5 Google Penguin Friendly Link Building Tips for 2013

Every time Google releases an algorithm update, it leaves business owners who depend on SEO high and dry, with nothing but confusion and a huge lump in the throat. If you checked the SERPs for your top keywords and realized that your website isn’t there anymore, well, you’ve been hit hard by Penguin –  Google has penalized you.

One question that is common within the SEO circles is “Is the link-building a dying art?”  This can very easily be attributed to Google’s cracking down on “unnatural links”, not to mention the fact that the ‘cracking down’ is quite severe. Any violation — big or small — of the Google Webmaster Guidelines and you have it coming for you. Even some of the best businesses have had to face the blows inflicted by the Google Penalty. Small businesses didn’t stand a chance of keeping doors open anymore. Let’s face it, Google is the one to decide whether your business stays or not.

Threatened by Google’s Penguin 2.0, the more conservative SEOs will advise you against any active involvement in link building, and others will say, quite empathically, that link building is dead. However, if you thought so too, you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, links are the weak-links in Google’s search industry which relies heavily on link building as the basis for website ranking. So if you are wondering how to navigate link-building with no risk of being penalized,

5 Google Penguin Friendly Link Building Tips for 2013

1. Conduct a Link-Audit: Performing a link audit can help you get rid of any potential problems that may arise along the way.  Complete your back-link profile after downloading the latest links available in the Google Webmaster Tools. A link audit will help you decide which links need reviewing and which ones need to be removed. This could include links:

• From a website that contains a virus or malware warning
• From a domain not included in the Google index
• That share the same page as unrelated, spammy links
• On pages that have a zero Google PageRank
• That are paid for
• Included as a footer or blog roll links

 2. Keep Your Links Relevant: Link relevancy plays a major role as it is Google’s way of determining whether a website is trustworthy, deciphering the context of target documents, delivering relevant results and sorting out spam links. Here are some tactics to ensure link relevancy:

• Free tools which are the primary targets in link outreach
• In-depth reviews on notable products and services
• Broken link-building
• Curated content including extensive articles
• Niche microsites that are dedicated to particular niches and topics

3. Tap PR Strategies: It is evident that social media is being used as a signal for search engine ranking. Therefore, focus on tapping the best out of social signals by regularly posting content, building a fan-following and keeping your users and customers actively engaged.

4. Create genuine, honest content: Create content that is genuinely interesting, useful and more than anything, shareable. Some features that you can include in your content:

• Videos
• User guides
• Infographics

• Embeddable resources

• Whitepapers

5. Guest Posting: If you have the expertise for legitimate content, there are a number of websites out there waiting to build links. You just have to make sure you avoid content farming and that the content you include is excellent and something that will be appreciated by readers. Include reviews and product descriptions and build up some credibility on the internet. While Google Penguin 2.0 can be quite a scare, link-building still has a lot of potential, provided it is used rightly. Following the above expert tips can save you from the blow of the Google Penalty and help your online business flourish and prosper.

Guest Author Bio: Gerald Ford is a SEO expert now writing on behalf of Clickoptimize.com,  they offers custom web design, custom SEO strategy - NC internet marketing services designed to fit your needs and reach your goals.

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