Monday 15 August 2011

Any Link Is a Good Link, Or Is It?

Any Link Is a Good Link, Or Is It?

By Cheow Yu Yuan


You've heard celebrities say that any publicity is good publicity, but when it comes to SEO you sometimes hear beginners say that any link is a good link. This reflects the common misperception that getting links to your site at all costs is the way to go. It doesn't matter where the link comes from or how long it exists as long as you are constantly pulling in new links and building up your arsenal of backlinks quickly.
The reality is all links are not created equal. There is a hierarchy system in place in a way, since the oldest, best established links coming from older, better established websites and blogs hold a lot more credibility. If links are constantly going up and then being taken down it can actually have a negative effect on your SEO campaign.
Over the years, SEO experts were able to find ways to manipulate the system and get a lot of backlinks in a short period of time. Unfortunately, the search engines caught onto these exploits and there was backlash that made those methods of linking less effective and potentially disastrous.
An example of this would be the wave of websites popping up not long ago for the intention of linking to other sites for a fee. Paid links were hot and the biggest link farms were getting top dollar for links on their sites. That didn't last long! Today, one of the first SEO tips a beginner will learn is that they shouldn't mess with websites that have lots of links to lots of different sites in lots of different niches. There are two reasons for this:
1. Those links aren't going to count for much in their SEO efforts in the long run.
2. If the link farm is "caught" by Google your site could be negatively affected.
Most of the shortcuts and clipped corners people find to get fast and easy backlinks are met with search engine backlash that makes them less attractive to those who really care about their websites and blogs. This leaves you with collecting links of higher value. This is done by being selective of how you come by your backlinks.
The Exception to the Rule
There is one way in which the "any link is a good link" mentality can actually apply in a helpful manner. This comes into play when you establish links through blogging. The goal is to get other bloggers talking about your blog so they link to your blog and your website. The linking is what you want, so it doesn't matter so much if they disagree with you more than they agree with you.
Some blogs have completely blown up because of negative talk about them in other high profile blogs. Those negative posts brought a lot of attention to the blog which wasn't in the spotlight before.
This doesn't mean that you should blog with the intention of being controversial. You should blog on things that are honest to your personality and heart and if it happens to bring some criticism or debate look at it as a good thing. Respond to those other bloggers in classy way that continues the attention. Don't look at disagreement as a bad thing if it can bring some attention to your blog and thus to your website.
Cheow Yu Yuan is the co-founder of OOm, an online marketing agency providing SEO services in Singapore.
Find out more about OOm SEO services today.
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