What is link building?
You have undoubtedly heard about it, received an email about it or you simply know (almost) all the ins and outs of it. That is our experience when it comes to link building – you do not understand anything or you are reasonably aware of how it functions. But what exactly is it and why does your website or webshop need this feature?
Link building is (still) one of the most important ranking factors to be found organically in Google. Organic means that you are shown in Google without running an ad via the search engine giant. Google’s algorithm decides where your impression will appear in the search engine. By applying link building you can ensure that your page will rise in the search engine.
“Reliable links add more value to the search results.”
Which company do you choose?
After years of conversations with entrepreneurs, we now know that link building is easiest to explain through metaphors.
“Suppose there are two painters, one painter knows 100 people and the other painter only 1 person. There is a good chance that the painter who knows 100 people will receive many more assignments than the painter who knows 1 person.” And that’s (roughly) how it works with link building.
Link building, in short, is the gathering of links from third-party websites. A website owner can choose to place a (hyper)link on his or her website and forward it to your one. As a result, you have received a backlink from an external website or a third-party one. The more of these backlinks your website will receive, the more authority it will build in search engines like Google. In fact, you should see backlinks as a kind of vote of approval. The more backlinks or votes a website contains, the more reliable it appears in the eyes of Google. However, this does not mean that you should be happy with all backlinks. More details about this can be found below.
Link building is crucial for the top rankings in Google.
How does link building work at Convident?
When a link-building process is started at Convident, we will first start with an inventory of the current link profile. We do this by making a 0-measurement and noting the current backlinks in our link build file. We don’t want to send duplicate backlinks to a domain.
- How is the current backlink profile doing?
- Are there any websites that are not relevant?
- How authoritative is the website right now?
- How many backlinks does the domain (and the competition) have?
- Do the current backlinks fit within your industry?
- Are there any websites that are harmful to your domain?
When the current backlink profile has been mapped, it will be looked at which backlinks, in which branches or niches, match the branch of sport in which your website is located. Every month, our marketers work for you to place as many (relevant) backlinks that refer to your website. These placed backlinks, blogs, and articles are reported by us on a monthly basis. Our content marketers create valuable content on various industry platforms, blogs, and local and national news websites. Convident has a network in various sectors. A manual check is made to see whether the websites are relevant to your niche and whether they are worth pointing to your domain. If this is the case, a website owner will be contacted with the question of whether they are interested in pointing a backlink to your domain. This can be tackled in different ways after consultation with the entrepreneur.
Why is link building important?
Link building is one of the bigger parts of search engine optimization. Because link building is not immediately visible on your website or webshop as a clear change, it seems as if its value is not that great. However, you can greatly strengthen your website/webshop with link building. Nowadays, search engines are constantly measuring your link profile. In the past it was simply looked at the number of backlinks, however, Google now looks much more at the value of each link and therefore the total amount. With qualitative and relevant backlinks you build your link profile. By also building in a standard working method, you ensure strong links to your website/webshop every month. Google sees that you gradually work on your link profile during the month and that you also acquire qualitative, relevant links. Google greatly values a strong and natural link profile. Websites and webshops that work successfully on their link building will therefore see their website rise above the competition.
At Convident we develop strong and natural link profiles
Moreover, link building is part of search engine optimization and as an entrepreneur, you do not have to pay for your place in the organic search results. This is different from search engine advertising, where you have to pay to be shown in the search results with your ads. Link building takes time to pay off. The search engines, such as Google, need the time to index your link-building activities. Fortunately, Convident online marketers have the experience to ensure that your link-building activities are picked up quickly and are therefore profitable.
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What are good backlinks?
A good backlink comes from an external website that matches your website. If you have a company that specializes in selling consumer electronics, then a link from Tweakers fits very well with that. Backlinks are therefore preferably obtained from websites that are actually relevant and contain good content. The most useful backlinks are links that Google cannot see that you are consciously link building. However, this is easier said than done, because the number of backlinks (quantity) also says something about a backlink profile of a website. So you want to maintain a good balance between very strong links, blog page links, and home page links. This way you maintain the balance between quantity and quality within your link-building process.
A balanced backlink profile ensures a better ranking.
Where do you place a good backlink?
1. Link on the homepage
The position where you place a backlink says something about that certain link. Preferably, your backlink is prominently placed on the homepage of a website. Because of this, this link is often seen and it gets a lot of power from this website for the search engines. The homepage is often seen as the most powerful by search engines. After all, a link on a home page of a company or a heavily visited website must be good, right? However, in practice, it is rare that a link can be placed on a homepage.
2. Link in the form of a blog
That is why we often choose to place a blog on third-party websites. This allows a fun fact or news to be shared and preferably multiple links can be applied in the article.
3. Place a link on a partner page
Many websites have a so-called partner page. These are often pages on a website that are a bit hidden. A website owner often knows that link building is an extremely important ranking factor in Google. Therefore, the domain owner chooses to create an affiliate page on his or her website. This page is nothing but a list of hyperlinks that all point to other domains because a link exchange has been done. When your link is placed on such a page it will be less powerful than a homepage link or a blog article on a website. However, it is still useful to occasionally post such links, since they are indexed by Google and contribute to the number of links that are referred to your website.
“Working on a natural link profile in different ways”
Projects we are proud of!
Does link building take a lot of time?
Link building is a time and energy-consuming process. Moreover, it is a process that is never finished, because the competition is not standing still. Link building can therefore be a certain challenge for a company or organization. One of the reasons link building can take a lot of time is because you also need to give the search engines time to index your newly acquired backlinks. Google should notice your new backlinks and then rate them. In addition, a lot of time goes into link building because it is a constant process. One cannot simply sit down for one day and place dozens of backlinks pointing to your website/webshop. Apart from the fact that this is practically impossible, it is also not a wise thing to do. When many links are redirected to a domain in one batch, this can be seen as spam. Google will see this as manipulation and will mark these links as spam.
It is better to work on your link building a few days a month. This way you gradually place backlinks to your website/webshop during the month. This results in the search engines seeing your link-building activities as natural. If you place dozens of backlinks in one day, the search engine will see this as unnatural and will not give your website/webshop a high ranking. Working on your link profile is therefore a process in which you have to work gradually and which requires a time investment. However, with the right strategy and tools, your link-building strategy can be optimized very well.
External and internal link building make your profile stronger.
Does link building cost a lot of money?
If link building is going to be a time-consuming process, it can cost a lot of money. What the cost would be, differs per approach. There are a number of ways to obtain free links, but you can also have backlinks placed on external websites for a fee. Below are 4 ways to get ‘free’ links:
- Sign up with your business on relevant online business directories and home pages.
- Place links on other websites and/or social media accounts that you manage yourself.
- Ask your company’s partners to post links.
- Place internal links on your website.
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1. Sign up with your business to relevant online business directories and homepages.
By registering your company or organization with online business directories and start pages, a link is placed to your website/webshop. It is very easy to have your company listed in local business directories. Consumers who are looking for, for example, a local hairdresser, contractor, or specific retailer will find your company when they search for one. In addition, the company directory or home page has placed your link, which ensures a stronger link profile towards the search engine. In addition to placing a backlink on start pages, a link to your website/webshop can also be placed in the running text of a blog. Home pages often contain specific topics that are written about. If your company or organization aligns with one of these topics, the placed backlink is therefore very relevant. Be careful with placing home page links and/or company directories links. There needs to be a healthy balance between high-quality links and home page links/business directories that are generally considered less relevant. Use the 80-20 rule in this case
2. Place links on other websites and/or social media accounts that you manage yourself.
If you own multiple websites, it is easy to place backlinks to the website in question. Please note that the links are placed on websites with a strong score and relevant content for the website in question. In addition, you often also own a number of social media accounts that are linked to your company. It is easy to arrange to place a link to your website or webshop on your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter account. Although these links will not be indexed by Google, it is yet another place where you will be mentioned on the internet.
3. Ask your company’s partners to post links.
Physical partners of your company such as customers, suppliers, intermediaries, and/or interest groups can also place a backlink to your website on their website/webshop. You have a good relationship with these parties, which makes it easy to place a backlink. Moreover, both parties reap the benefits.
4. Place internal links on your website.
In addition to placing links to your website/webshop on external websites, you can also link internally. Internal linking means that links are placed on your website and serve as a bridge to other pages within your website. It is good to use these kinds of internal hyperlinks. Google also sees internal linking as link building and therefore contributes to a strong link profile.
“At Convident we believe in a strategic link building plan with objectives.”
Link building strategy components
Common sense can always be used to find out whether a third-party website fits well with your website. Is the topic of the third-party website about the same or is there a connecting topic that I have on my website? If that is the case, it is often quite safe to switch to a link exchange. Within Convident, however, we use special programs to see if a third-party website matches those of our customers. We always check third-party websites for a number of elements. We do this so that we know in advance what kind of exchange we are starting. After all, we don’t want to put energy into a potential link if it isn’t authoritarian or if it doesn’t meet our own conditions.
Link building contains a number of important terms.
1. Trust Flow
The definition of Trust Flow that Majestic itself gives is the following:
Trust Flow is a Majestic Flow Metric score, which is weighted by the number of links from a seed set of trusted sites to a particular URL or domain.
Majestic determines the Trust Flow based on the number of quality links that are referred to a website. The higher the number of trusted websites that are redirected to a domain, the higher the Trust Flow will be. This also works the other way around – if Majestic sees that many spammy links from, for example, home page websites are referred to a domain, the TF (Trust Flow) will be lower than desired.
2. Citation Flow
The definition of citation Flow that Majestic itself gives is the following:
Citation Flow is a Majestic Flow Metric score, which is weighted by the number of citations to a particular URL or domain.
In other words, this says something about the number of referred backlinks to a domain. Ideally, the Trust Flow and Citation Flow are practically in balance. Is the Citation Flow of a website much higher than the Trust Flow? This means that there are many links to the domain of low quality.
3. Domain Authority
The Domain Authority is also a widely used metric within the world of link building. This metric was developed by Moz and was given the following definition:
Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). Domain Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a higher probability of ranking. Domain Authority is based on data from our Link Explorer web index and uses dozens of factors in its calculations. The actual domain authority computation itself uses a machine learning model to predict a “best fit” algorithm. This algorithm will correlate our link data with rankings in thousands of actual search results that we use as standards to scale against.
Moz uses a self-designed machine learning model in order to define the strength of a website in the eyes of Google. The higher the DA (Domain Authority) and PA (Page Authority (fsa), the quality of a website, it will be a link to the post.
4. Spam score website
A common metric that is included during link building is the spam score of a website. This spam score, again developed by Moz, shows to what extent a website has received a Google penalty or perhaps has been completely banned by Google. The definition of the spam score that Moz itself gives is the following:
Within Link Explorer, the spam score represents the percentage of sites with similar features to the site you’re researching that we’ve determined have been penalized or banned by Google. Spam Score is based on our machine learning model which identified 27 commonalities of the millions of banned or penalized sites in the data we gave them.
- A score of 1%-30% is considered a low spam score.
- A score of 31%-60% is considered an average spam score.
- A score of 61%-100% is considered a high spam score.
A high spam score for your site, or a site you are viewing, does not mean that this site is necessarily spamming. It’s a sign that you need to do a little more research into the quality and relevance of this platform. Read more about using spam score.
“Develop a natural link profile together with Convident”
Link Building Concepts
As can be seen, there are many different ways to work on link building. Similarly, there are many different concepts around link building. A number of terms are explained below.
What is an anchor text?
An anchor text is a word or phrase on a web page that can be clicked and redirects the user to a specific URL. When subpages or pages with a complicated URL need to be referenced, anchor text is used. The anchor text is then a relevant word or phrase that is linked to a URL. The (often blue) colored word ‘URL’ is an example of an anchor text. It gives the user the option to click on it and go to the page where the term URL is explained. This page contains a specific URL. However, this URL is too long and complicated to include in the body of the text, so anchor text in the form of the word ‘URL’ is used.
These types of hyperlinks connect different pages on the internet. It is important when choosing your anchor text that you take search engine optimization into account. Relevant keywords related to the reference can be used for the anchor text. For example, an anchor text contributes to the score in the search engine results.
In some cases, it is not necessary to use an anchor text. The original URL is then simply used as one. The main reason for this is when the URL being referenced is not complex. For example, consider www.convidentdigitalagency.com, for the user the text is clear to read and it indicates the content of the reference. The complete URL is then included in the running text and in this way gives the user the possibility to redirect to the relevant page. Add the hyperlink to the backend of the website, otherwise, it will not be clickable.
A balance between the number of referring domains and backlinks.
What are referring domains?
Referring domains are domains that contain a backlink to your website/webshop. The external website that places a link to your one is a referring domain. The number of referring domains that your website owns is therefore equal to or lower than the number of backlinks that your website possesses. Keep in mind that having multiple backlinks placed via one referring domain will not ensure a stronger link profile. On the contrary, when Google sees that one website always refers to the same website/webshop, this will have a negative impact on your ranking.
A small example. Suppose a local painter painted the shed at your home. You are very satisfied with the result and show this by telling people in the neighborhood that the painter is very good at his job. No problem, but when you constantly tell everyone in the neighborhood how good the painter is at his job, it can be experienced as irritating or even spam. You are the referring domain in this story, and use your voice (backlink) to show how positive you are. However, it is much more helpful to the painter if several people (referring domains) from the neighborhood talk positively about him.
In conclusion, the number of referring domains will have more influence on the domain authority of your website than the number of backlinks. It is certainly not a shame to have a few backlinks placed on the same referring domain, but too many will have a negative effect.
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What is a link partner?
A link partner is someone with a relevant website who wants to place a backlink to your website. You need link partners to work on your link building. This way, your website/webshop will be further optimized for the search engines.
What is Internal Link Building?
Internal link building is the placement of links within your own website. These links can be clicked, which leads the user to other (sub) pages or content within your website. Internal link building also adds value to your link profile and ensures that your website or webshop rises in the online search results.
What is a link-building blog?
A link-building blog is a very strong way to get backlinks on external websites. Often only a hyperlink is placed on the partner page of an external website. Users usually don’t look at these partner pages. These are more for the owner of the website to be able to lose his links and therefore for the search engines to be able to read correctly. When a backlink is integrated into a blog, the link to your website gets a much more prominent place on the external website. In a link-building blog, you can discuss relevant topics that relate to your company. The written blog contains hyperlinks that contain a URL pointing to your website. Writing a relevant blog for your link building takes a little more time than having a backlink placed on an external website, but Google gives it a much higher rank.
What is an ABC Link Swap?
When in a link exchange two owners of a website agree to place backlinks to everyone’s website, Google will recognize this. It will then label the two placed backlinks as less valuable.
A stronger way of link exchange is through an ABC link exchange. An ABC link exchange requires three websites; website A, website B, and website C.
Suppose you manage two websites yourself, namely website A and website B. You would like to perform link exchange with website C, only website C also wants a backlink on your website. In this link exchange, it is then possible that website C places a backlink to your website A. And in return, you place a backlink from website C on your website B. With this approach there is no direct link exchange between two websites and Google, therefore, sees the placed backlinks as more valuable. Please note that there is no connection between your two websites A and B, because then Google will recognize the direct link exchange.
“We have many link partners and provide quality ABC link exchange opportunities.”
What is a link chart?
The link building software from Majestic also provides a link graph in its overview. A link chart shows the network of top links that surrounds a site. By making a graph of this, it is possible to map out how the discovered websites are all connected. Right in the middle of the link chart is the website for which link building is being performed. Around it are several clusters of website locations where backlinks are placed.
For example, a link graph can be used to find out where natural or unnatural networks are located around a website, and/or to get an overview of how clusters are connected.
What is a link profile?
A link profile shows the profile of a website, which is made up of the backlink data of the relevant website. This backlink data consists of various criteria such as the Trust Flow, Citation Flow, Domain Authority, and Spam Score. On Majestic’s link-building software, the link profile is displayed in the form of a scatter chart. Based on the way in which the various points on the scatter diagram are aligned/mapped out, it can be read whether the link profile is healthy. A scatter plot where the different points are far apart and not around a linear line indicates a weak link profile.
What is link bait?
The name linkbait already reveals it a bit, you entice people to link to your page. This can be applied in various ways, for example by writing a strong page that is used as a source. In addition, it can also be used by putting something funny on your website. Many people will recognize it when it is said; ishetalweekend.nl You can of course apply a similar idea to your own website or webshop. Linkbait is often known for something negative, but this does not have to be the case at all. In 2006 Matt Cutts, the head of Webspam Team Google, informed us that this will not negatively affect your website.
Linkbait can give your company a lot of backlinks.