Lessons in SEO: How to Get Backlinks that Work

seo-backlinks

In one of my recent guest posts on this blog I explained the SEO process I go through to optimize my weight loss blog for the search engines, and I even gave you an example of one of my pages that is ranking number one for a weight loss related page. The idea of the post is to give you basic insight into what my SEO process is like, the results I’ve been getting from it and how you can replicate it for your website.

After rereading the article myself and considering how essential quality links have been to my SEO process for my weight loss blog I have decided to share with you how to get backlinks that work. This article will be focused on gaining backlinks alone and I’ll be sharing the tips I use as well as some unique tips I’ve been able to learn from other experts over the years. It isn’t necessary that you should follow this exact process or that you should use all the tips in this article, learning a lesson or two and applying it to your business will surely be of great impact.

Use of Anchor Text

In SEO terminology an anchor text is the URL linked to a particular text so as to indicate what that URL is talking about. While the content on the page linked to also matters a lot, the rankings will mostly be influenced by what external anchor texts pointing to the page are saying. For example, if I were to link to my best weight loss programs page on my blog, the anchor text is the keyword “best weight loss programs” and it is linking to a page I want to rank for that keyword (that is actually already ranking #1 for that keyword).

The thing about anchor texts is that it can be easy to influence and the search engines are also aware of this so they decided to introduce a counter-measure. If too much of a particular anchor text is pointing to a particular page it will be placed under suspicion, as a page that is potentially trying to game the search engines for better rankings. This is why it is important to be careful with anchor text usage, and I’ll be giving you an idea of what you can do below.

Anchor Text Variation

This is the process of using different, but related, keywords as anchor texts so as to make your link profile look as natural as possible. In other words, if you’re trying to rank for the “weight loss” keyword, instead of using the keyword “weight loss” alone you can actually use several variations of it such as “best weight loss tips”, “top weight loss blog”, “weight loss ultimatum” etc. One thing about all these variations is that they contain the weight loss keyword, and a single page optimizing for all of them will gradually move up the ranks for the main weight loss keyword.

Another thing about anchor texts is that you don’t actually have to always link your anchor text to your target URL. While it is great to have a great proportion of your links do that you should actually vary it and use natural texts like “click here”, “read more” etc., while surrounding those natural texts with your keywords. E.g., if you want to learn more about the best medifast coupons click here to see what I have to say. Did you notice how I carefully included a link in the “click here” section while still using the keywords around it? Search engines take note of that as it looks so natural, and to affirm my point is a recent experiment conducted by James Agate on SEOMoz; that experiment is full of great SEO goodies so check it out!

Quality vs. Quantity

This next step is a crucial one, something a lot of link builders often ignore.

One question that has always been in the mind of people when it comes to link building is the question of quantity vs. quality. In other words, which is better in a link on a big blog compared to 5 links on a small blog? The answer is straightforward and simple, but not that obvious, a link on a big blog that has been established for over 5 years is far better and authoritative than a link on 5 – 8 small blogs that were started this year, even if they both have good interaction going on around them. This only buttresses one point, instead of focusing on generating masses of links, focus on generating quality links on a gradual basis. That way, your brand and business will be associated with those big brands that get a lot of search traffic and your rankings will gradually move up the SERPs.

One thing, though, is that it takes time but you can be assured of those links having a lasting effect on your blog and brand.

Difference in Backlink Sources

One thing I’d like you to note, though, is that there should be a difference in the kind of backlinks you get. In other words, don’t just get all your backlinks from one source; this is why a solid link building approach is so important.

Instead of getting all your links from blogger blogs why not try getting links from .org websites, .net websites, .edu websites, forums and other quality sources. Diversifying your link profile makes everything look natural while still passing across a message that people really care about your brand.

A perfect formula for this is guest blogging, simply because various websites are hosted on various servers, countries and unique IPs and you can be sure of achieving a natural backlink effect.

Be Unconventional with Your Approach

Why try to use the same tactic everybody uses when you can easily diversify your approach and get better results? The key to successful backlinking is to diversify your approach. In other words, instead of sticking to the same process or going through the same cycle as everyone else why not try a few of the following.

Focus on Linkbait: Write content that generate buzz and get linked to naturally, increase your profile and get the search engines to trust you.
Focus on Little-used, but effective tactics: Tactics like getting your website listed on Wikipedia, getting backlinks by answering questions on Yahoo! Answers and including your questions in the source and using videos to improve your backlink profile. They all work but are hardly used so make sure you don’t ignore them.