Natural Link Building Techniques: The Search Engine Point of View
Anyone familiar with the natural principles of search engine optimization knows that “content is king.” However, it is also well known that inbound links help all of that content rank higher. Simply put, search engines treat each link to your content as a vote. The more quality “votes” your content gets, the more “important” it will be considered.
However, before you rush to acquire as many links as possible, it’s important to understand what search engines think of the various link building methods. It’s about quality, not quantity. It is critical that you use natural link building techniques, rather than methods designed to manipulate search engine algorithms.
The search engine philosophy on link building
All major search engines share the same philosophy: website owners should always think about what is best for their visitors, not what will rank for them best. The good news is that since search engine algorithms are designed to rank best for the best content, the interest of the search engines is perfectly aligned with the interest of your site visitors, since people are too. You (obviously) love great content. When it comes to link building, they want site owners to focus on providing their visitors with great content, which in turn will drive people to link to that content. They consider this link building “natural”.
What is considered unnatural?
What search engines do not consider natural is anything that is done with the intent to rank higher, as this impairs their ability to spot the actual sites that deserve to be at the top of search results based on the quality of its content.
There are many specific link building techniques being promoted right now. We must always remember that search engines have an incentive to make sure that users always get the most relevant and high-quality results at the top of the list when they search on their engine. So it’s nothing personal when they penalize sites or exclude them from their indexes. They are just doing what they think will give their users the best experience.
Link building techniques should not be manipulative
If we are truly honest with ourselves and look beyond our own interests, we must recognize that if search engines could be manipulated by everyone, they would be worthless, full of spam and garbage. It would be difficult and time consuming to find the best content, as sites that have no real value would always rank highly simply because they knew the latest tricks. We all wish we could rank high for our terms, with little to no effort, yet deep down, we know life just doesn’t work this way. Usually, if we want to be on top of life, it takes time and hard work. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it’s never easy.
It is no different with link building. Backlinks don’t appear overnight. It takes time and effort to keep your site updated with new content on a regular basis, however the long-term rewards make it worth it.
“Provide high-quality content on your pages… This is the most important thing to do. If your pages contain useful information, your content will attract many visitors and attract webmasters to link to your site.” (Source: Google Webmaster Guidelines)
By focusing on great content, over time your site will acquire links naturally. This is the only legitimate way to acquire links. The time spent developing great content is more than just the best option… it’s the ONLY option for the smart site owner.