LINK BUILDING SERVICES

Link building – such as those created by Submerge’s link building services – is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own. A hyperlink (usually just called a link) is a way for users to navigate between pages on the internet. Search engines use these links to crawl the web – they will crawl the links between the individual pages on your website, and they will crawl the links between entire websites. So, in the context of search engine optimization (SEO), link building is aimed at increasing the number and quality of inbound links to a webpage with the goal of increasing the search engine rankings of that page or website.

Effective link-building strategies can involve various tactics, ranging from content creation that naturally attracts links, to outreach and partnership development with other websites. The main idea is to make your content valuable and relevant enough that other sites want to link to it, either because it enhances their own content, provides value to their users, or supports a relationship or collaboration they have with you.

This practice is crucial for SEO because search engines, particularly Google, use these links as a major ranking signal. Links are considered as votes of confidence, authority and trustworthiness from one site to another. The logic is that a webpage with high-quality and relevant external links pointing to it is likely to be more informative and valuable compared to a webpage with fewer or no links. The quality of links and the relevance of the linking sites play a significant role in determining the impact on search engine rankings, rather than the sheer number of links.

In fact, a large number of ‘toxic’ backlinks can be a negative signal to Google, so it’s best to have a smaller number of high-quality backlinks from reputable websites.

Backlinks, also known as “inbound links” or “incoming links,” are links from one website to a page on another website. They are essentially the internet’s way of referencing or citing sources. When a website links to another website, it’s essentially saying, “Here’s a source I trust or find valuable for this particular topic.” For the website receiving the link, this backlink acts as a signal to search engines that others find its content credible and useful.

Backlinks are a core component of SEO because search engines, especially Google, view these links as indicators of content quality and authority. The rationale is that if many reputable sites link to a particular page, that page must have valuable, high-quality content. Therefore, search engines are more likely to rank pages with more high-quality backlinks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

However, it’s important to note that not all backlinks are created equal. Search engines evaluate backlinks on several criteria, including the authority of the linking site, the relevancy between the linking and the linked content and the link’s context on the page. High-quality backlinks are those that come from trustworthy and relevant sources and are contextually integrated into high-quality content. These are the types of links that positively impact search engine rankings and overall site authority.

Disavowing backlinks is a process used to tell search engines, particularly Google, to ignore certain links to your site that are harmful or low-quality. This is particularly important because bad backlinks – those from spammy, irrelevant or untrustworthy sites – can negatively impact your site’s search engine rankings.

These days, Google is pretty smart and understands if a poor-quality or spammy site is linking to you and will generally ignore it. However, we actively clean up toxic backlink profiles using tools such as SEMrush that audit and analyse your backlinks.

We generally follow this process when looking to disavow backlinks that are harmful to your site:

Identify toxic links – We conduct a thorough audit of your backlink profile to identify any links that may be considered low-quality, spammy, or unnatural. Tools such as Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush or Moz can help you analyse your backlink profile.

Attempt to remove the links – Before using the disavow tool, Google recommends that you make an effort to remove the harmful links yourself. This involves us contacting the owners or webmasters of the sites hosting the undesirable links and asking them to remove the links or change them to “nofollow” status. Our experience is that most site owners will ignore this request, as they can be pretty shady sites that could be, for example, scraping content from your site. Which means we move onto the next stage…

Create a disavow file – If our efforts to remove the links fail, we proceed to disavow them. We create a .txt file that lists the URLs or domains of the backlinks you wish to disavow. Google requires this file to be in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII format. Each line should contain only one URL or domain (for disavowing an entire domain, add “domain:” before the domain name), and you can include comments by starting a line with the “#” character.

Submit the disavow file – we go to the Google Disavow Links tool, select your site property and then upload your disavow file. This process is critical, so we make sure we’re only disavowing harmful links, as disavowing beneficial links could potentially harm your site’s performance in search results.

After submission, Google will process the disavow file, but it may take some time for this to be reflected in your site’s search engine performance. Google processes the disavow file and eventually ignores the disavowed links as it crawls and indexes the web.

It’s important to use the disavow tool with caution. Google states that this tool should only be used if you believe there are a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that these links are causing issues for your site. Incorrect use of the disavow tool can potentially harm your site’s performance in Google’s search results. Regular monitoring and auditing of your backlink profile are essential to identify any new harmful links and to understand the health of your site’s backlink profile.

If in doubt, get in touch with the SEO team at Submerge for advice.

Getting backlinks primarily involves creating and promoting content that other websites find valuable enough to link to. This can be achieved by producing high-quality, informative content that serves as a resource in your industry. Engaging in guest blogging is another effective strategy, where you write articles for other sites and include a link back to your own site. Broken link building is a technique where you identify broken links on other websites and offer your content as a replacement.

Direct outreach to site owners, bloggers, or journalists to introduce your content can also result in backlinks if they find your content relevant and useful. Participating in industry forums and discussions and using social media to increase your content’s visibility can indirectly lead to backlinks.

Creating linkable assets, such as in-depth guides or tools, encourages others to link to your content. Additionally, digital PR strategies, collaborations, and partnerships can further expand your content’s reach and attract backlinks. The focus should always be on the quality of the backlinks rather than the quantity, with a priority on building relationships and adding genuine value to your audience.

A backlink profile is a comprehensive overview of all the inbound links that point to a website, encompassing the quantity and quality of these links, the diversity of linking domains, the anchor text utilised in the links, and how these links are distributed across the webpages of the site. It’s a snapshot of a site’s external links, providing insights into how other websites interact with and regard it.

The backlink profile is crucial for SEO because search engines use this information to gauge a website’s authority, relevance, and overall trustworthiness. A healthy backlink profile typically consists of links from a wide range of reputable and relevant sites, with natural, varied anchor text and a good balance between follow and nofollow links. It’s also important for the profile to show links to different pages across the website, not just the homepage, indicating comprehensive content value.

Search engines analyse backlink profiles to help determine where a website should rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). A strong backlink profile can significantly enhance a site’s SEO performance, making it more visible to potential visitors. Conversely, a profile filled with low-quality or spammy links can harm a site’s ranking, potentially leading to penalties from search engines. Therefore, regularly auditing and managing the backlink profile is an essential activity for SEO professionals to ensure the health and performance of a website in search rankings, using British English spelling and grammar preferences.