Link Schemes and SEO

Link Schemes and SEO

Link Schemes and SEO – 5 Minutes With Charles #32. Have you thought about putting your website on a link directory? Are you planning to buy backlinks for your blog? Does your “SEO expert” recommend paying for links from high-authority websites?

Starting in the 1990s and even after the turn of the century, directories were all the rage. Webmasters and SEO-gurus spent hundreds of hours creating links on one farm after another. But humans want information, not just links, so Google and other search engines squashed the madness.

Google on gaming the search engines

Manipulating search engine results will land you hot water fast. So here is what Google has to say about directories, buying links, etc.

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.

Google

But just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, link directories are a bad idea. Additionally, buying or selling links is not a good idea. Also, PBNs fall under this category of things NOT to do if you want to be on search engines.

Link Schemes and SEO: doing it right

So how can you create quality backlinks without getting in trouble with Bing, Google, and Yahoo? You begin with creating high-quality content, as is discussed in Digital Marketing Basics Part 3. Because content is king. So if you create quality content the links will come naturally over time.

The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community. Creating good content pays off: Links are usually editorial votes given by choice, and the more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it.

Google

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