Global Domains International

Hi all,

The vast majority of us on here are here because we like and believe in GDI's products, and we want to make some extra money.  Right?

Well, our product is domains and hosting, and many of us have built our own blogs and websites using the various platforms GDI provides and supports.

Now, I've been out of this game for quite some time so had to catch up on current SEO practices and how to rise up in the search engines.  And during that search and research I ran into a lot of conflicting information regarding the practice of building links back to our sites.  So, I wish to propose a question here and give you my opinion based on what I found out.

Link building has been and still is #2 when it comes to getting your website (one you build, NOT affiliate pages) to rise in the search engines.  #1 of course is creating quality content which, as a side note, is one of the biggest ways to accomplish #2.

If you would like recent experimental proof please feel free to read my post on link building. (http://passiveincome.ws/do-backlinks-matter-anymore/)

Google was the first search engine to use backlinking as a sign of a pages authority on a particular subject (or keyword, same difference).  And to this day it is immensely important.  If you do not believe me check out the YouTube channel Google Webmasters and look for videos by Matt Cutts on the subject.

However, people tend to take a little information and run with it.  For instance, Google has a stance on commenting on blogs.  Now, many people will say that they penalize people who use this as a link building tactic.  And they are not wrong.  But they are not right either.

Google has stated that if they see an inordinate amount of links pointing to a site in a very short period of time, this will raise flags and the site may be penalized.  In other words, if you create a bunch of links in a very short period of time, they will notice and they consider this trying to cheat their ranking system.

They also said that if they see that all of the backlinks your site has are from one particular type of source AND it is what they consider an unnatural amount, it will raise flags and your site might be penalized.

However, they have also said that they encourage people to comment on blogs, write in forums, write guests posts and the like as it fosters discussions, brings new information to the table and helps further topics and discussions.  They are, after all, in the business of bringing relevant information to their users.

Creating backlinks as an SEO tactic is absolutely and definitely viable and not dead!  But with new algorithms they will track down and penalize unnatural behavior.  Buying links, link stuffing, creating massive amounts of backlinks in a short amount of time.  And especially to poorly written, short articles and posts.  Because, why would ANYONE want to link to, much less read, spun and unhelpful posts or articles that only have one thing in mind... to sell.

And of course we want to sell!  But, one of GDI's motto's is "You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want."

The most important thing is to create good, lengthy, quality content that people will naturally want to share!  This will naturally create backlinks.

To keep from writing a whole new post I just want to give you a few tips if you are currently wondering how to create backlinks.  (And you have to be patient!  We all know about the SERP dance when you first create a site.  And it takes TIME for you sites to rise to the top in search engines and stay at the top.)

1. Create high quality content!
2. Comment on blogs.  But not with the idea of getting a backlink.  With the idea of furthering the discussion and bringing new points to the table.  "Great post" or rehashing what has already been said is not a quality comment.
3. Participate in forums but be very careful of your signature.  At the very least do not use the same anchor text from one forum to the next.  This can be seen as trying to game the system and may raise flags.
4. Write guest posts.  But write them on high quality blogs that only accept high quality work.  It's harder to get these, but it's worth it.
5. Create high quality content!

There are of course numerous ways to create backlinks.  But things search engines are looking for are a variety of anchor texts (and no anchor text is fine too!) on a variety of sites in a variety of ways.  Go slow!  Always think first of sharing information and furthering discussions.  The backlink is just an after effect.  If you are visiting a blog just to see if you can create a backlink, you are in danger.

As to the question I alluded to at the beginning... what are your thoughts and experiences?  Please share!