Link Building in 2014

[RacingJim]

I' noticing in recent updates that sites that are under-optimised, i.e. don't have many links and aren't trying too hard at SEO, are scoring higher in the searches these days. the minute you push a little on link building it seems you suffer a drop. Anyone experiencing the same?

Have Google given up on links or is it a link-velocity issue i.e. you should build like one link a week or less? I'm thinking of launching some projects and doing literally zero link building.

I'm also noticing they don't like link building to inner pages. Google on the attack on gambling affiliates right now.

[chaumi]

I suspect it depends on how the link building is being approached.

We all know that we don't (generally) get links naturally, no matter how good our stuff is or isn't. Even the big boys with tons of useful content still (probably) go out looking.

So if it's well known that gambling (affiliate) sites generally don't get links naturally, then it wouldn't be a far stretch to think that G know that too.

With that in mind, it may well be that one or two links once in a while is seen as OK and they might be organic - while 4 or 5 in a week or less sparks off some sort of alarm (unless they're accompanied by a raft of other social signals that signify the content might be above the normal run of the mill stuff).


I can't believe that links to inner pages would be harmful in any way, doesn't make any sense.....unless of course it's not a link problem, but an anchor text one.

[RacingJim]

Yep good point about anchor text. Here's the example for you, I recently built a site and had no links to it and left it like that for 4-5 months, in fact the only thing I did was submit to one high quality paid directory, so recently I built one other link, yes one link, to an inner page. The link was a 'keyword/phrase' link, i.e. not out and out keyword but had a keyword within a longer phrase.

My ranking for that keyword has gone from 6 to 26. Make of that what you will. Could be the Google bounce effect, so I'll leave it for now and keep checking in the next couple of weeks - if not the link is getting removed and I'm not taking that approach again! The game seems to have change big time in the last few months.

[chaumi]

Yep bounce was my first thought on reading...but I would expect if that is what's caused it then you should pretty quickly move back up. Your anchor sounds as if it should not have had a negative impact for sure.

It's really difficult right now to work out what truly is causing a move up or down, so many factors could be at play.

...and with links, personally I'm struggling to work out how long it actually takes for them to have the positive or negative effect.

PS If you have control of it you could of course remove the link now and see if you quickly go back. You'd possibly lose the benefit that it might have had but can easily go back in again after proving.

[sampendleton]

I' noticing in recent updates that sites that are under-optimised, i.e. don't have many links and aren't trying too hard at SEO, are scoring higher in the searches these days. the minute you push a little on link building it seems you suffer a drop. Anyone experiencing the same?

Have Google given up on links or is it a link-velocity issue i.e. you should build like one link a week or less? I'm thinking of launching some projects and doing literally zero link building.

I'm also noticing they don't like link building to inner pages. Google on the attack on gambling affiliates right now.

I noticed that too, but I believe that it is not under optimized but those are new and fresh sites..

[gamblingbitcoin]

Is there a way to know the links of a particular website Google has classed as spam/unnatural?

[Christiaan]

Is there a way to know the links of a particular website Google has classed as spam/unnatural?

You never know this for sure unless you get a manual penalty yourself and they give you some examples of bad links.

Of course you shouldn't get links from websites with a penalty. Some indicators of a penalty are: no pagerank especially if it is an older website, the website is not in the Google search results, if you search for the exact page title or domain name and you can't find the page in the first results. Of course the page title shouldn't be something very hard to rank for then it is normal if they are not in the first results. But most websites have something unique in the page title, for example the site name.
Note that these are just indicators, you never know for sure if they have a penalty.

[Gamer]

I' noticing in recent updates that sites that are under-optimised, i.e. don't have many links and aren't trying too hard at SEO, are scoring higher in the searches these days. the minute you push a little on link building it seems you suffer a drop. Anyone experiencing the same?

Have Google given up on links or is it a link-velocity issue i.e. you should build like one link a week or less? I'm thinking of launching some projects and doing literally zero link building.

I'm also noticing they don't like link building to inner pages. Google on the attack on gambling affiliates right now.

It's all depends on the kind of push, you are doing. Link building should become mixed one. If you push only with article placements in the article directories, it seems artificial. Link building should be slow way and very mixed. There is nothing wrong to be under-optimized. In our modern times, you cannot achieve success overnight. It's a long process, for years. Just focus on view sites and grow with them, mean add quality content requlary, add few links once a few months, write blog post once a month, etc.etc.

[sportsfreak]

I know its getting boring guys but just keep adding good content and success will come. Of course in niches like ours to say you dont need links is kinda off but still, if you just work on your site constantly it will work out (one day, I personally know the hard way and how long it takes to see some real returns... but it will happen!).

[Gamer]

I know its getting boring guys but just keep adding good content and success will come. Of course in niches like ours to say you dont need links is kinda off but still, if you just work on your site constantly it will work out (one day, I personally know the hard way and how long it takes to see some real returns... but it will happen!).

I absolutely agree with you, sportsfreak. I see sometimes a guy that have a small gambling site with e.g. twenty inner pages. He give up one day on maintining and adding content (or add stolen and poorly-rewritten content). Instead, he start pushing with link building schemes, thinking this will help achieve success (expected in short time hortizon). This is not the way !!!!!
Web-site is like a child. You have to gow with it with full-time "maintentance". ... and links are only part of the job.

[Rostick]

I`m sure google did not give up on links.

For me, if you`re not a big company, it`s not worth risking. Just use white hat, common sense SEO tactics for links - couple of link exchanges & 5-6 good directories at first, social media, maybe guest post, maybe comment on .edu / .gov websites where you can, things like that. Good content will also get you a couple of backlings, but as somebody pointed out indeed we gambling affiliatess don`t get too many.

Inner link building is not wrong for sure. somebody said about anchor text, I think only super aggressive anchor text can make inner links bad for google.

For me, it`s unforgivable to invest vast ammounts of money and/or all your time in SEO and end up getting penalized ... for a thing you can do rather easily on a medium level if you read a couple of beginner guides. Hell, I`m on the first page for 'betting tips' and similar keywords after 1 year and I`m a beginner in SEO, just a schmuck trying to get by and build a career. Of course there`s the chance to do better with money, but the risk is big, and if you step out of your comfort zone / of what you know for sure ... I wouldn`t be able to sleep at night .

[Gamer]

Inner link building is not wrong for sure. somebody said about anchor text, I think only super aggressive anchor text can make inner links bad for google.

You are right. Natural inner navigation is never wrong !!!! Like my site, if you cover many topics like scratch cards next to casino games, try not to do any aggressive inner links from pages about e.g. scratch cards to pages with casino games. If you have many pages about one topic e.g. scratch cards, try to link them. I think one topic inner links only helps. This also helps the visitors for natural navigation.
You can mix different inner links only in main navigation or in the footer.

Rostick, you have great-looking site. One color body background (non-intrusive for visitors) is good choice. Since, you use various colours inside of your content, the white background is the perfect choice. Your content wrapper is 1009px - do not made it wider than 1024px because this size is well displayed on tablets.
Keep good job and I will keep reading, from time to time

[Rostick]

Rostick, you have great-looking site. One color body background (non-intrusive for visitors) is good choice. Since, you use various colours inside of your content, the white background is the perfect choice. Your content wrapper is 1009px - do not made it wider than 1024px because this size is well displayed on tablets.
Keep good job and I will keep reading, from time to time

I`m happy to hear this Gamer. Actually just today I was looking at the design and usability, I plan to make some changes, so your message is more than welcome. I`ll strive to be worthy of the praise.

[wettFORM.AT]

I think you are right. I have also seen some sites with very good rankings and with nearly no backlinks.

[abigailkelly]

Niche link building is still popular today.