Link building – what types of links are in existence and how to get them

What is link building?

This process is part of positioning and, as a result of well-conducted activities (together with other components), it may result in a higher position of the website in Google. A high position on the search list, in turn, means that the website is visited much more often by potential customers.

Not so long ago, linking was relatively simple – until the revolution in 2013, which changed the rules of the game forever when Google introduced an algorithm called Penguin. From that moment on, the number of links ceased to matter, and their quality began to matter. SEO specialists around the world suddenly have a much more difficult task to accomplish.

What is a link?

Building an appropriate external link profile requires specialized knowledge and a lot of time and money.

Link building

The simplest link structure in HTML code looks like this:

How to understand?

• website address – the place to which the link will direct;
• link description, also known as anchor – text on the page that will become a clickable link.

This is the link to the main page of the Content Writer agency:

Link types

The breakdown of links is quite complex. We can distinguish 4 basic criteria:

Division by management

Internal – are placed within one site. Their task is to simplify the navigation of the website for both the user and Google robots.

External – i.e. those that take the user to another website. External linking is an important element of positioning.

Division according to the value transferred

Nofollow – these are links with the rel=”nofollow” attribute added to the content. This marking tells Google robots not to follow this link. However, these links are not worthless, as experience shows that they can have a positive impact on the website’s position.

Dofollow – these are hyperlinks without the attribute described above. For a user browsing a website, it doesn’t matter what type of link is in the anchor – dofollow or nofollow – and won’t even notice the difference. This attribute is needed by Google’s algorithms because it recognizes it as a signal indicating the value of the target address and follows it.

Dofollow links can be divided into:

Natural – links posted selflessly by users who found our content interesting and worth recommending. These types of links improve your website’s position in search results, increase website traffic and have a positive impact on your brand image.

Unnatural – they are usually of low quality and are not thematically related to the linked page. Such links are usually placed using the so-called link farms. If Google detects such practices, it may result in a manual penalty.

Division by action

Dead – links that lead nowhere. These may be links to a broken page, an expired domain or a deleted subpage.

Live – i.e. properly functioning links.

Division by type

Graphic – this is a link that takes the recipient to the target page after clicking on a graphic file, e.g. a logo.

Text – a link placed under the content visible to the user, the so-called anchor. It is usually highlighted in a different color.

Types of anchor texts

URL – the anchor is a link to the positioned page. Such links are a relatively safe way of linking, but their appearance is a bit ‘worky’ and it does not always look good.

Branded – These are links where the anchor text is the name of your company or website. These anchors should constitute quite a large part of all incoming links, and sometimes even the majority (depending on the industry).

Exact Match – here, the link is a closely matched keyword for which the page is optimized. This is the strongest type of incoming link and excessive use can be counterproductive, so you need to use it wisely.

Partial Match – contain a keyword that can be inflected or uninflected + extension. They appear very often in the content of articles and look natural.

Zero Match (also known as navigation anchors) – the anchor text is located under the words: click here, see more, link, etc. Anchor is not thematically related to the promoted page, so you should be careful when using this anchor in external linking.

How can you obtain external links?

The most popular link sources are:

Site directories

Before Google introduced the Penguin algorithm, website directories were often used to provide links to various websites. They were a simple and quick way to improve the website’s position in search results. Now, however, it no longer works as it used to, because what matters is the quality of links, not their quantity.

The glory days of catalogs are over, as evidenced by the gradual closing of the most popular ones (e.g. Interia or Onet catalogues).

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However, it is still worth using links from such sites, because if properly selected, they can help us as a great diversification of the link profile.

Internet forums

These are sites where Internet users ask a lot of questions to which we can provide professional answers, thus encouraging them to use our services. However, it should be remembered that the places where we want to place the link should be related to our business – usually these are dedicated industry forums.

You should also avoid the so-called spammy websites with a lot of links that are completely unrelated and look artificial at first glance to both users and Google robots. Such actions may harm us instead of helping us.

Blog comments

This is still a popular method of gaining links. Usually, however, comments are checked and moderated before being published, so those that do not contribute anything to the discussion are simply deleted and do not have a chance to appear.

Sponsored articles

Publishing sponsored entries involves placing an article with a link in the content on the publisher’s website for a fee. This is a very effective form of link building that brings many benefits, including: increasing the reach of our content and improving the site’s position in search results.

There are dedicated websites that bring together advertisers and publishers, such as Linkhouse or WhitePress. There we can quickly and easily choose the page where we will place our sponsored article. Prices vary greatly – from several dozen to several thousand zlotys – depending on the parameters and popularity of the website.

Please remember not to duplicate content when posting sponsored articles. An entry that is already on your blog cannot be placed on another website – Google algorithms do not like duplicate content.

Guest posts

This is a free form of publishing articles with a link to your website on the blog of another person or company. This usually takes place on the basis of exchange – publication for publication, although this is not the rule.

The parties must agree on the type of link – it may be a footer with the author’s name or company name, a graphic link presented under the image or an anchor text in the content of a guest article.

Guest blogging is a great form of link building – we not only gain an incoming link that can increase the position of our website, but also build the image of an expert in the industry and redirect some users from the guest post to our own blog.

Social media

Maintaining company profiles on social media and publishing entries with links on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter is a good way to acquire new customers.

These activities do not directly translate into improving the website’s position in Google, but they undoubtedly affect the search engine’s trust factor in our website.

Partner sites

Affiliate links are a natural and interesting way to enrich your website’s link profile. This usually involves an exchange – we publish a link to the partner’s website on our website, and the partner places a link to ours on his.

Examples of this type of activities are sections on the pages “Our partners”, “We cooperate with”, etc.