Link Building is about more than just getting click-throughs to your website

Do you want to survive the competition for digital market share?  If so, pay careful attention to this post – it’ll show you exactly what link building is, and why it’s not just important, but vital to the success of your business.

What is Link Building?

Google uses links to determine how authoritative your website is.  The most commonly explained concept is that links act like votes.  Each link increases the popularity of your website.

But, Google does not take a democratic approach – some links count hundreds or thousands of times more than others.

Google evaluates the quality of the website providing the link.  The idea is that if you get a link from the New York Times, that link should count much more than a link you receive from a specific-interest website, such as one written by a handyman who restores antique furniture.  But, reputation of the website is just one factor in determining the quality of the source of the link.  Google also evaluates how related the topic of the linking website is to yours and what the actual text of the link says, among many other factors.

So Why is Link Building So Important?

Now you know what link building is and basically how it works, but why do you need links pointing to your website?  Links are essential for several reasons:

1. They’re a huge Google ranking factor – Google uses 200 – 300 different factors to determine where and how highly your site should rank for various search terms.  Not all factors are clear or known, but the quality and quantity of links to your website are a definitively known factor that affects your search rankings.

1. They generate quality, targeted traffic – Remember our discussion of the New York Times?  Imagine if you got featured on their website and got a link!  You could get 100s, or even 1000s, of visits from that single link.  Don’t think this happens with all links though – linking is best viewed as hard work, and eventually, you notice a nice influx of traffic as a fruit of your efforts.

1. Quality links attract more quality links – Get your article or content noticed on someone else’s website, and others may choose to link to your site or the article.  In either case, you get more quality links and publicity out of the endeavor, which ultimately results in more traffic for your website.

1. Links are a digital way of networking – People won’t just link to your website – they’ll contact you via e-mail or phone too.  You probably don’t think of linking working in this way, but it does happen often in the digital world.

All This Linking Builds Your Business

Eventually, all these links you build back to your website increase your business.  Links from sites that target your customer give you traffic and build your search rankings.

Your job is to make your website one that turns those visitors into paying customers.