Link building has always been an important part of off-page SEO. If done properly using the right SEO strategy it can be highly effective. It is a great tool if you’re looking to improve your page ranking. However, it will take time and effort if you want to see some results. You’re ranking won’t improve overnight just because you managed to score some backlinks. The most important thing to remember is to follow Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.
While link building there are a few mistakes that people make. Some mistakes are common and some that are lesser-known. Here are a few DON’TS of link building that you should keep in mind:
Excessive Link Trading
Cross-linking with a reputable site is good and referred to as white hat SEO methods, however excessive link trading with every site that you can find within a short time, could hurt your page ranking rather than help. Google considers this as spam. Some even create their own network of sites for link building. This is considered black hat SEO.
While trading links always keep the reputation and page ranking of the site in mind. Do not trade links with unreliable, spam, porn, or gambling websites. It is ok to trade links with low ranking sites but make sure the site is good, legitimate, and safe.
Also, make sure that the site you are trading links with is related to your niche. This will add more weightage to your Page Ranking.
Buying links
Buying links from other sites is a great way to get banned by search engines. Google considers buying and selling links a violation of their Webmaster Guidelines. If Google finds out it can negatively affect your website’s ranking and you might get hit by a penalty.
Try to build links naturally. One way to do that is by doing guest posts. Write or hire someone to write unique and high-quality content and publish it on a website relevant to your niche. But make sure the website you are submitting to is not a part of a Private Blog Network (PBN) and is not expired. Also, make sure the website’s DA is not too low.
Keyword Stuffing
Don’t overuse your keyword on a page. Google can easily detect when you stuff keywords and it might affect your ranking and DA. A keyword should look natural, not forced. Instead of unnecessarily repeating your keyword try using variations of it. Remember that the main focus of the content is the readers, not search engines. You are writing so that humans can read and understand it. Keep the readers in mind while writing.
Wherever you are placing your keywords, it should look natural. Also, make sure the content is unique with no grammatical errors. If your content is spammy and keyword-stuffed then it might not rank high in search engines. But if the keyword is used properly without overuse and if the content is high-quality then search engines might recognize your efforts and rank your content higher. Make use of keyword tools to enhance your keyword optimization ideas on-page.
Black Hat Strategies
These are not the only things you should keep in mind while link building. Whatever you do, do not use any black hat strategies. Black hat strategies are a violation of all search engine guidelines. Your site will get penalized if you employ any black hat SEO strategies. Cloaking by showing users and search engines different content, injecting hidden links to other websites, hidden texts, and links, redirecting users to a different URL, are some of the many black hat strategies that you should avoid.
Conclusion
To sum things up, link building takes time and effort. Don’t expect to improve your ranking in just a day. Exchanging links with reputable sites is good, as long as you don’t do it too much with questionable or spammy sites in a short time. Don’t buy links, try to get links naturally by guest posting or any other method. And when you are writing content for your website or doing guest posts, make sure not to overuse your keywords. Try to keep your content unique, interesting, and avoid too many grammatical errors.
And lastly do not use black hat strategies. There are better and natural ways to improve your ranking. But you have to keep in mind that it takes time. Link building can be highly effective if used properly and with patience.
