Link building has always been a go-to strategy for SEO specialists looking to rank their own or their customer’s websites. Back in the day, it was quite easy. So long as your site received a link from another, your website would rank higher. Nowadays, however, things aren’t so simple. You can’t just throw a bunch of links at a site and expect it to rank. In fact, often times this sort of strategy can actually get you penalized – possibly even de-indexed – from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

In 2016, things are getting more and more advanced – and SEO experts and online marketers need to be extra careful when building links to their site. Today, it is more about the quality of the link than the quantity. It’s more important to receive a link from a highly reputable link building resource, than it is from a hundred blogs with very little traffic. And this makes sense, doesn’t it? I mean, wouldn’t you rather get a link from Forbes than a bunch of links from a handful of blogs that nobody will probably ever see? And on top of that, most of those blogs end up becoming expired domains with 404 pages – leaving you with a slew of broken links – making it a double-whammy and a massive footprint. Google notices this and will penalize you accordingly, because they know that you are deliberately trying to game the system – and it is all about organic search results and getting up to the top of the rankings naturally in their eyes.

Write Quality Content

So what should an SEO expert do in 2016, the year of the monkey? It is going to sound like just another platitude pushed out by a Google representative, but we have to say it anyway: write quality content. Writing quality content that people actually want to read and share will go a long way toward building an online reputation, both in the eyes of those surfing the web and Google. You will be rewarded accordingly, and sooner or later, your site will be sitting atop the search engine search results for some very profitable keywords.

Gaming the system the easy way is now out of the question, and far too risky for a business owner to even attempt – as we mentioned that doing so can result in the de-indexing of a site.

So go out there and write quality content – content that people want to read and learn from – and watch your site soar to the top of the rankings. But make sure to be patient. You can’t expect to get on page one in just a matter of a month or two. It takes time, and sometimes it might seem like you’re stuck in the sand and in total stasis, but have faith in the Google algorithm. They will pick up on your popularity and reward you accordingly.

How Networtech Can Help Your SEO Campaign

Networtech Consulting Group is a web design and marketing company located in the city of Houston, TX. With decades of combined experience, they have watched the web change and evolve into the world that it is today. Over the years, through hard work, testing, and analysis, the team has developed a rational and effective methodology for creating a lasting impression on the web. If you are interested in learning more about the discipline of online marketing, please check out the SEO resources on their blog. They have been writing about SEO, PPC and web design for many years, doing their best to offer valuable resources to their audience day in and day out – in the hopes of developing lasting relationships with others passionate about said topics. If you like what you are reading here, please share it with your peers. We also encourage you to reach out to us, as we are eager to hear back from our viewers!