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2) Link Buying
Why it Killed Yesterday
Before Google, search engines relied primarily on on-page optimization to determine how a page should rank. When Google came around, they changed all of that by adding links as a core part of their algorithm.
It made sense. If we all used on-page factors, then getting a top ranking was just a matter of adding your keywords slightly better than the next guy. Unfortunately, this led people to optimize pages for things that were not necessarily relevant in order to draw in the traffic. Google realized they can?t rely just on what someone says is on the page but by what other people say about that page.
Enter links. Every link to a page is, essentially, a vote for the page. The more votes a page has the better it should rank.
Enter SEOs. Knowing that these votes can dramatically alter the search engine rankings, SEOs started buying links en mass to increase rankings. It wasn?t out of the ordinary to hear SEOs say ?I just bought $10,000 worth of links for my client.? And as long as buying those links helped improve rankings, that $10,000 investment could translate into $100,000 in new revenue.
Why it Will Get You Killed Today
In 2012, Google rolled out the Penguin algorithm designed to target manipulative link building practices. While links remain an important part of the search engine algorithms, paying for links as a way to manipulate the algorithm is severely penalized.
Wary of unnatural link-building practices, the search engines are looking for links that are truly earned. Essentially, link buying is out. But do the search engines really know if you bought a link or not? They can?t be certain, but there are a number of tell-tale signals. Trigger enough of these, and you?ll be in the hurt.
How to Kill it for Tomorrow and Forever
If you do buy links, do it only for advertising purposes. As such, be sure to use a nofollow tag on each and every purchased link. This will allow you to get the traffic without being seen as manipulating the algorithm.
You can still engage in natural link-building practices. But that means no quid pro quo. Feel free to contact other site owners, pointing out something of value on your site and ask if they will link to it. They might.
As important as links are, social media has, essentially, taken their place. Not in terms of algorithmic importance but in terms of the best way to build natural links. Engaging online with your followers, pushing out great content and commenting on other?s content will build relationships that will often turn into links without even asking.
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