Webster's Dictionary defines link building as... it doesn't actually.
Why is there no standard definition? It isn't like link building is a secret. According to a recent survey, 80 percent of companies engaged in SEO are spending more than $1,000 a month on link building.
The lack of a standard definition leads to a large amount of confusion within the industry itself. I've met other SEOs and marketers who had a tenuous grasp on link building at best. It's not like there's an SEO college. Forget that: SEO is barely taught in universities at all.
So what is link building exactly? If you're asking me for a bare bones definition, I would say it's the process of going out of your way to find great links.
But I don't think that definition truly does link building justice: it ignores the importance of link building. It ignores the crucial role it can and should play in any online marketing campaign. In my opinion, the true definition of link building doesn't come from just asking what, it also comes from asking why.
Link building isn't just the aforementioned process of acquiring backlinks that point to your site: it's also a proven marketing tactic that increases brand awareness and conversions.
The Why
So why should you build links today? You should do it for the same reason you should have built links last year. And the year before. And every year since Google dominated the search market.
You should build links because links are still one of the most important ranking signals in Google's algorithm, and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
You don't have to take just my word for it. Listen to Matt Cutts, who emphasized the importance of links at the recent SMX Advanced conference.
Danny Sullivan: Is link building just dead? You keep saying a new tactic is dead, or must be nofollowed, is it really you just don't want people to try to build links at all?
Cutts: No, link building is not dead. And a very small percentage of links on the web are nofollowed. There's a lot of mileage left in links.
Even though it seemed Sullivan, the founder of Search Engine Land, was trying to bait him into saying link building possessed little value, Cutts rebuffed that idea.
It's not just about increasing search visibility and brand exposure, however. Link building can help drive other marketing strategies. There's a lot of talk about content marketing being "the new link building." I believe this to be a falsehood.
The two are completely different. Content marketing has ambitions beyond building links; it's primarily focused on disseminating a brand message.
If you launch a content marketing initiative solely for links, your content will likely suffer. Content marketing and link building may not be synonymous, but they complement each other nicely. Link building can help you to build relationships that can serve to benefit you in other endeavors as well.
Link building is a crucial component to a comprehensive online marketing campaign.
The Ghost of Link Building Past
I can't accurately provide you with the year when link building started, but I can tell you that link building has existed for a long time. Eric Ward, who is known as the godfather of link building, helped Amazon.com create a link building strategy all the way back in 1994. That's four years before Google even existed.
Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2356174/What-is-Link-Building
Why is there no standard definition? It isn't like link building is a secret. According to a recent survey, 80 percent of companies engaged in SEO are spending more than $1,000 a month on link building.
The lack of a standard definition leads to a large amount of confusion within the industry itself. I've met other SEOs and marketers who had a tenuous grasp on link building at best. It's not like there's an SEO college. Forget that: SEO is barely taught in universities at all.
So what is link building exactly? If you're asking me for a bare bones definition, I would say it's the process of going out of your way to find great links.
But I don't think that definition truly does link building justice: it ignores the importance of link building. It ignores the crucial role it can and should play in any online marketing campaign. In my opinion, the true definition of link building doesn't come from just asking what, it also comes from asking why.
Link building isn't just the aforementioned process of acquiring backlinks that point to your site: it's also a proven marketing tactic that increases brand awareness and conversions.
The Why
So why should you build links today? You should do it for the same reason you should have built links last year. And the year before. And every year since Google dominated the search market.
You should build links because links are still one of the most important ranking signals in Google's algorithm, and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
You don't have to take just my word for it. Listen to Matt Cutts, who emphasized the importance of links at the recent SMX Advanced conference.
Danny Sullivan: Is link building just dead? You keep saying a new tactic is dead, or must be nofollowed, is it really you just don't want people to try to build links at all?
Cutts: No, link building is not dead. And a very small percentage of links on the web are nofollowed. There's a lot of mileage left in links.
Even though it seemed Sullivan, the founder of Search Engine Land, was trying to bait him into saying link building possessed little value, Cutts rebuffed that idea.
It's not just about increasing search visibility and brand exposure, however. Link building can help drive other marketing strategies. There's a lot of talk about content marketing being "the new link building." I believe this to be a falsehood.
The two are completely different. Content marketing has ambitions beyond building links; it's primarily focused on disseminating a brand message.
If you launch a content marketing initiative solely for links, your content will likely suffer. Content marketing and link building may not be synonymous, but they complement each other nicely. Link building can help you to build relationships that can serve to benefit you in other endeavors as well.
Link building is a crucial component to a comprehensive online marketing campaign.
The Ghost of Link Building Past
I can't accurately provide you with the year when link building started, but I can tell you that link building has existed for a long time. Eric Ward, who is known as the godfather of link building, helped Amazon.com create a link building strategy all the way back in 1994. That's four years before Google even existed.
Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2356174/What-is-Link-Building
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