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The original name of Google was Backrub, because backlinks were a crucial factor in how the search engine identified quality content. While Google’s algorithm is now much more sophisticated, backlinks are still important — but they have to be the right kind. Is your backlink strategy up to par?

Google learned that many people were furiously generating backlinks to boost their ranks. Now, strategies such as private blog networks and comment spamming can hurt your search engine rankings. So, what’s the right way to build backlinks? Let’s take a look.

  1. Make Your Site Backlink-Friendly

    If your site is disorganized or full of broken links, you’re likely not going to rank high in Google search results, and other sites won’t want to link to yours. It’s worth your time and effort to create a well-built site with clear heading structures, high-value content, and consistent organization. And remember, broken links tell Google that your site is out-of-date and should be de-emphasized in search results.

    Do a thorough audit of your site and remove any clunky, spammy, or outdated content. Be sure that you optimize each of your pages for search engines by using a logical heading structure, up-to-date code, and easily parsed content. Once you’ve made it easier for both bots and human users to navigate your site, you’re ready to start pursuing high-quality backlinks. (Learn more about how to improve your
    on-page SEO
    .)

  1. Build Backlinks Slowly

    It’s tempting to try to build up your backlinks as soon as your post is published. Unfortunately, that can trigger Google’s red flag system and potentially harm your ranking — or even get your page de-indexed! Don’t go nuts creating backlinks on various sites. Instead, focus on getting your page indexed by Google. That’s the first step to achieving real backlinks from high-quality sites.

    Search for your page at Alexa.com or share it on Google Plus to kick-start the process. These tactics help Google’s bots crawl your page more quickly. Once that’s done, you can reach out to sites with high domain authority and start requesting backlinks. One powerful and effective strategy is to reach out to sites with broken links and offer your high-quality content as a substitute.

  1. Focus on Providing Value

    The best backlinks are those that other people create for you. In an ideal world, you’d never need to actively pursue backlinks; your content is simply so great that other people link to it and boost your site’s ranking. The good news is that this does happen if you make your website something that people want to link to. As the saying goes, “Content is king.” So, make sure that your site is well-organized, easy-to-read, and chock-full of interesting, authoritative content.

    One way to boost your site’s internal links and encourage multiple, high-quality backlinks is to create content pillars, aka cornerstone posts. These are authoritative sources of information that you can disseminate into various forms of content, all pointing to each other. It’s a way to boost your pages’ rankings without cannibalizing your targeted keywords.

  1. Conclusion

    A large part of obtaining high-quality backlinks is simply to optimize your site with valuable content. Most old-school link-building efforts can trigger Google’s algorithm in the wrong way, hurting your rankings and decreasing your site’s authority. The best way to build links is to have content that people want to link to.

    You can still actively seek backlinks from other sites, but it’s important to make sure those sites have high domain authority and can provide you with a targeted, keyword-rich link. That means that private blog networks and link farms just won’t work anymore. Focus on building partnerships with other content publishers and generating content that will be useful to others — and watch your backlinks
    grow organically.

    Want to be sure that your website is optimized for search engines and ready for backlinks? Our SEO experts at Dotlogics are happy to help.

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