{"id":12842,"date":"2017-01-25T12:50:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T10:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/?p=12842"},"modified":"2017-09-26T17:15:46","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T14:15:46","slug":"link-building-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/12842\/link-building-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Do Link Building and Not Get Penalized in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of articles are published daily on the ultra-discussed topic of link building. Just try a simple search on Google with the \u201clink building\u201d query and most likely the \u201clink building is dead\u201d auto complete will show up.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From what we are concerned, link building is far from dead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It would be arrogant to say link building (or even SEO) is exactly the same as it was a couple years ago. And it\u2019s also true that the landscape of SEO and link building is always changing, but that doesn’t mean link building is dead and buried. What we think it actually means is that the importance of building high-quality white hat links has never been higher. “Can link building co-exist with Google Penguin updates?” one might ask. We believe that yes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Are<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A proper understanding of the concept of link building in the current context is needed, of course. Yet, whether you are\u00a0new to link building, or you have been doing it for a while, there might be some\u00a0underused link building techniques that might help you to secure high quality links. And those are the exact tactics we are going to present to you in the following lines:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What’s Different About Penguin 4.0 ?<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Earning the First Link<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Interview Experts\/Influencers<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Link Bait<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Create Best in Class Content<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Build Free Tools<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Aggregate Data & Create Stats<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    White-Hat Link Influencing<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Identify Dead Businesses<\/strong> <\/a><\/li>\n
    2. Send Handwritten Notes<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
    3. Link Reclamation Technique<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
    4. Brand Mentions Technique<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
    5. Target the \u2019Media Mentions\u2019 Page<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Monitoring Your KPIs<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n
        \n
      1. SEO Visibility<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
      2. Link Acquisition Speed <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n
      3. Penalty Risk Monitoring<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
         <\/div>\n

        What’s Different About Penguin 4.0 ?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

        For a couple of years now, Google has got us used to its algorithm updates,<\/a> <\/strong>whose aim is to catch spam link profiles as quickly as possible and to keep low-quality sites from ranking well in the search results. What you might not be familiar with is the concept of Real Time<\/em> and Granular<\/em>.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        What that means exactly:<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Real-time<\/strong>: Your site will be penalized in near real-time (if you get unnatural links) as well as recover from a penalty incredibly quickly (if you disavow or remove the bad links).<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Granular<\/strong>: The Penguin algorithm will be able to devalue spam by adjusting ranking based on spam signals, rather than affecting the ranking of the whole site.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"What's
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Step 1: Earning the First Link<\/strong><\/h3>\n
        \n

        The very first link might be the one you\u2019ll have to work the hardest for.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        It can be very frustrating, too – knowing that links give rise to\u00a0links yet you\u2019re yet to get your first one. But despite this knowledge, it is crucial that you earn that first link fair and square.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Do not beg for it, do not buy it, do not happen upon it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Work hard for it and the reward will feel that much sweeter. This is not just some idealized notion of ethics, either. You need to be able to win that link and prove to yourself that you can do that. So how can you fight for the first white hat link?<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"don't
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Strategy #1 – Interview Experts\/Influencers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

         <\/p>\n

        You\u2019re probably not an expert yet, otherwise people would already be flocking to hear what you have to say. But that doesn\u2019t mean you cannot take advantage of the appeal of an expert. And the best thing is you can do that while also offering honest quality to your readers. It\u2019s not disinterested, and it\u2019s also not dishonest. But it’s a great deal to attract links.<\/p>\n

        \n

        That\u2019s how most interviews work – we want to offer readers some insight, but also attract their attention.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Convincing an expert or an influencer to do an interview doesn\u2019t have to be very difficult. Most of them are people who are just interested in getting their message across, so an opportunity to do that will more often than not be something they should be interested in. There are also so many ways of interacting nowadays which are just convenient that it would be a missed opportunity for them not to accept your invitation (even if you don\u2019t have a large audience yet). And on top of that is an opportunity for you to start building relationships that will help you through the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        They can reply to questions you wrote in an e-mail (if they don\u2019t have enough time to answer all your questions at once or cannot agree on a schedule), appear on a podcast (if it\u2019s easier for them to speak than write) or even meet with you in a face-to-face conversation (if they are old school or have a certain place to be and time to spend).<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"Interview<\/p>\n

        Of course, you can play around with the format any way you like and think it will make your interview stand out. You can have a round-table with several experts, or set-up a sort of a debate between two experts with differing viewpoints. Either of these could work out great regardless of the format (whether it\u2019s in writing or audio form). As you can see in the screenshot above, we’ve compressed the expertise of renowned digital marketers into an article that brought not only social traction but also qualitative links. This search engine optimization strategy can help you improve your conversion rate.
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Strategy # 2 – Link Bait<\/strong><\/h3>\n

         <\/p>\n

        The word \u201cbait\u201d might sound a bit shady, but we\u2019re not advocating anything that would be unethical.<\/p>\n

        \n

        We\u2019re just highlighting that some content is more appealing than other.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Trendy subjects are more likely to be read than not-so-salient topics. Salience is not equal to importance, but has to do more with what\u2019s on your audience\u2019s mind at a certain time. Some things are always important, but what particular aspect about them is salient can change over time. For instance, we\u2019re always talking about how to be Panda-proof, but if tomorrow a new release came out, we\u2019d be talking more about that than usual.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Certain ways of structuring content are also more likely to attract interest than others.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        The best example would be lists and rankings. They always tend to attract visitors and shares to a much larger extent than long-form articles. Charts and infographics tend to be more appealing (and easier to share) than text, regardless of how well-written the text is. As you can see in the example<\/a>\u00a0below, a smart & dynamic way of presenting\u00a0 content might make wonders.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Deep down we\u2019re still very visually-oriented beings.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Seeing is believing and it requires less effort on our part to understand information. Reading requires an extra effort and a higher power of abstraction. We\u2019re always going to be tempted to go the easier road.<\/p>\n

        \"Link<\/p>\n

        So how do you use this information?<\/p>\n

        \n

        Try to stay up-to-date on what people are interested in, what\u2019s \u201chot\u201d and what\u2019s \u201cnot\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Make a habit out of reading the news on a daily basis, even if you don\u2019t always have an active interest in everything that\u2019s out there. You need to get attuned to what your audience would like to read about, rather than what you\u2019d like to share. Ideally they should always be the same, but when they\u2019re not, it might be worth to side with your audience. Once you\u2019ve settled on a subject, do a bit of additional research and come up with a new or interesting way to present the information. You don\u2019t necessarily have to be a master designer. There are plenty of tools<\/a> already out there and still new ways to combine them to come up with a catchy, innovative visualization of a topic.
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Strategy #3 – Create Best in Class Content<\/strong><\/h3>\n

         <\/p>\n

        This is taking things one step forward compared to the previous strategy. We\u2019re not just talking presentation, but also content. For this, you\u2019ll have to do quite a bit of research.<\/p>\n

        \n

        There are plenty of good articles out there on any given topic, but how many of them are really great?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        To create a popular blog post, you should meet at least four criteria:<\/p>\n

        \n

        First of all, a piece of content\u00a0should be comprehensive.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Of course, not all posts need to be user guides, but a wide perspective is always helpful. Even if you don\u2019t expand on all opinions on a subject, simply touching on them can be a useful primer for most readers. It also makes sure that you stay relevant for a wide audience, so that your article is of interest even for users who know quite a bit about the topic.<\/p>\n

        \n

        A great article should also try to go in-depth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Most people can find the surface info on their own, with a simple Google search, but it takes work to do several searches, read, curate and compile the relevant info and then present it in a neat package – and that\u2019s where you come in. If you\u2019re discussing SEO tactics, try go talk advantages and disadvantages for each, speculate about how difficult or easy it would be to implement, share from your own experience.<\/p>\n

        \n

        It\u2019s also crucial that an article is up-to-date.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Sometimes the info is out there but it\u2019s just not accurate anymore, or the examples are old and readers can\u2019t relate to them, or there\u2019s a new kid on the block disrupting the landscape – just think of statistics about Internet content and users and how quickly they become obsolete. Keeping up on the changes is hard work but someone\u2019s got to do it, especially if they can attract views and shares in the process.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Last, but definitely not least, a great article is always easy to navigate.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        This feature cannot be underestimated, since it\u2019s what makes users feel like a huge amount of work has already been done for them. It\u2019s also what makes the article shareable and what gets people to talk about it.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Here’s an example <\/a>of a piece of content that meets the 4\u00a0criteria exposed above:\u00a0<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        \"Create
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        It’s responding to a ongoing need in a very comprehensive way and the results were impressive.<\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Strategy #4: Build Free Tools<\/strong><\/h3>\n

         <\/p>\n

        We\u2019re entering original content territory now. This is a very valuable strategy even if you don\u2019t feel programming is your best strength. That\u2019s because a lot of people tend to think of tools as complex pieces of software, which require a lot of time investment, both in creating them and in maintenance work. And that can definitely be the case with some tools. But those are not the only tools that are successful.<\/p>\n

        \n

        People will use tools for all sorts of tasks, even apparently simple ones, if it saves them some time or makes the task more appealing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        You need to look no further than the app market to understand that the concept of functionality is being stretched in all directions. Apps with a very narrow function are successful because they perform that function very well, sometimes even in the face of apps with more functions (which might be viewed as bulky).<\/p>\n

        \n

        So then why make your tool free as opposed to selling it?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        Because you\u2019re after a different kind of capital. What you\u2019re after is known, being trusted and sought after. Once you\u2019ve got those, you can move along to creating other tools which you can try to monetize. But that will only work if you first have the links.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        For instance, in the screen below you can see an apparently commonplace, yet a very useful tool for calculating VAT<\/a> in the UK. It’s free to use, it solves a problem and as people appreciated its use, they were willing to link it and sharing with others.<\/p>\n

        \"Build
        \n <\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/div>\n

        Strategy #5: Aggregate Data & Create Stats<\/strong><\/h3>\n

         <\/p>\n

        This is not just about making information look good, but about creating that information in the first place.<\/p>\n

        \n

        We\u2019re talking original research, a post that others might refer back to when creating their own articles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

        It can be a very productive endeavor, but before you dive and hope you get a few good links out of it, \u00a0you need to consider a few questions:<\/p>\n