Loading ...In order to get ahead in SEO, it’s necessary to know what the search engines are up to. Many search engine optimisation experts have devoted years of their lives to the study of search engine behaviour, with varied success. Happily, they’re usually in a sharing mood, so while it may take years for an SEO expert to reason out just one factor of a search engine’s algorithm, it takes only moments for a site owner to Google it.
This aspect of the SEO community comes in most handy when it comes to link building. Link building is such an important factor in a site’s optimisation campaign that it is important to get it right. It’s also one of the most mysterious factors. How do the search engines grade links? What makes a good link profile? Is a good link profile going to look as good in a year? The experts in the industry have most of the answers for you.
The qualities of a well-behaved web page
The search engines have criteria for a good web page, and good behaviour over time is one of them. ‘Good behaviour’, when it applies to links, is a slow build-up of quality links over time, with continued maintenance of the link profile. In other words, whacking up a page with 100 inbound links is going to cause comment, as will building a link profile and then leaving it to die a slow death.
This second condition may come as a surprise to most site owners. The general mode of thought is that once a good link profile is built, it’s going to last. This is not so. The search engines are looking for continued fresh links for content. Talk to us about this at SEO Consult Australia
Links should behave predictably, too
One major influence on your link profile is the behaviour of the linking site. Google is constantly on the watch for spam-like behaviour. If a site suddenly hands out links like they’re candy, the search engines tend to be suspicious. If a site posts heaps of links, then takes them down, then re-posts, the search engines seem to be suspicious. The search engines have built a profile of behaviour of every site on their index, and sharp deviations from predicted behaviour can have a detrimental effect.
Most of the time, the decline in value of a link to your site won’t have a very nasty outcome, but every site owner wants to protect the value of their link profile. This is one of the many reasons to screen potential links thoroughly before solidifying the relationship.
The proviso: nothing is certain
SEO really is a war against the search engines, and without a spy in their camp you can never really be sure what their strategies are. Even though the search engine optimization industry is fairly certain that suggested techniques work, there is still some degree of uncertainty. It’s best to do what seems best for your site and concentrate on enhancing your existing qualities, rather than engage in a complex campaign that ignores the needs of your site.
Related posts:
- Link building: there is no ‘ultimate strategy’
- Link freshness: another SEO factor
- Building your link plan
- Link building don’ts
- Alternate link strategies: boost link popularity
Tags: Finding Links, Link Analysis, link building
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