In the last few weeks, I have heard many arguments from various sources around the web saying that backlinking is dead, and backlink authority is dead. People are saying that we should not waste our time creating backlinks.
In my opinion, these people do not understand what Google is trying to do with the Penguin filter, nor do they understand what a backlink is. Essentially, Google is trying to shake off some of the pure crap that has attached itself to the Google search engine. At least to make the crap have less influence on the search results. Google has deindexed some websites that existed purely to create backlinks, and has demoted others that have a lot of duplicate content. Knowledgeable SEO experts were able to create hundreds and thousands of backlinks to their content to get their content higher in search engines. Many of their backlinks were to empty sites with very little real content, and the backlinks were very short blurbs using contextual links for specific keywords.
With the new Google reality, getting to the top of a keyword phrase is hard to determine because everyone gets personalized results. In addition, empty backlinking is out, because Google is deindexing and demoting sites that do this. So what is the solution? Frankly, the solution is not much different than what we have stated before.
How to backlink after Penguin:
- Articles that are used to backlink must have new original content, not just be a condensed version of the main article.
- Use a variety of sites to backlink from, preferably sites that have authority in the new Google universe.
- At least one of those sites should be your own website or blog.
- Instead of concentrating on contextual linking with one keyword phrase, use a variety of words, phrases, or images to link to your main content.
- Link related articles together–think of what actual people would be interested in reading if they landed on your article. Real traffic flow is a definite plus in Google’s eyes. (This is true of not just google but any search engine.)
- Let some backlinks get created naturally, by people who are interested in your topic.
- Guest post on related sites and blogs for more exposure and natural linking.
Backlinks are still valuable, if the backlinks have an intrinsic value to them. However, you also need to have content that has a real value that you are linking to. In conclusion, backlinking for backlinking’s sake, not a good idea. Backlinking to increase the value of your content, excellent idea.
About Paula Atwell
Hi Paula — The world of backlinks is still new to me, so I’ve been researching info about it. Unfortunately much of what I’ve found via search results is out of date, so I appreciate your up-to-date posts. And I hope you can answer some questions I have, because I’m still unclear about so many things re: backlinks.
One of the things I read, I believe it was a relatively recent Google blog post, relates directly to point #6 above — that back links should occur “naturally.” The gist was they should appear slowly over time instead of many appearing in a short period of time, because Google will penalize pages/sites with the latter. Do you know if there is a negative impact to submitting links to Digg, StumbleUpon, Lensroll, etc after publishing a lens, blog post, etc?
Re: point #2 above, which sites do you consider to be the “sites that have authority in the new Google universe?” A list of the top 10 (or more) would be oh-so helpful.
Lastly, I am about to create a blog on a niche entertainment topic that I am passionate about; however it isn’t related to any of the lenses I’ve created so far. I haven’t written any lenses for this topic, lest duplicate content filters get triggered, rightly or not. I know I can link to my soon-to-be blog via the RSS feed module from my lenses, but as for linking to my lenses from my blog, I feel a bit stymied as to what to do. Any suggestions?
Forgive me if I’ve inundated you with all my questions, and know that I appreciate any and all info and guidance you provide. I’m sure it will help many others as well as me. Thanks in advance.
Natural backlinks are the links that readers will add to their own sites that lead to your site or page. This will happen with just about any worthwhile site over time. I do not think that Google expects you to not promote your site at all through links or other methods, but what they are trying to cut out is the manufactured method of 100′s and 1000′s of backlinks placed all at one time just to push a site upwards in the rankings. If you submit links to a few sites each time you publish, that is okay, however no site likes getting spammed by links, and I would not use the same sites every time.
There is no pat answer to your question about which sites have authority now. All the changes are brand new, and the fallout has yet to settle. I would use your instincts and consider any site that is authoritative in a particular field and that has survived the shuffling over the last couple of years to be a good bet. There really is no one answer to your question.
In the end, when you link items together, you need to think about where you want traffic to flow, and what page is the most important to you. Is it your Squidoo page, your blog, or something else. For me, sometimes my Squidoo pages are where I am driving traffic, and sometimes the Squidoo pages are driving traffic elsewhere. For instance, any page I write about Lake Erie Artists Gallery on Squidoo or anywhere else is driving traffic to http:lakeerieartists.com. In this case, the pages are backlinks for Google and for real people (traffic).
You are asking the right questions.
I was wondering the impact of some blogs after Penguin that had frequent guest posters. Sometimes a great article is written and links back to a sort of unscrupulous site is linked to from the bottom of the post.
I’m glad I’ve always diversified my anchor link text and had not subscribed to the link bomb technique, it just didn’t feel right anyway.