Guest Blogging and Backlink Building

A successful search engine optimization plan must involve a few key components. First, you must have unique and relevant content. Second, you need to post this content on a regular basis (check out my recent post on the new Google Caffeine indexing update for a detailed explanation). And thirdly, you need to have other websites link back to your domain. Not only does backlink building help show search engines that your website is an expert resource, but it also helps increase the flow of high-quality visitors to your site.

What is a Backlink?

Backlinks or “link backs” are incoming links to a website or web page. This type of linking program was originaly deemed necessary during the early days of the Internet as a way to help navigate between different domains. Today, major search engines use backlinks to help establish the value of any given site. The number of backlinks to a website is an indication of how popular, and more importantly, how useful your content is to visitors. The more people that link to your resources, the more important your site must be in relation to other websites in your industry.

Not all Links are Created Equal

There are several factors out there that determine the value of a backlink. A general rule of thumb – if it’s easy to get the backlink, it’s probably not going to benefit your site a whole lot in the long run. An example of an “easy” backlink is a directory submission. There are literally millions of link directories on the Internet. Websites of all shapes and sizes can submit their homepage link to these sites in order to create a pathway back to their website. As you can imagine, these aren’t overly useful. You won’t see a lot of quality traffic surfing a directory, and search engines don’t give link-heavy directory sites much credit when indexing. I’m not saying you shouldn’t submit to directories, you certainly should – just don’t base your entire SEO strategy on it. Instead, focus on creating content that will naturally attract links. This is called linkbaiting. When you write a great breaking news article on your website, people are immediately drawn to it. What’s more, they’ll want to share this resource with others – i.e. they’ll link to your post on other websites. Linkbaiting takes far more time and energy than directory submissions, but it’s well worth the quality traffic flow and increased search engine visibility.

Get a Free Backlink – Guest Blog for CIK!

Want to start building backlinks to your blog, but aren’t sure where to start? Well, why not write a guest blog for the CIK Marketing website? If you’re an online marketer with knowledge to spare, I’d love to post your thoughts here. Or perhaps you own a Chatham-Kent business that’s found the perfect marketing niche online. Either way, I want to hear your story! Send your blog idea to CIK Marketing using our contact page – if I think your topic will be beneficial to the readers of the CIK Marketing blog, you’re in! Every guest blogger will be entitled to a free link back to their homepage. It’s that easy, I promise!

How do you build quality links back to your website? Discuss ideas below!