3 Backlinking Mistakes to Avoid

A strong SEO program relies on backlinks—links to your website from external sources. "Those backlinks signal to search engines how influential and relevant your business is online," writes Chris Sheehy in an article at MarketingProfs. They "trigger local citations of your business and aid in deepening your local market penetration," he notes.

In other words, backlinks enhance your online visibility and give you an edge on the competition.

But what if you're not getting the backlinks you expect? What's going wrong? Sheehy suggests you could be making mistakes like these:

You assume backlinks will simply appear. The hard reality is that you must work for each and every link. "Businesses have to commit to the notion that just as they have to be on the hunt for their next customer, so too do they need to be vigilant with their online linking," he says.

You pursue backlinks sporadically. While the occasional flood of new links might yield good short-term results, you're better off with a consistent slow-and-steady approach that demonstrates sustained value to search engines. An hour a day "keeps the competitors away," Sheehy quips.

You're trying to game the system. Some SEO practitioners use "black hat" techniques that often improve rankings—until they're caught and the site plummets to the tenth page of results, or worse. If you stick to "white hat" techniques—those sanctioned by search engines—you'll do much better in the long run..

Thus: Don't back down from your backlinking efforts. In an ideal world, people who love your product or service would automatically link to your website; in the real world, they need ongoing encouragement to do so.

Source: MarketingProfs.