Link building experts Andy Hagans and Aaron Wall say the world of link building has changed. But even though the rules have changed, as search engines become more effective at measuring trusted links, link building is ultimately still “the trump card for higher rankings.” And so, Andy and Aaron have compiled a new list of link building tips.
At SEObook, the pair joint-published 101 Ways to Build Link Popularity in 2006. They assert that link building will be the most important part of search engine optimization for the foreseeable future:
I wouldn’t hold your breath for search engine algorithms to place less importance on link popularity until the Semantic Web arrives, or maybe when HTTP gets replaced by a new protocol. Because links are still the basic connector, the basic relationship, on the Web. And for the forseeable future they’re going to be the easiest way for a computer program to judge the importance and trustworthiness of a Web page.
Wall and Hagans combined their expertise to produce a the list of link building tips, which they view as an important update to Nobles, Ward, and Alexander’s 131 (Legitimate) Link Building Strategies, published in 2002, which also looks to have been pared down to 125 strategies as of late.
They write:
The days of link farms and huge link exchange programs are over. Try those strategies now and you can easily find yourself booted out of an engine.
Rather, the engines want links from authoritative sites, or links from sites that share the same focus as your site.
But besides the link popularity you gain by getting an authoritative site to link to you, you also gain additional visibility for your Web site. So, when working on building link popularity, don’t forget those two basic reasons for requesting links.
