As a webmaster, you probably already know that backlinks (backlinks from external sources) are the most important for search engine rankings. Unfortunately, many online marketers often miss the mark when chasing links.
Below is a detailed analysis of all aspects of your primary link strategy and on-time return on investment, except those that may incur search engine penalties.
1. Internal links
Internal links appear on the website itself and provide webmasters with two main advantages:
Can help search engines and crawlers discover new content.
It can deliver PR and maintain weight within the internal hierarchy of the website.
Cost/Benefit: Internal links are like low-hanging fruit but often overlooked by webmasters. The most effective internal links are those that appear seamlessly in the article, not in the navigation, or in a pile at the bottom of the content.
Penalty risk level: None
2. SEO directory
In general, online directories are like phone books on the Internet, with no association, no ranking, and no human input.
Cost/Benefit: With the exception of Yahoo and DMOZ, directories are a huge waste of time and resources. They are essentially paid links that deliver rankings. I have done SEO directory tests on several domain names, and the results were a little surprising. None of the three test websites improved their rankings, and two dropped from the first to the third page.
Penalty Risk Level: Medium/High
3. Comment link
The concept is simple, isn't it? Find a bunch of relevant articles or blogs and start posting links with keywords embedded in the anchor text.
Cost/Benefit: This no longer works when it comes to improving rankings. Most blogs are some variant of WordPress or Blogspot where comment links are already set to "nofollow" by default, meaning your site will not be passed link authority. Simply put, it's not worth wasting your time.
Penalty risk level: Medium. Depending on where you place your links, many links can push you down. Removing a link in a comment isn’t a big deal, and mixing in some anchor text in the “name” field is a spam signal.
4. Paid links/sponsored articles (is this a soft article?)
Paid links are the most common form of traditional link building. The process is to find potential link customers and then pay them in exchange for dofollow links with anchor text.
Cost/Benefit: I am not a fan of paid links, which is against Google's webmaster guidelines, but it can be one of the most effective methods of link building.
Penalty Risk Level: Varies from site to site. Using paid links is like sending a “K me” signal to Google. Regardless of whether they penalize your site or not, this paid link network is often exposed and their links are severely demoted (or removed from the index entirely). If this happens to you, it's time to consider a new job.
5. .Gov and .Edu extensions
Quite simply, these are link gold that can help your web page or website gain a huge impact in ranking for your target keywords.
Cost/Benefit: I would not recommend the coordination effort involved in obtaining this type of link. Political connections are a long road, and focusing on gaining those links is not the best use of these resources time-wise.
Penalty risk level: None
6. Social media
Links spread easily through channels like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. However, these links are nofllow.
Cost/Benefit: Although these links will not transfer PR, the additional effect is also huge. A powerful tweet can generate a large number of high-quality backlinks through the blogosphere, which will deliver PR. If your website suddenly adds a large number of external links, Google will more actively monitor all possibilities, and these social signals will become strong evidence.
Penalty risk level: None. Just don’t turn your Twitter account into a spammy zombie (one that has been unused for a long time and is filled with spammy links).
7. Link bait
Generate inbound links by creating engaging content and tools.
Cost/Benefit: Link bait is the primary long-term strategy for creating high authority domains in search engines. Notable examples of link bait include "Chicken Waiter" (an ad), a remix of Radiohead (a British band), and Office Max's "Elf Yourself" (a hilarious dance video). When creating link bait, follow one simple rule: Make your content something your audience will want to share.
Penalty risk level: None. In fact, Google's Matt Cutts encourages the use of link bait.
8. Press release link
Use a press release site like PR Web or PR Newswire and hope to get inbound links.
Cost/Benefit: This strategy is fine as long as the press release is effective. If done well, a manuscript will receive high-quality backlinks from reputable news sources. Tip: Be sure to link to relevant pages within the website.
Penalty risk level: None.
9. Reciprocal links
My inbox often receives an endless stream of emails from webmasters requesting exchange links. To be clear: creating a page like http://www.example.com/link.html will do nothing for your rankings. Google will greatly discount these off-site links and reduce the weight of backlinks.
Cost/Benefit: Don't use this tactic, and don't play the fool's game of quickly canceling the other party's link as if the other party has made a one-way link. This is another spam signal that won't get you very far. Instead, develop relationships with other savvy webmasters and exchange links between internal pages that have relevant semantics. News portals often use this type of partnership deal.
Penalty risk level: low
Remember, link building is a growing process. One reason to love link bait is because it’s fun and creative. Find something you enjoy creating and use it as a way to import links. This way, link building becomes a part of your daily life rather than an unrealistic marketing scheme.
(Translation: Long Nanke Original text: Search Engine Watch (SEW))