevant links pointing to your website as possible. A very accepted and good way to accomplish this is to participate in a link exchange. And here is a very important fact to always keep in mind: you don’t want to partner up with every Tom, Dick & Harry site out there!

Here’s the KEY: Always check to make sure the websites have quality information that is related to your site’s theme. No ifs, ands, or buts. For example, if you’ve got an accounting site, then seek out those websites that are in some way focused around an accounting theme. I’ll say it again! Links pointing to your website from other sites that have little or nothing to do with the overall niche of your site are almost WORTHLESS for ranking purposes.

Quality Is 100% More Important Than Quantity!

Believe it or not, the search engines really do know if you’ve got a few hundred in-pointing links from non-related junk sites, or if you’ve got links pointing to your site from websites with themes similar to yours that also have good, relevant content to boot.

A big challenge many web owners face when trying for link exchanges is finding qualified leads. This can be a really tedious task if you don’t know where to look and/or how to go about it.

Buying an SEO “Link Building Package” is Bad Strategy! Buying so-called search engine optimization software or programs that promise to supply you with hundreds of links to “rocket your website to the top of the search engine results” is wrong, wrong, wrong! Why? Simply stated, you will not get quality inpointing links from quality sites that have a similar theme to yours. (Didn’t I say that before?? )

Every website has different needs to have a successful link building campaign. Thusly, auto-submission SEO software programs are flawed in concept from the get-go. Yup!

So … How Do You Get Quality Inbound Links?

I’ll tell you … it’s a time consuming, never ending process. Researching, emailing prospective link partners, more researching, etc., etc. must take place. Like everything else pertaining to your website, if it’s quality you’re after, then yes, there is some (a lot of) elbow grease involved!

I can recommend a great affordable tutorial offered by the highly respected team at SEOmoz.org. This info-rich beginner’s level guide will help make you more “link savvy” and get you up to speed. “The Professional’s Guide to Link Building” is only $39.00 (I don’t make a dime from this recommendation). It’s worth every penny. You’ll find 50-pages of valuable no-nonsense link building strategy information. Go to: The Professional’s Guide to Link Building by SEOmoz.org

Words of Wisdom from a Link Building Guru

Another helpful piece of FREE information I can pass along to you is this: head on over to Eric Ward’s Website and read his “LinkMoses” articles on link building strategy.  Oh … I should mention he is considered the #1 “White Hat” link building authority/expert. He does have an SEO link building subscription newsletter you can sign up for. (I have no affiliation with him. I’m just passing along quality information to you!)