Are you rejecting link building opportunities that you should be considering?
Link building certainly isn’t easy, but being a link snob could be hampering the potential reach of your website and the subsequent growth of your business and be detrimental to your overall content marketing outreach strategy.
It is, of course, imperative to avoid building a profile that is filled with links from questionable sources, but the notion that there is only one type of acceptable link is wholly false.
As there are all sorts of very different types of link that aren’t going to destroy your website overnight, maintaining a ‘variety is the spice of life’ perspective will help you to build a broad and healthy link profile which perfectly balances risk and reward.
The importance of a varied link profile
Every webmaster naturally has their own opinion on how links should be built. Some don’t want to be linked on the same page as a competitor and many consistently fail to see the vast potential value of ‘nofollow’ links.
Link education has made leaps and bounds in recent years, but refusing to consider a variety of link types, which is an approach that a significant number webmasters are still maintaining, can very quickly become an issue that does more harm than good.
Common link building misconceptions
If you were to look over a link profile containing a large percentage of guest posts, directory sites, or social bookmarks, you certainly wouldn’t be alone if your first thought was that it belongs to a website that should expect a penalty to arrive imminently.
There are, in fact, very few ways to build links that haven’t been penalised after being misused by optimisation specialists in the past. This has unfortunately resulted in many webmasters falling into the trap of immediately discounting certain types of links before even beginning to consider the potential value of utilising them in measured and considered ways as part of a broader strategy.
Links often come in and out of fashion, which is why consistently maintaining an open mind is always the best course of action.
A few examples of the different types of links often found in healthy link profiles
– Guest posts
– Sponsored posts
– Social links
– Positive reviews
– Negative reviews
– Interviews
– Quotes
– Comments
– Links with ‘nofollow’ attributions
– Mentions without the inclusion of a link
Some link building dont’s
Relying on one type of link is a sure way to guarantee that your link profile will look a bit spammy. On the other hand, a varied link profile will ensure your website looks authoritative, respected, and valuable in the eyes of search engines.
Don’t immediately discount links with nofollow attributions. If you refuse a link from a popular website simply because they have a ‘nofollow’ attribution policy in place, you are essentially turning away a potentially large amount of traffic. Not all websites are going to be in a position to adhere to your guidelines, so it’s your responsibility to make sure that you aren’t missing out on valuable connections.
We’re all a bit wary of being hit with a penalty for bad links, but being a link snob simply isn’t the best approach to take if you want to see significant growth in the ultra-competitive modern digital marketplace.
If you would like some help with your link building strategies or any other digital marketing service that we offer please get in touch and we would be happy to help, either call us on 01642 927769 or email us.