18 February 2013

SEO Search Engine Optimisation

Taking It Back To Basics; Organic Backlinks

When it comes to SEO, there is no straight answer on what the best strategy is, as what works for some businesses won’t necessarily work for others. The internet is forever changing and so is SEO.  Experts in SEO are often asking the following questions;

• Is there a way to build backlinks that have a positive and long-term effect of how a website ranks?
• Which is better; quality or quantity?
• I have heard that you can buy backlinks, is this a good idea?
• How can I protect my present ranking with the ever changing Google algorithms?
• How can I found out how many inorganic and organic links my website has?

SEO experts often talk about where to buy backlinks from and whether this strategy is even worth doing anymore? The fact is (and always will be) is that backlinks are the fundamental of any successful SEO strategy. Backlinks will always matter. That is FACT. The only question you should be asking is whether it is an organic backlink or an inorganic backlink?

SEO could not exist without backlinks and vice versa. For this reason, it is worth revisiting basic backlink methods to truly understand the importance of them.

An SEO strategy has one main goal. That goal is to be found organically by your customers for highly converting keywords; these keywords should always be relevant to your audience.

When creating a backlink, it should always pass the R.A.I.D test:

• Relevance- Is the link coming from a relevant source?
• Authority and Influence- Who wrote the source of the link? Was it by an authoritative or influential person? Business?
• Diversity- If I add this link to my web presence am I adding diversity and value to my business?

If you can confidently say yes to these questions then you have an organic backlink which is going to have a positive effect on how your site ranks in SERP’s.

How do I achieve relevant, authoritative, influential and diversified backlinks?

This is no walk in the park and will require you rolling up those sleeves and getting to work! Organic backlinks which will have a positive effect on your website will not simply happen overnight.

By publishing fresh, relevant and optimised content on a regular basis through blog sites, press releases, white papers and case studies that add value to your business and with the addition of sharing content through social platforms, this will in time result in effective and strong organic backlinks.

Having a long-term SEO approach in place will not only make it hard for your competitors to beat you, but will also protect you from Google algorithms that change in the future.