When I entered this line of work I found the hardest part of learning how to build links was figuring out which strategies were sound, and which were a waste of time.
Time could be wasted for a plethora of reasons.
1) The tactic you are using was completely valid two years ago, but now due to changes in algo and environment they are no longer worth your time
2) They are so despised by fellow webmasters that they may not be worth your time
And the list goes on.
Continue reading
Links are the fuel that push search engine results.
You can build the best race car on the track, through strong on-page optimization efforts, but without gas what good is a fast car?
Like most energy sources quality links are becoming increasingly difficult to come by at low cost.
There are endless ways to create low quality links, but if you are optimizing a site through purely ethical methods, low quality links will do little if anything for your rankings. You really need to find ways to create lasting, quality links that can help drive your optimization efforts forward.
It has long been held in the SEO industry that .edu links can be the key to developing quality link equity when utilizing purely white hat optimization techniques. These links represent such high quality that they can often add more equity than even multiple high authority sites.
The reason for the weight given to .edu sites has nothing to do with their TLD, but is in the difficulty in obtaining, and thus manipulating them for search ranking benefit.
Finding methods to achieve sustainable .edu links can be difficult. One method often used by SEOs is the utilization of college job boards for finding not only talented prospective employees, but also high quality links.
In obtaining high quality authoritative links, I often find that being transparent and working with a sense of building a lasting relationship can benefit both parties.
Coming from a background in education I have been able to develop a link building technique that not only serves my purposes as an SEO, but also the educational community I am looking to gain links from.
By building educational lessons and units around concepts central to your market, you can create viral link bait that can lead to long lasting linking relationships with .edu sources.