Building quality backlinks has been said to be one of the major backbones of search engine optimization and this has been proven to be true. Although optimizing your site for search engines does not fully depend on the number of backlinks you have, it depends on other factors such as the quality of those backlinks, how effective your on-page SEO is, domain age among other things.
Most bloggers believe that it all depends on building backlinks and some even go as far as buying low quality links (which I’m guilty of) but over the years, I’ve come to realize that the most effective backlinks are those your earn, not those low quality ones you build.
Does commenting really work?
Well, yeah… to say the least but if you ask me, I’ll tell you I’m not a believer. A great number of those blogs you comment on already told search engines not to follow your links and your links on those comments probably have no SEO value. I can say that 80% of blogs apply nofollow attribute to comment links and search engines most likely won’t follow those links.
What about buying backlinks?
Been there, done that, got hammered by google and lost my precious PR5. You effing heard me right! This blog was once a PR5 site and for a moment, I enjoyed it. It was a good feeling ranking higher than other blogs in your niche… come on, PR5 ain’t no joke but you know what? I lost it and backslided to 3, lost quite a lot of traffic and each PageRank update still got me sitting at PR3.
That is where buying huge, low quality backlinks can get you. I was lucky to bounce back by stopping all link building activity and focusing just on on-page optimization. Of course, I’m not disputing the fact that there are SEO companies who can help you build your backlinks the right way but an average blogger who isn’t earning yet might not be able to afford such services.
So, what is the right way to build links?
Sometimes, hiring a reputable SEO company may be the easiest way out but then, some of these so called SEO companies will only build low quality links for you using some automated tool or something. Some… not all, so don’t get me wrong.
Also, posting in forums (if they won’t ban you) can be a good place to start with. Another often neglected source of quality backlinks is social bookmarking and feed readers. I won’t be going into those fully right now but rather going to focus on earning backlinks.
How to earn quality backlinks
Now, what works for me as a tech blogger might not work for you if you’re in a different niche, I think we need to get that straight. For quite a while, I’ve been earning lots of natural backlinks and I can boldly say that most of these have great SEO values. However, I still believe you should be able to pick a point or two from my rantings.
1. Write concise, high quality useful posts: You’ve probably heard this a zillion times before but it can’t be overemphasized. These types of posts often earn you backlinks from other blogs who would deem it fit to just link to you in an article as a reference.
2. Write tutorials that actually solve problems: I know this may not apply to everyone but I’ve gotten loads of backlinks using this strategy. I keep getting referrals from web forums I don’t even know where someone would ask a question and one of my links would be dropped as an answer.
3. Be grammatically fluent, eliminate typos: Not all bloggers are fluent with the use of English but you must command the language with ease if you actually want your posts to earn high quality links. Sharpening your writing skills may be a long journey you have to take before getting there.
4. Write honest reviews and testimonials: There was a day I was tracking my backlinks from Google Webmaster Tools and I saw one from Avast.com. Wondering how I got it? It was a review of their antivirus solution for Android written by a guest author, Edi Ifediri of Editiweaks.com, that got me listed on their website. Also, testimonials such as the one I wrote on my domain registrar’s site got me a backlink. See what I mean?
5. Create useful tools and widgets: I’ve already told you that some of these strategies may not apply to you if you’re not a tech blogger. Creating useful tools and widgets with your web programming knowledge can earn you loads of backlinks. Enough said.
Of course, there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there are more ways to earn those high quality links I did forget to mention or not even using at the moment. Again, if I’m going to be honest with you, you must build backlinks before you start earning them. Your on-page SEO must be tight. Doing these alone won’t get you there, it’s only gonna help along the way.
About Don Caprio
Twitter: Awwal1st
says:
Thanks for this awwesome post, i have learn some great tips here that can help me build a better backlink for my blog
Shehu Awwal recently posted..Giveaway #1: Free Blogger Blog Customization & Design
i am just searching about it and got it in ur blog..
gr888..
Debasish Panda recently posted..Happy to Declare Our Plan For a WordPress Blog
Nice one bro! Thanks for the tips
Lordemma recently posted..How To Speed Up Your Site Using Gzip Compress
Twitter: mavtrevor
says:
This is indeed a great post Don as i totally agree with you on the blog commenting area. Most blogs dont want to share their link juice and as so have changed their attribute to nofollow, except for its traffic benefits blog commenting technique is dead, and just like i’ve always heard and said, high quality content is the only solution to earning easy and free backlinks from other bloggers as they will naturally link to your articles. Thanks for a great post as this.
Nwosu Desmond recently posted..How to play mobile games on PC using emulator
Really, I wouldn’t blame them. It’s a hard thing when people start spamming your blog cuz it’s a sure source of links with SEO value.
Twitter: googlai
says:
Hi fried i agree with your point. Backlinks are backbones and help to quick ranking but some people leave spam comment or use automated tools. So that as a blogger should monitors the quality of links or comment moderation.
Googma Sansar recently posted..70 ways to Get More Website Traffic to Your site
Twitter: Femiry
says:
Quality article right here. Thanks for sharing.
Jerry Saliu recently posted..How to Remove your Social Profile from Google Search
Twitter: DONOCSO
says:
Oga na master, always on point just like oga jide post reading it pays the bill.
Twitter: edi4all
says:
Thanks so much for this quality stuff, and the mention you gave me up there.
You know? This Link building of thing is so vast, but lately some members in Warriorforum were telling me that there are no such thing as DO-Follow links, I wonder how.
So here’re my questions:
1. Is it true that DO-follow attribute doesn’t exist as they said.
2. since I had no time to write my self, I had been updating my blog with Guest Posts, lot’s of them, though they are good stuff, does this in anyway affect my blogs performance.
Thanks Bro Don
Edi Ifediri recently posted..Cross Your Fingers! The iPhone 5 Jailbreak Is Coming Soon
You’re welcome, bro. And to the questions:
1. dofollow exists but nobody uses it anymore. So far a link doesn’t have the nofollow attribute, it’s automatically a dofollow link.
2. Guest posts can be great but you hould be careful at the same time. I haven’t been accepting guest articles on this blog for quite a while. I think you may want to check this article – Should You Really Accept Guest Posts on Your Blog?
Twitter: obasimvilla
says:
This is really a very nice article. guest post, Tutorials and widget has been a source of backlink for me for time being. Thanks for sharing this
Obasi Miracle recently posted..Re: Download highly edited wapka.mobi script you can use for your mobile site
Twitter: Yogirajmishra
says:
Very clear and useful ,
thanks for this post Don
Yogiraj mishra recently posted..How to manage are your cloud storage at one place
Twitter: ArewaTech_CEO
says:
It’s true, most blogs put no-follow attribute to comments. Guest post and quality content is a sure way to build backlinks. Thank you for putting this up
post commenting has been helping me since i started blogging. there are still many blogs out there who’s comments are do follows. well this is a lovely post. nice weekend!
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Twitter: dekokoblog
says:
Nice one Don. Really love your post. so educating
Essien recently posted..How to Track Your Adsense Check
Twitter: highonseo
says:
Earning backlinks – it sounds so simple and yet, everyone has their own take on it. Guest posting is contentious right now, as Don mentioned. I’ve seen a lot of “this is ALL THE WAYS to build the backlinks” posts lately. That’s cool for ideas but hardly the be-all, end-all. Mostly, people focus on “making” people link (auto profile, auto blog comment, whatever) instead of making people “want” to link to you. It’s making them what it that matters.
Matt A. recently posted..60 (Still Working) Twitter Tools to Manage Social Media
Thank you very much for the information. Is it really backlink can improve our keyword appears at the first page of google?
Dickson recently posted..7 Waste yang harus dihindari dalam Produksi
Your Blog is Fabulous. Good article rather. Very interesting.
I admire the valuable information you offered in your article. Excellent submission very good post.
This is a nice and concise post about building backlinks. I would have enjoyed reading more specific details about how your website became to be a PR3 instead of general statements, but still a great post.
Thanks for this awesome post. I got some great tips here that can help me build a better backlink for my blog.
Twitter: dawatech
says:
what a nice tips on backlinks !
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Well I agree with you since have quality links will automatically increases the reputation of a site and mostly I use guest blogging to get legit links.
Hi Don! I agree with you that natural back links are really useful. Content is the major key for the success of a certain site. If it is reliable and worthy, the readers will go back to the site to browse the information again not only that they will share it to their friends and relatives so now viral marketing in Savannah happen. Well SEO Company can also help to gain back links and traffic. At this time I am looking for SEO Company that can help me to boost my traffic, rank, and back links. Of you have some recommendation it will be a great help.
There’s one I personally use but making an open recommendation may look kinda… I dunno. You can shoot me a message.
Twitter: googlai
says:
Hi Don !
Back link building is one of the most important task and buying links are useless. so that we have to focus our concentration for natural link building. i agree with you back-link building tips. Best Way to buidling Free Backlink is nice ideas to boost page ranking and search engine visibility.
Googma Sansar recently posted..Social Media Optimization (SMO) Strategy
That’s correct, Googma. Buying links often lead to Google blacklisting your website for spamming.
Twitter: thescript102
says:
Awesome post Don caprio thanks for sharing and keep it coming !
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Twitter: mbloggingtips
says:
Ya! buying backlink is the worst of them.
Abhishek recently posted..3 in 1 (Google+, Facebook, Twitter) Fan Box For Blogger
You’re right, Abishek. It does more evil than good in most cases.
thank you sir. for this great information.
WeHelpAlways
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The quality and content is great, and it is very quick and easy to follow along. I really look forward to seeing more. Thank you so much!
Thank you fr such an inforamtive and detailed post.
Rahul recently posted..15 Killer Ways To build High Quality Backlinks To Your Blog Instantly