Common Link Building Mistakes People Make

This article was Authored by: Joseph Schneider | Director of Marketing

Link building is one of the more prevalent methods to gain a lot of traction in the digital landscape. But, like most strategies, you need to understand what you should not do to ensure that you're getting the best out of it.

This article will take you through all the things that you need to be wary of when creating a link-building strategy. Without any further ado, let's get started!

9 Common Link Building Mistakes People Make

1.    Opting for Quantity Over Quality

The first and most obvious area where mistakes are made is the quantity vs quality debate. While a high number of backlinks is good for a business, it also needs to be of good quality.

By low quality, what we mean is low-authority and spammy websites that have minimal or no SEO value. Just focusing on numbers instead of quality can torpedo your link building process and deliver subpar performance.

However, tempting it is, don't prioritize bulk submissions over curated links. Care should be taken that you also check the relevance of the domains before you link them.

While link building tools make your job a lot easier, excessive use can result in a bunch of low priority links that don't have any value to your website.

Another pitfall of focus on a numbers approach is that you might overlook genuine linking opportunities from high authority websites. Finally, don't make the mistake of overlooking editorial links and natural link placements.

2.    Buying Links for Cash

A link building 'strategy' that you often come across, especially if you've involved budget third-party providers, is buying links.

By buying links, you are in violation of Google's Webmaster Guidelines. This is considered a black hat SEO practice and is harmful for your website both in the long and short term.

The problem is that most SEO agencies still pass it off as something that you shouldn't worry about, but they're not being entirely transparent. If Google suspects that a website is buying links, they are going to levy hard penalties on it.

In fact, a website can be hit with a manual action, which means that it is highly unlikely their decision will be reversed. As a business looking to make gains, you should totally disregard buying links.

It is a waste of marketing budget on temporary gains and high risks of penalties. Websites buying links will damage their reputation in the long run and will sometimes have a permanent algorithmic devaluation record.

3. Building Links Too Quickly

Robust link building processes are a great way to get noticed. But when the numbers seem excessive, it will trigger Google's failsafes through spam filters. Legit link building strategies can only build so many links in a period.

If there are a huge number of links being built, it is most likely being manipulated or can be spammy websites. The problem for Google is that a high number of low-quality links in bulk leans towards unnatural link building methods.

The link building process should be a gradual one, accruing relevant links over time from high-authority websites.

Websites that build a high number of links in a short time have more chances of being reviewed and penalized. These links have less depth and substance than links that are built over time.

Link velocity, the rate at which websites gain or lose links, is a key metric to consider when building links. In Google's eyes, if a website's link velocity is high, positive or negative, it gets noticed.

4. Ignoring Internal Linking

One of the more common issues websites have with link building is that the focus is only on external link building. While it is true that businesses starting out need to focus on building links with other high-authority websites, that is no reason to ignore internal linking.

Internal website linking is a huge part of the linking dynamic. Not linking properly results in wasting SEO potential within a website that you could leverage against your competitors.

Users would miss important content or landing pages within the website that would increase engagement and conversions.

It would also overlook deep linking opportunities that can get your website better keyword coverage, therefore ranking higher on the search engine results page. Focus on creating keyword-rich anchor texts for more important pages.

Internal linking also improves cross-promotion of content. Related content pages, like blogs, could be internally linked, ensuring higher time on page from users. All these together can improve metrics across the board.

5. Leaving Out Local SEO

Local SEO is a powerful method to get improved rankings and tangible results. But when people leave out this process for link building, they lose local search visibility. Not just that, they are also not able to take advantage of GMB optimization techniques.

Local citations are a big part of the link building process, and they enhance a business's profile in local circles. It is a great idea to focus on local listings on relevant and popular niche directories.

Better local SEO can net valuable location-based backlinks from authority websites in the neighborhood.

It can also open doors to local influencer collaborations and events that can get businesses noticed among their competitors.

Focus on creating more geo-specific anchor texts to take advantage of local-specific keywords. Improved local SEO presence can also be favorable when it comes to community partnerships and events.

6. Poor Quality Content

The adage 'content is king' is used a lot by people, but it still holds true even to this day. Content is what generates interest in a brand and draws people towards it. Thin or duplicate content can be a huge turn-off both when it comes to users and for link building purposes.

Branded content should be original and have value to the reader. It should touch on the most common pain points a customer has. The best type of content is the one that solves audience problems.

Quality content can attract natural backlinks from even higher authority websites. It generates buzz through shares on social media and can get links through other referral methods.

Content that isn't relevant or is just there for the sake of keywords can have a negative effect on the website. Just using it as a platform to pack keywords in is not going to cut it.

7. Not Verifying Backlinks

For a business that accrues backlinks over time, it is a good idea to periodically analyze and verify them. There are chances for a website to accumulate toxic or spammy links if left unchecked.

These types of backlinks can attract penalties from Google, which can have a huge negative impact on the link building process. Regularly auditing a website's backlink profile can help prevent this from happening.

Apart from these types of links, there are chances that outbound links can be broken or end up as 404 links.

While this is mostly an issue with the target website, it can also happen if you have changed your website structure. It is a good idea to keep track of link sources to verify later.

There are multi-faceted tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush that can help streamline this process of link verification. Screaming Frog is another important tool that can deal with common link building issues.

8. Over-Optimizing Anchor Text

Anchor text is a vital part of the link building strategy. It is a rule of thumb to have exact-match keywords associated with anchor text to build SEO strength.

But excessive use of keywords in anchor text can be detrimental to the entire process. To search engine algorithms, it appears manipulative and deceptive.

When link building, it is important to remember that only using exact match keywords does not guarantee success. Anchor text that appears naturally on organic links is equally powerful despite not having keywords.

Forcing a specific pattern of keywords on anchor links can rob it of contextual relevance. Doing this will result in all anchor text appearing generic, and this can be damaging to the website's SEO.

In later iterations of the Google Search Engine, this can even trigger penalties. The key is to ensure that you use the right number of exact match keywords.

9. Getting Only Dofollow/NoFollow Links

If you've been reading up on link building, you might have chanced upon conflicting advice. Some say only DoFollow links work, and others swear that NoFollow links are what matters for results.

But the truth is that link building is like a balanced diet. Over-reliance on just one type of link will only result in an unbalanced link profile.

A key aspect of link building is the delicate balance between the DoFollow and NoFollow ratios. The general consensus is that brands should not waste time with NoFollow links because they do not generate link juice.

This is not strictly true as Google themselves have stated that it might choose to follow a nofollow link from high authority sources. Ignoring high-authority NoFollow links can be detrimental to the progress of your link building strategy.

On the other hand, over-optimizing for DoFollow can risk your website being penalized by Google. Updates like Penguin classify these types of strategies as manipulative link schemes and trigger penalties.

Link Building Mistakes - FAQs

1. What Are Some of the Biggest Link Building Mistakes Beginners Make?

The most common mistake people new to link building commit is opting for a more numbers over quantity approach. Getting a high number of cheap links in the hope of compensating for higher quality links can only give you poor results.

2. Is Buying Links a Valid Link Building Strategy?

Buying links is not allowed according to Google guidelines and can be penalized without notice. It can result in manual penalties, ranking drops, and deindexing from search results. These are penalties that are most likely irreversible, so avoid black hat methods at all costs.

3. Is Internal Linking Important for SEO?

Internal linking plays an important part in link building and SEO. It helps pass equity throughout your website and ensures a more consistent website performance on SERPs. Proper linking helps search engines crawl properly through a website and improve user experience as well.

4. Should I Only Focus On Getting Dofollow Links?

A healthy backlink profile has both DoFollow and NoFollow links. People mistakenly think NoFollow links don't drive traffic and equity to your website, but Google has stated that it is not the case.

Key Takeaways

• Ensure focus on a quality-first approach rather than quantity when link building.

• Exclude low-authority and spammy websites during the link building process.

• Create a balanced link profile with both NoFollow and DoFollow links.

• Optimize internal linking and focus on local SEO to boost website authority.

• Diversify link sources to attract more organic traffic and relevance.

• Avoid buying links, as they can be classified as violations and can be penalized.

• Audit backlinks on a regular basis to prevent toxic backlink accumulation.