7 Habits of Highly Effective One-Way Link Building

Link building is the art of getting links pointing back to your site in pursuit of higher search engine rankings. We certainly know how important link building is but the question are how do we build links? Why do we build links? Which link building strategy works best?

Everything else being equal, in theory, the more backlinks you have, the higher you rank in search results.

It remains true that you need to be mindful of what makes a good link and what you should focus on to have the maximum impact on your rankings.

You can build 1000 backlinks and if 999 links are not trustworthy in the eyes of search engines, you are just as good as that one “trusted” link.

One-Way vs Reciprocal Links

Is reciprocal linking dead? This is yet again a highly debated subject in the SEO community. Some swear that reciprocal links are a thing of the past while others think they are still not dead yet but that’s another story.

I’m in the opinion that one-way link holds more value in the eyes of the search engines vs reciprocal links. Beyond any doubt, one way links are deemed to be natural links and not an attempt to manipulate search engines.

If the situation warrants it and you are to swap links with another blogger, your best bet is to exchange contextual links – links that are part of the article – pointing back to your inner page.

That way, it appears to be more natural in the eyes of search engines. Suffice to say, Google in particular favors contextual links vs direct link exchanges.

7 Habits of Highly Effective One-Way Link Building

There are 101 link building strategies that can work for you but today I’m gonna share with you my 7 habits of highly effective one-way link building. Keep in mind that what works for me might not have the same success rate for you.

The key is to experiment with each of them and see how they work – a combination of several techniques might be your best option. Over time you’ll figure out which ones give you the best SEO results.

#1 Habit: Write Quality Article

No link building strategy is more effective than the old and time-tested formula of writing compelling contents that focus on “what’s in it for the readers”.  A linkworthy content with viral appeal excites people to comment, talk about, recommend and link to. That’s the power of quality content for link building or what others call, the art of linkbaiting.

I know it’s easier said than done but it’s worth all the time and effort from the initial brainstorming to the actual copywriting. It all comes down to quality vs quantity and there is no exception to it. In fact, your content is essentially one of the most important branding assets at your disposal.

#2 Habit: Blog Commenting

If you are a commenting addict like me Dennis Edell, you should now be aware that I’m a big proponent of blog commenting too. Not only it helps me build connection with fellow bloggers, it has been and will remain as the primary source of direct traffic and incoming links for me.

If you aren’t getting enough comments, it’s time to get rid of “If I build it, they will come” mentality. If you have not done enough commenting, ignorance isn’t an excuse.

For the sake of simplicity, I’m not going to delve further on what’s should your commenting etiquette be, the key is to make sure your comments are relevant, worth saying and add value to the discussion. General comments such as, “Great post. I agree with you!” is frowned upon as an obvious attempts to get backlinks.

#3 Habit: Article Marketing

Article marketing remains the best strategy to draw traffic to your site which usually convert better than typical search traffic. Plus, it gives you contextual links back to your site. You can write one killer article, submit it to article directories such as Ezine Articles and watch your one-way incoming links explode almost like magic.

I’ve been using this method to build links to my niche sites successfully. I can vouch that link building doesn’t get much easier than that. Besides, article marketing and distribution is now painless.

#4 Habit: Forum Marketing

I admit forum marketing isn’t one of my strong points and I’m not too sure either if Google is giving much value to the forum signature links. It isn’t the best in term of quality. I’m guessing the value of any link is directly proportional to how easy it is to come by.

However, one thing is certain is that it doesn’t carry as much weight as the contextual links but as long as the links are dofollow, it’s still worth the effort to build links using the forum signature.

Did you know that forum signatures are being sold everywhere across the internet?

#5 Habit: Guest Posting

The benefit of guest posting should never be underestimated. It’s your one-time opportunity to showcase who you are in front of your host audience. Making guest appearance helps raise your profile as a blogger and allow for links back to your own site.

Though guest posting isn’t as effective and viral as article marketing, I’d not discount its effectiveness. Fact is I’ve done a couple of guest posting myself and oh boy, my subscribership increased by 30% as a result.

#6 Habit: Contest

Though the novelty of contest is wearing off nowadays, this sixth habit of link building via contest is still worthy of a mention. If done right, contest could go viral and help build incoming links to your site. Whether you are holding a contest yourself or sponsoring someone’s contest, it’s a win-win game for everyone involved.

#7 Habit: The Power of Linking Out

The last but not the least habit of link building is to link out to others to attract links. If you take the initiative to link out first, others might reciprocate the same. The rule of the thumb is to link out to the relevant sites that add valuable resources and information to your readers.

It isn’t rocket science. Linking out requires minimum effort on your part, so to speak. Only in some rare occasions – well, I’m on the optimistic side, you don’t get the links back but at the very least, you get the attention of those you link out to.

Performancing has 9 reasons why you shouldn’t be afraid to link out. Still unconvinced? Here’s Why is linking to other blogs important?

Conclusion

Link building is time-consuming and not a one-time action. It requires a great deal of consistency, patience and most importantly, the right links.

As Jim from Jim Boykin’s Blog wrote “Getting a few of the right links, from the right places can be more valuable than getting 100 links from the wrong places”.

By forming these 7 habits of building links, you can develop a solid one-way link building strategy that will bring your closer to the top of search engine rankings and ultimately, be awarded with that coveted PageRank status.

In a nutshell, will you link to me?

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