Backlinking mistakes to steer clear of

So, you’ve drawn up your backlinking strategy, and are aiming to get some links to your site from web locations which will reward you with an SEO boost. But there are certain errors and misconceptions which have been known to stop a backlinking campaign in its tracks.

In this blog, allow us to give you some warning of what not to do when it comes to backlinking.

Assume backlinking = paid for

There are plenty of websites that you might be able to pay to place a backlink on. But just because you can pay, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are more effective than sites which won’t accept a fee. In fact, many sites which you can’t pay for backlinks on – such as newspapers’ online homes and high ranking consumer platforms – can be the best places to achieve your backlinks on. That should be all the more incentive to conduct an organic backlinking campaign.

Neglect the importance of contacts

Following on from the point above, an organic campaign is made a whole lot easier once you have a large list of contacts. These could be newspaper journalists and editors, site admins, or owners of organisations with high ranking websites. The key thing is to nurture those relationships and offer them something of tangible value in exchange for backlink spots. This might seem like much harder work than paying a site for a backlink, but the potential SEO benefits can make it all worthwhile in the end.

Lose your patience

None of us – apart from maybe those who work at Google – can know all the workings of the world’s most popular search engine. That’s why in some cases, it can take longer than we think for what we recognise as sound SEO practices to take effect. Backlinking is one of those practices which may not take effect overnight, but through consistency and perseverance, we can contribute to a significant rise up the search rankings for our website.

So next time you dive into a backlinking campaign, remember these potential pitfalls and above all, look to the long term!