What is Link Building?

Jon Ball, writer for SearchEngineWatch.com, a website on all things search engine and marketing related, explains what exactly Link Building is for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes.

Although to web developers, this term may be like second nature. However, Ball points out the fact that there isn’t really a specified definition for this term. For Ball, link building isn’t just the process of acquiring backlinks that point to your website. To him, it’s a useful marketing tactic to increase brand awareness and conversations.

Why Should You Build Links?

Ball describes why we should be building links for the fact that links are still one of the most important ranking signals in Googles algorithm, and are likely to remain so for the future.

Link building isn’t just about increasing search visibility and brand exposure. Link building can help drive other marketing strategies. There’s a lot of talk about content marketing being “the new link building”. However, Ball doesn’t believe this is the case.

Ball states that the two are completely different. Content marketing has ambitions beyond building links; it’s primarily focused on disseminating a brand message.

Ball says that if you’re launching a content marketing campaign solely for links, your content will likely suffer. Content marketing and link building may not be synonymous, but they do complement each other. Link building can help you build relationships that can serve to benefit you in other situations as well.

To Ball, “Link building is a crucial component to a comprehensive online marketing campaign”.

Is Link Building Another Form of Promotion?

Ball declares that link building is firmly placed in the marketing sphere along with television or radio advertising, yet in a different way.

A large percentage of websites are built to either generate leads or to sell something. Search remains the best way to point users to your site along with social media shares.

To Ball, this means that links are not just links; they’re votes of confidence. A backlink that points to your site is a signal of trust and authority. In order to get links, it’s increasingly essential to clarify why you’re worth linking to. This means that link building is slowly turning into another method of promotion.

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Read the full article by Jon Ball.