Lindsay Kolowich says, “Backlinks (i.e., inbound links) are different from outbound links (links from your website to another website) and internal links (links from one website to another page on that same website). You can learn more about the differences between all three link types here. The right backlinks can do two great things for your website: – They can drive traffic to your website. If someone posts a backlink to your website on their website or blog, their readers might click on it — and you’ll benefit from that referral traffic. For example, many of you who... [...]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “There’s no question that building great inbound links to your site is hard work. While many site owners resort to spamming blog comment sections to get their backlinks, that’s neither necessary, nor effective for your SEO efforts. But it’s probably just a last ditch effort since, although there’s much talk about generating inbound links, the nitty-gritty ways to actually do that are rarely discussed. New Call-to-action But link building doesn’t need to be as tough as most people make it. Think of it like social media — if you’re a source... [...]

Winston Burton says, “I recently attended a search conference and had the opportunity to converse with attendees from a wide range of fields, with varying SEO backgrounds and experiences. After many interesting and engaging conversations, a common takeaway stood out to me: People are hung up on technical SEO metrics. I remember multiple questions like, “What’s your minimum threshold for Trust Flow?” or, “Okay, you get relevant links, but what is the average Domain Authority?” I shared my observation with our sales team when I returned, and they confirmed this was a common theme... [...]

Neil Patel says, “The exact details of Google’s search algorithms aren’t public knowledge, making it somewhat difficult to know exactly what it is the search giant is looking for in quality websites. One of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of these quality rankings is the importance of “white-hat” link-building as part of a solid SEO strategy. The term refers to the desire to create a good product or a service that people will want to link to (the “white-hat” reference) and that over time may increase your search ranking. The confusion over white hat was... [...]

Julie Joyce says, “I get incredibly annoyed when I receive an email offering SEO services, especially when the sender notes that he or she has looked at my site, checked my rankings and can tell me why I’m doing so poorly in Google. If you’re an SEO, I’m sure you get tons of these emails, too. While I know that it’s just automated spam, I’m still offended. This type of email clogs up inboxes and likely prevents legitimate outreach requests from being read. Since our main method of developing links involves email outreach, this poses a serious problem for us. I’m not trying to... [...]

Pratik Dholakiya says, “Link building remains the cornerstone of most search engine optimization efforts. According to Moz’s “2015 Search Engine Ranking Factors Study,” links have the strongest association with higher search rankings of all the (known) attributes used by Google in its core ranking algorithm. But one of the most common issues for small businesses is the struggle to build quality links. Lacking unfamiliarity with current SEO best practices, many small firms still fall for the infamous black hat tactics to get links. That is a mistake. You see, search engines will continue... [...]

John Doherty says, “As a startup founder myself, it feels weird to talk about startups through the lens of backlinks. After all, there are so many other things to worry about — how’s my cash flow? Are my employees getting paid? How does the deal flow look? Are we going to hit our targets for this month/quarter? Why is the website/app so slow? Did that vendor pay us that huge amount they owe? What if I told you that I’ve seen (and helped) companies land funding off the back of solid SEO practices, including link acquisition and content creation? By integrating SEO into PR, outreach,... [...]

Aaron Agius says, “Backlink analysis is one of the most discussed and strategized search engine optimization (SEO) tasks out there. But today, there are so many relevant tools out there that backlink analysis has become a seemingly overwhelming task. The good news is, you don’t have to take all the same arduous steps the other SEOs tell you to. Here’s the savvy SEO’s guide to backlink analysis. 1. Choose your tools. First, choose your tools. There are plenty of different options out there, though most have similar features and functionality”. The Savvy SEO’s Guide to Backlink... [...]

Eric Siu says, “The introduction of Google’s Panda algorithm left webmasters and online business owners alike scrambling. The change was designed to lower the rank of low-quality or “thin” sites and return higher-quality sites to the top of the search results. But that change left business owners anxious, as they searched furiously for new and innovative ways to create the consistent and exceptional content that would protect their search rankings. The result is that it’s no longer as easy to rank online content as it once was. But, here’s a tip regarding one of the... [...]

Taylor Tomita says, “The definition of link building has always been the same, but the process of acquiring these links has changed vastly in the recent times, just like many other things have changed over the past few years. Being able to explore an underground park or travel from place to place on the beloved hoverboard scooters are opportunities that have arisen in the last year alone, and among these changing times is the seemingly-endless world of link building in search engine optimization (SEO). Are you still doing the same link building you were doing last year, or the year before... [...]