Link building is a process that never really comes to a stop. That’s why we like to think of it as an out-of-control hamster running in a hamster’s wheel.

You build a quality link, then a competitor builds another link, and this goes on and on, explaining why search engine optimisation never stops.

Someone will always be biting at your heels: a competitor, an established company, or a brand new start-up hungry to “dominate” the first page of Google and take that number one spot.

What does this mean?

Well, for some businesses, the difference between ranking number 1, top of the pile, so to speak, and number 2 on Google can sometimes mean millions in terms of additional sales.

Yep, it’s that stark a difference.

Consumers naturally trust those ranked at the top of Google. They are seen as the cream of the crop, the best of the bunch, and the business that has earned its place at the top of Google, so they can be trusted.

And this is true.

This is why SEO agencies don’t stop building links, yet so many SEO consultants get the process wrong.
And when we say wrong, we mean completely wrong, like de-indexed and a Google Penguin penalty wrong.

Under pressure from clients, they may be eager to report back; we build 10 backlinks this month.

Great, but if those links—backlinks, that is—are spam, rubbish, or low-quality links, they will put your organic and local search engine optimisation in reverse gear.

So what’s our best advice?

Take your time

Build quality, build it slow, and if any client does not like it, push back and say, “In regards to SEO, everything has to be done right.” It’s good to do this because when a business disappears from Google because of something like a link penalty—that’s a Google Penguin penalty—well, you will have wished you built quality and took your time doing so.
Fools rush in
And fools build rubbish links.

 

17-minute read (grab an espresso; it’s a long one)

What are backlinks?

Backlinks are what ultimately decide which businesses rank at the top of Google.

Yet, as mentioned earlier, it’s something so many businesses get wrong: building links.

And that’s because businesses that are trying to complete SEO make this mistake: They think all links are the same.

They are not; here’s the best way to explain why:

 

So, backlinks are just like electric cables, and here’s why.

Some cables carry tiny electrical currents, such as those used to charge your phone. Others, on the other hand, are so powerful that they help power an entire city.

Backlinks are the same. Some lead in power, which will make little difference, say from a directory website.

Yet on the other hand, if you get a link from a national Newspaper website, such as The Guardian, this could supercharge your Google rankings and give you a super powerful link.

 

Spam links

Then, you have spam links built using black hat methods, which will damage your SEO.

Sometimes, the business can receive a link penalty, which means the website gets “de-indexed,” which is another way of saying removed from Google because the business has used SEO methods that the search engine, Google, does not approve of.

In short, a backlink is simply a hyperlink from one business to another. However, it’s also more than that. It’s a way for Google to work out how many good companies are linking to you, which makes your business website deemed higher quality if many quality and well-regarded companies link to you.

 

Google and authority

So, it just makes sense; let’s say you run a solicitors practice; well, if the best websites which report on newsworthy topics concerning your area of law all link to your solicitor’s website, it’s a clear sign you’re a well-known business.

Therefore, if the best brands and some of the best websites link to you, it’s like they approve of your work. So, in return, you get what SEO agencies call “link juice”, which is like what we referred to earlier, like the electrical power needed to move your business up Google’s SERPs.

 

Quality links from as many different websites

So, a business may build one link and then wait eagerly to see if they climb Google’s ranks in the SERPs.

However, just one link, even if it is high quality, may not make a dramatic difference.

Sometimes, it can help to nudge you up a few places.

However, what is needed is many quality links from a wide variety of different websites.

So, this is what is called the business backlink profile.

You will want quality links from as many different sources as possible.

Therefore, the more quality links, the better.

Yes, but how many backlinks do I need to outrank my main competitors?

Well, first things first, you need to know which keywords your business wants to rank for.

You want a keyword that will bring in enough visitors but is achievable with your marketing budget.

So, for example, if a group of businesses is spending millions per year on improving their SEO for a keyword like “car insurance,” this means the keyword is difficult to obtain.

There’s no point in a company entering the ring and trying to get to the top of Google if it has a minimal marketing budget, say 1k a month.

That’s because these businesses (currently on the first page of Google) will have the vast resources, the link builders, etc, to work on strengthening their SEO significantly over a prolonged period.

Someone trying to outrank them on a fraction of the marketing budget is heading for burnout.

You have to be realistic about what you can achieve, so choose keywords that you can compete for using your available marketing spend.

 

Backlink checking tools

Then, use quality backlink-checking tools like Majestic, Ahrefs, or Moz Pro. Then, check your competitor’s backlinks and see how many quality links they have. If they have 30K plus, well, the mountain to climb to outrank and beat that competitor, the task ahead is massive and will be hard work. And let’s be realistic: you’ll need a large and good SEO agency to do just that.

If they have 100 quality links instead, this is less of a challenge, yet a challenge nonetheless.
Here’s the thing: even when you have your direct competitors’ backlink profiles in an Excel spreadsheet, this doesn’t automatically mean you can build the same links.

Those links, given to that Cardiff business, could be for business awards, newspaper articles and from suppliers; therefore, replicating the same links could be impossible.

For example, regarding a solicitors practice that’s won a national award, a local competitor can’t obtain that same backlink from the Solicitors Journal, let’s say, because their competitors may not have won that same award.

Yet often, there will be some backlinks that you could replicate, but working through the vast Excel Spreadsheets does take time and skill.

Skill because it’s sometimes like finding a needle in a haystack, meaning if you have a list of 40 thousand links, that’s all well and good. But a business, a business in Cardiff, looking at their direct competitors’ backlinks, may only want to replicate 10 backlinks, so you have to painstakingly work through the list, working out which links are good, which are spam, and which links you can replicate to improve your own businesses search engine optimisation.

 

Domain Authority

So, if you’re new to SEO, you may have heard “domain authority” and DA mentioned frequently in various articles.
Yet, do you not know what it means?

So, you need to know that Google doesn’t use “DA” as a ranking factor.

That’s because it is a metric that the SEO tools use to sum up how good the SEO is on a 100-point scale. Moz uses it, but Google does not use DA.

Even though Google doesn’t use “DA” or domain authority as a main ranking factor, it still uses backlinks as a key ranking factor.

Now, to give you a rough idea of how Google’s algorithm works, there are over 200 ranking factors which Google uses to assign an SEO score.

The stronger your ranking factors are, the higher your business ranks on Google.

And some ranking factors, such as backlinks, are worth more than others.

So, you got it; if you have a strong backlink profile, there’s a strong chance you will rank on page one of Google.

However, getting links is the hard part.

And just to give you an idea, out of all the ranking factors, backlinks are widely thought to be the most important.
So, a business with robust backlinks has a much better chance of ranking on page one of Google.

How can a business build quality backlinks?

There are only two main ways, in our opinion: outreach and earning backlinks. We shall explain how these work individually.

 

Earning backlinks

The best way to obtain high-quality and relevant backlinks is to earn those links.

One way to earn backlinks is to publish statistics and research you have conducted.

For example, let’s say that you’re a dental practice. You might conduct some research, stating how many people feel dental pain per year and whether this has led to time off work. This research may get cited potentially hundreds of times, which could lead to a mass of incoming backlinks, as dental practices and other websites cite your work.

On the other hand, you could write helpful content marketing that other bloggers and businesses want to link to. For example, if you create work that is very helpful and follows the advice set out in Google EEAT, then this written work could be helpful for thousands of readers.

If it is helpful to many people, then other businesses and bloggers may link to you.

So, “earning links” means not asking other businesses to link to you through outreach; instead, they choose to link to you on their own accord, as they see the work as of good quality.

 

Outreach

The other method of obtaining backlinks is outreach. The SEO agency may use a backlink-checking tool like Ahrefs, Moz Pro or Majestic. All are good.

Then, you see the backlinks your competitors have, and you contact the businesses you want to build backlinks from.

 

Black hat and spam links

Just before we finish, we have to go back over why it’s so important that your business or your SEO company doesn’t build spam or low-quality backlinks.

It’s all too easy to check a competitor’s backlinks, see that they have 10k backlinks, and then think, “You’re going to put huge effort into building links, too.”

That makes sense. You need to close the gap and outrank a competitor’s website.

Sure, that makes sense; building backlinks and quality links takes time.

Businesses often lack time or don’t want to hire expensive marketing agencies to do this work.

Therefore, they either build links themselves or try to buy them.

However, here’s the thing: build the wrong links. If you build spam or low-quality backlinks, the business will massively—and we mean massively—damage its SEO. So much so that you log into your Google Search Console shortly after to see the website has been de-indexed.

This can mean a manual action penalty placed on the website, or Google’s algorithms have deemed the SEO methods used to be spam and removed you from Google. This means that the website is deindexed and often damaged over the long term.

 

Come to the best

We are owned by Ryan Walsh, one of Cardiff’s most experienced SEO experts. With over 10 years behind us, we have worked for some of Cardiff’s best and most respected businesses.

We want to work for you. Our monthly retainers start from £700.00 PCM for local SEO and are more national SEO.

It would be great to discuss your business’s SEO, and I look forward to hearing from you.