Link Building is Dead


Let's make a deal photo found at: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1028813In my last post I talked a little about SEO companies in Regina, or the lack thereof, and Marshal Finch left a comment.

Marshal lists some good, basic backlink building strategies. I left a couple of comments with my point being that building backlinks now is no longer just about getting links wherever you can get them, but it is about building relationships with others to help build links. Directory listings are nice to get, especially if you can get into Yahoo, DMOZ or even the Best of the Web directories, but how much traffic will you get from them? Very little. I have some websites that are listed in each of those directories and the amount of traffic I see from any directory is less than ten since January. That is right, less than TEN referrals from any one directory.

Want to know what websites send the best and most traffic? Referrals from blogs and forums. Places that I have taken the time to build some relationships with, leave comments, and take part in the communities of those websites. Places where it was not just about me getting a backlink. I routinely get requests for link exchanges in my inbox, want to know what happens to them? Can you guess? They go straight into the trash.

Interestingly enough a few days after I read Marshal’s post there was a great post on SEOBook about this exact topic. Link Building: The Future Of Relationships. Building links back to your website is not just about getting that link, it is about building a relationship. About giving back. Being a webmaster or blogger is not just about pushing your own website. You need to be social of different social communities to help promote your website or blog.

Want a really good example of how to do that? I already gave you one at the start of this post, did you see it? Here is your chance to put it into practice. Leave a comment, subscribe to my RSS feed, build a relationship and backlinks and visitors will follow.

Categories: seo 
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