Rank Fast with these Topical Authority Tactics Ep.589
In this podcast episode featuring SEO Specialist Matthew Bertram, the focus is on demystifying Topical Authority in SEO and providing actionable…
Link Building
Blogroll, Footer Links and links in General - #seopodcast 152
Keyword-only anchor text, buying links, blog roll and footer links, easy directory links, and blog comment spam are unnatural link building tactics that harm SEO, with natural outreach and good content as the recommended alternatives.
Key takeaways
- Having all links use the same keyword anchor text signals a spammy, unnatural link profile to Google.
- Buying links is only acceptable for traffic purposes, not SEO, and should use a no-follow tag.
- Blog roll and footer links have little SEO value and should not be used as a link building strategy.
- Easy directory links with no human moderation can place your site in a bad neighborhood alongside spam sites.
- Blog comments can build links only if they are genuine, relevant, and actually contribute to the article.
If you have a hundred people linking to your site and they're all linking with your top key phrase, then there's probably spammy. You probably got them in a bad way.
About this episode
The importance of keyword selection. We also discuss password protection and other current events, during out gino time limit. Regarding links we discuss blogroll, footer links and links in general and how they relate to SEO. We finally discuss Search Engine Optimization in Houston Texas. The most popular Internet Marketing Podcast on iTunes. E-Webstyle provides Houston SEO .
Questions this episode answers
Why are blog roll and footer links bad for SEO?
According to this episode, footer links are usually the last to get indexed and carry little value. Blog rolls are only acceptable if used to send traffic to related sites, not as a tactic to build SEO links, in which case they are unlikely to be effective.
Should you ever buy links for your website?
The hosts say buying links for SEO purposes is a no-no, but buying a link on a good, relevant site purely to drive traffic to your business can be acceptable. In that case, you should make sure it is a no-follow link so Google does not penalize your site.
What is wrong with using only keyword anchor text for link building?
The episode explains that if all links to your site use the same target keyword as anchor text, Google views it as suspicious and likely spammy. Natural links tend to use the website name, the URL, or varied text, so mixing up anchor text is the recommended alternative.
What are the alternatives to unnatural link building tactics?
The episode recommends building links naturally by creating quality content, reaching out personally to relevant sites that may want to link to you, participating genuinely in blog comments, and submitting your best content to popular, industry-relevant social bookmarking sites rather than spamming directories.
In their words
If you have to pay for it, then it isn't natural by definition.
Host
Having a do follow link is like having keyword-based anchor text. It's probably a signal that there's something fishy with your link profile.
Guest
The only way a link from a social profile back to your site has any value is if that social profile is actually engaged and being used and generating content and being retweeted and being liked and being followed.
Guest
Terms defined in this episode
- Bad neighborhood
- A group of sites sharing links with low-quality, spammy, or unrelated sites such as gambling or pharmacy spam, which can harm your own site's SEO by association.
- No-follow link
- A link attribute that signals to Google not to pass link juice, used when paying for a link so the site is not penalized for an unnatural link profile.
- Link bait
- Content on your site compelling enough that other site owners naturally want to link to it, used as a foundation for outreach-based link building.
- Social bookmarking
- Submitting links to popular aggregator sites to drive traffic; effective only when submitting quality, varied content rather than repeatedly submitting your own links.
Full transcript is being added.
This episode answers
Matthew Bertram
AI keynote speaker · Owner & CEO, EWR Digital · President, ModalPoint
Matthew Bertram is an AI keynote speaker, creator of DIG™ (Digital Information Governance), and owner and CEO of EWR Digital. He helps energy and industrial leaders win visibility in AI search (GEO and AEO), is President of ModalPoint and CMO of the Oil & Gas Global Network, hosts The Best SEO Podcast, and has authored eight books including LLM Visibility. More about Matthew Bertram.
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