Inbound Link Strategies

Inbound links are often a topic of confusion among search engine optimisers due to Google’s vague wording about what’s allowed and what isn’t. In fact, there’s an entire article on this site about what link schemes are and what is considered a link scheme. Basically, the correct way to create inbound link strategies is to avoid doing any of the following:

Any links intended to manipulate PageRank or a site’s ranking in Google search results may be considered part of a link scheme and a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.

• The following are examples of link schemes which can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results:

• Buying or selling links that pass PageRank. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a “free” product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link

• Excessive link exchanges (“Link to me and I’ll link to you”) or partner pages exclusively for the sake of cross-linking

• Large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links

• Using automated programs or services to create links to your site

Now that you know what you can do, here’s what you can do to create inbound link strategies that wouldn’t violate the Google Webmaster Guidelines:

• Building no-follow links (not spamming them) on various websites with the intention of receiving traffic from those inbound links instead of receiving do-follow links
• Not building any links at all and waiting for other webmasters to place do-follow backlinks on their own websites.

Next In This Guide: Google Local For Business Listings