Link Building and SEO: what it is and why it is important

Link building is part of those SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques that allow your texts to be favored by Google's algorithm.

March 21, 2022

Copywriting, Marketing Strategies

3 minutes

Link building is part of those SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques that allow your texts to be favored by the search engine algorithm .

In fact, these evaluate all the content that is posted on the Internet every day through a rigid system of rules that no one knows for sure. These rules are constantly being updated and are used to understand whether the information placed on a web page is likely to be truly useful to users. If they are, Google shows the site among the top results for certain queries to which a search intent is attached.

Included in this thick list of criteria that SEO specialists try to interpret is link quality. Put another way, the search engine evaluates:

How well internal links within the site succeed in deepening the subject matter
How much external links refer to valuable sources
How incoming links (i.e., other sites that have used yours as an external link) are recognized as authoritative

In this article, we want to explain how to structure an effective link building strategy to try to climb the SERP without using paid advertisements.

What is and how to do link building

Let’s start with a premise. The term link indicates a link, that is, a cross-reference to a different page than the one on which you are browsing that succeeds in further exploring the topic mentioned in the copy.

Thus, SEO link building is about building a network of links in the best possible way. In fact, there are very precise rules for doing so and nothing can be left to chance or improvisation.

Before delving into individual strategies, however, it is good to do some background and understand what we mean by:

Internal links – These are the main key to a good SEO strategy. Internal links can be understood as direct links to other pages on the same site. Their purpose is twofold: on the one hand, they serve to extend the user’s browsing time; on the other hand, they help to deepen certain aspects of the text.
External links – Just as important as internal links , their function is to refer the user to a page on another Web site considered to be an authoritative source for the topic of interest. In this case, the risk is to lose the user. However, it should be considered that if the visitor remains satisfied with the information he or she finds, it is possible that he or she will return, in the future, to our website because he or she considers it reliable.
Inbound links – A link is defined as such when a portal refers to a page on your website via its external link. With these, not only does the site linking to yours benefit, but you also gain in visibility.

Let us now see how to make the most of these three elements.

How to create internal and external links useful for site ranking

As we have seen, to improve your site’s search engine rankings, it is good to place and build internal and external links properly. A good lineup to follow is as follows:

Finding related content – After writing copy, it is helpful to select pages internal to your site(internal links) orexternal (external links) that might be related to the topic you are talking about.
Creating the link – From a practical point of view, the actual link is created by an action called anchoring. In other words, the insertion of the url on the words in your text.
Optimize links – There are two ways: you can decide to place them on unoptimized anchor text (the various “click here,” “visit the site”), or on optimized anchor text (using specific words that pick up on the topic at hand). From an SEO point of view, the second solution is preferable.

How to evaluate inbound links to your website

Inbound links also affect a website’s performance on Google. This happens for two reasons. First, referrals to your portal generate more qualified traffic. Second, being referenced on sites already considered authoritative also leads to yours being considered authoritative.

Of course, not all inbound links can be chosen: those on the Internet are free to cite the sites they want. However, through a number of strategic activities, which we will see in a moment, it is possible to get good links.

To be considered as such, links must meet the characteristics summarized by the acronym EAT:

Expertise or Experience – Those involved in creating content for the site that mentions us must demonstrate subject matter knowledge and mastery of the topics they cover.
Authoritativeness or Authority – The author or site that posts a reference to our portal must be recognized by Google and users as a reliable source of information.
Trustworthiness or Reliability – The external site must avoid spreading falsehoods, biased or shallow information. Instead, it needs to create content with real value to readers.

Some SEO link building strategies

To increase the quantity and quality of inbound links there are several techniques, some more expensive, some less so. Here are the three most immediate ones:

Guest Posting – You can invite the owner of an authoritative site to write content for your blog and, at the same time, you write content for his or her blog. This way, both articles will have a referral link and you will both benefit.
Press releases – Despite being older, this still remains one of the most effective strategies. By sending these communications, you can get online news outlets to talk about you by mentioning the url of your site in the texts.
Posting links on social profiles – If you have a social profile, it can be useful to create posts that contain links to your blog posts or pages on your site.

Entrust your link building activity to the experts at Isola

As you may have guessed, creating an effective, consistent and functional link system is crucial to succeeding in getting good search engine rankings. However, it is also an extremely complexactivity that requires knowledge in copywriting, SEO and keyword research.

Relying on professionals is therefore the best choice. The experts at the web agency Isola di Comunicazione are on hand to offer you all the support you need to create your content marketing strategy.