In part one of this two-part blog series, we looked at some basics on why backlinks are important for digital marketing, plus some examples of undesirable or "spammy" links that you should be guarding against for your website. Avoiding spammy links is a big part of the overall link-building strategy, and this means knowing what to look for.
At Be Locally, we provide clients with a wide range of SEO services and related solutions, and we're experienced with numerous types of link-building campaigns. Today's part two of our series will look at some additional types of undesirable links that you should generally avoid for your site, plus why you should steer clear of them.
When we talk about article marketing, we're referring to sites or entities that create blog or other articles purely to attempt to generate backlinks. These articles typically lack originality, don't pass any sort of quality standards, and are clearly written just to get a link.
Articles like this do nothing to help your website's ranking or reputation and should be avoided. They also lack authority and don't add any real value to the original content you're linking back to.
One particular tactic that Google and other search engines hate is called "bait-and-switch." This is a process where companies will promote one product or service on their website, but the actual link leads to something completely different. This deceptive practice is used by some websites in an attempt to generate additional backlinks, and it's frowned upon by search engine algorithms.
In addition to being unethical and illegal in many cases, this practice also harms the user experience and can have serious negative implications for your website's ranking.
There are far too many "link directories" out there that are set up purely for the purpose of generating backlinks. Directory spam is a serious problem, because these sites often contain links to hundreds or even thousands of unrelated websites in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings.
Avoiding directory spam is essential if you want your website to rank well - it's best to stay away from any directories that don't appear to be reputable or provide any real value to the user.
Another newer tactic to watch out for is comment link spam. This is a process where people will post comments on blogs or websites with the sole intent of generating backlinks. These comments usually lack any real value and can be easily identified by their generic and often off-topic nature.
Comment link spam should always be avoided, as it harms the user experience and Google has cracked down on this type of behavior in recent years.
At Be Locally, we're here to provide our clients with the highest quality SEO services and solutions. Our team has extensive experience in link-building campaigns, and we strive to provide only the best quality backlinks for our clients' websites. If you have any questions or would like more information about link-building strategies, feel free to contact us today!