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1. Your website.
Your ranking will depend largely on how good your website is in terms of the user-experience and overall optimization.
It needs to be optimized for crawlers while also be mobile-friendly. Apart from that, the page speed and heading tags need to be optimized as well.

2. Your content.
The content on your website needs to stand out and need to address the most popular topics in your niche. Your focus should also be towards the content’s readability and its ability to attract attention.

3. What people in your community are saying about you.
Finally, you need to ensure that you have a positive image on all online platforms where you site appears. This helps you with your off-page SEO, link building, reviews, and social media.

All these factors are taken into consideration by the search engines which decide when and where to show your website to users.

If you’re interested in learning more about the basics of SEO, then check out our SEO 101 video series.

How Google search works:

Google uses little programs called bots or crawlers that discover webpages. These crawlers start with a few pages, find backlinks on those pages and visit those links, discover backlinks on those pages and visit them, until Google has crawled trillions of pages.

Those pages are stored in Google’s database, which is what we call the Google index.

Whenever there is a search, Google uses its algorithm to determine which pages from its index it should show, and in what order which is called ranking.

Some ranking factors have been publicly identified by Google, some have been identified by top SEO professionals through studies and proven experience, and some are just educated guesses.

Search engine optimization is all about improving your rankings so that you show up at the top of search results for your target keywords.

SEO is a core component of digital marketing. It helps build a website’s authority and drives organic traffic to your site. Even though paid ads appear above organic rankings, 71% of searches result in a click on an organic result on the first page.

Organic results are trusted more by people, and are seen as a neutral vote of confidence by Google.

Moreover, it can pay long term dividends. With paid ads, your page will disappear the moment the ad campaign stops. That’s not the case with organic results since they’ll stay there at the top as long as Google considers that you’re website is the best source of information for the user.

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1. The Length of Your Content

The word count of your blog posts can sometimes be the difference between ranking on the first page or the second – which can make a huge difference in traffic. Back in 2013-2014, you could write a blog post of 500-800 words and rank easily on one of the top 3 positions for your desired keyword. But, that’s no longer the case.

Our research shows that for most niches, the top-ranking blog post should be about 2500-3000 words, i.e. long-form content. You can even go all out and create a 5,000+ word pillar post. However, you’ll still need to focus on more than just the content length. Keep an eye out for grammatical errors, improve the quality of your article, make sure you have proper formatting, and see if you can add interactive elements like videos, infographics, tables etc.

2. Conducting An SEO Audit

An SEO audit is an extremely useful procedure that allows you to pinpoint optimization opportunities within your website. We recommend SEO managers to take out at least 2 days every month and execute a complete SEO audit of their websites. We’ve used this in the past to increase website traffic to Link Building HQ from 10% to as much as 90%.

3. Capitalizing on User Signals

User signals refer to how a user interacts with your article, blog or webpage in general.  This interaction tells Google how well your content is being received. We strongly believe that user signals are as important as backlinks and in the coming years, they might become the most important factor.

Now, among all these signals, the two most important ones are Bounce Rate and Time Spent on Page. You need to find a way to decrease the bounce rate and increase the time spent on page. You can decrease bounce rates by putting internal links in your articles and web pages wherever the chance presents itself. This will ensure that users have a reason to stick around your website in order to learn more. Similarly, you can increase the average time users spend on a page, by making your articles more engaging and giving users something extra in terms of content, such as images, gifs, videos, infographics and more.

You can also improve the time spent on page by slightly altering your writing style. Think shorter, more conversational paragraphs instead of long, boring ones. This ensures that you have the users’ attention throughout. You can also keep the readers engaged by not giving away everything in the first three paragraphs. Make sure you follow a step-by-step format and carefully lead the reader from one section to the next, thereby, giving them a reason to stick around till the end of the article.

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1. A loss of links a.k.a a 404 Error.

If your backlink is pointing to a webpage that has been moved by the publisher, then the link is no longer functional.

2. A gradual loss of link juice.

This happens to nearly all backlinks. With time, more relevant pages crop up on the internet and they will command more link juice due to their freshness, relevance and content quality.

How To Fix Link Rot

Watch this video and discover our top 3 tips on how to fight link rot. Includes a step-by-step walkthrough:

Link reclamation is your best friend when it comes to fighting link rot. Your first step in link reclamation is to start off with a broken link analysis.

Start with broken link analysis

Ahrefs provides a fantastic tool to help you with that. If your broken link analysis reveals any 404 errors, then you need to assess whether or not you can create a 301 redirect to another page on your site. If the backlink is from your page to an external site, then you need to update your backlink to direct to a page that actually exists.

Use 301 redirects

301 redirects are a pretty good way to ensure all the link juice of the old page is passed on to the new. However, you should be careful with your redirections. A redirection should be to a page of similar or better value. Redirecting to the home page is likely to be considered a “soft 404” by Google, which means that Google won’t pass on the link juice.

Check for misspellings and other mistakes

Some 404 errors are just honest mistakes by external sites. They might have misspelled your URL, such as by adding an ‘s.’ Or your internal links may include excessive tracking codes, preventing a user from landing on the page.

So, depending on the situation, all you have to do is fix the backlinks on your site, add a 301 redirect where necessary, or reach out to the external site and ask them to direct their backlink to the right site/page.

The post What Is Link Rot And How Do I Fix It? appeared first on LinkBuilding HQ.

A featured snippet is a search answer shown at the top of Google page 1. Also called an “Answer Box,” it helps provide a concise answer to a query right then and there.

How featured snippets appeared pre – Jan 2020

Up until January 2020, a search result that appeared on Google’s featured snippet also appeared somewhere on the first page – among the top 10 organic results. This meant that there was one result which appeared twice on Google Page 1. However, that is no longer the case and a featured snippet result won’t be repeated on page 1. Read more to find out why.

January 2020 update to featured snippets

In January 2020, Google announced that they will be de-duplicating the featured snippet results. This means that if a result is already appearing in a featured snippet, it will no longer be repeated in the first SERP.

If a web page listing is elevated into the featured snippet position, we no longer repeat it in the first page of results. This declutters the results & helps users locate relevant information more easily. Featured snippets count as one of the ten web page listings we show….

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 23, 2020

Previously, Google displayed a featured snippet result and 10 organic results for several search queries. This was why featured snippets were called “position zero” as they appeared above the first organic result. Now, featured snippets are being considered position 1, and Google will display 9 other organic results on their first SERP.

Does that mean I will have the 1st result on the 2nd page?

Well, no. Not definitely. There have been certain featured snippet results that are currently ranking as the first result on the second page of SERPs; or anywhere on the second page for that matter. According to Google Search Liaison, this is by no means a guaranteed position, and goes on to say that Google does not purposefully move the de-duplicated URL to the second SERP.

Some have noted that a deduplicated URL may appear on the second page of results. This is not a guaranteed position, nor by design, nor might it stay that way. Deduplication does not purposefully move the deduplicated URL to the second page….

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 23, 2020

Since these changes are relatively new (the update isn’t even official yet), some URLs occupying the featured snippet might have been moved to page 2. However, if you think about it, if position zero is actually the new position one, then it doesn’t make sense for that particular result to appear again on any other page.

The transition would certainly take some getting used to, as it is reduces SERP visibility by 50% for the current snippet holder. In a way, it almost seems like Google is penalizing websites for reaching the coveted position zero.

Should I de-optimize my page for snippets?

Some webmasters have expressed concern over this issue, and some are wondering whether it’s smart to add a “no-snippet” tag into their code. However, we believe there are a lot of reasons NOT to do this.

Despite losing out on digital real estate, snippet remains the most coveted SERP spot with higher visibility, CTRs and ultimately traffic.

In addition, opting out of featured snippets is almost as good as kissing voice search results goodbye. Google’s Danny Sullivan has confirmed that if a voice response comes from a featured snippet, then you will completely lose that opportunity by de-optimizing for snippets.

The post My Website Can Rank On Page 1 AND Get The Featured Snippet Position appeared first on LinkBuilding HQ.

Now, link building is a strategy that has seen some drastic changes in the past few years, for e.g. ten years ago, private blog networks (PBNs) were rampant; so were strategies such as keyword stuffing and other questionable strategies.

Now however, Google has adopted the “quality over quantity” approach and its super smart algorithms tend to sniff out questionable links sooner or later.

So, this question is very popular in 2020:

How to be a successful link builder?

1. Ensure website and link relevancy
2. Brush up on your outreaching skills
3. Understand different market verticals/niches

So, let’s dive right in.

1. Ensure website and link relevancy

In order to understand Google’s intent for what defines a quality backlink, you must first understand the big picture. Backlinks serve a very important purpose of an internal directory and navigational system within the worldwide web. Simply put, each “link click” should take the user to the most relevant page or resource.

Hence, relevant links take precedence over irrelevant links. The same is reflected in Google’s updates, namely the Penguin update that cracked down on spammy links. This was deemed so important that it was later added to Google’s core algorithm.

Therefore, as a link builder, you must make sure you choose relevant domains to build links for yourself or your clients. For example, if you’re promoting an online automation tool for the real estate industry; then your target website has to be a real estate website or a tech website. You should not target something like a “lifestyle blog” simply because it’s easier to get links there.

2. Brush up on your outreaching skills

Outreaching is an essential skill to have in link building. Even If you have some of the best blog writers, you will not find those premium publishing spots without good outreach skills. Now, being a good outreacher doesn’t just mean writing good emails. You need to develop contacts, manage your list of webmasters and be a good negotiator.

Here are some tips to develop a good outreacher profile:

• Become a published author

Why should a webmaster accept your article submission if you don’t have a decent profile? Hence, you should try to get yourself published on medium to high domain authority blogs.

But how should you do this?

Well, it’s simple really; you first need to reach out to new blogs with a domain authority of 5-10. These type of blogs are almost always in need of new content. Once you have a few of these links published under your name, then you can pitch to better websites with domain authorities of 15-25 and show them your previously published articles as proof. Keep repeating this process.

• Develop some good outreaching templates

This is extremely important because you don’t want your email to land in the spam folder. For this, you need to have some good templates with high open rates.

Now, why do I call them templates? Well, you’re most likely pitching to scores of webmasters in a day. So you can’t write individual emails for all of them. You will obviously change some important details, but you’ll use the same template.

However, mail providers constantly update their filters and your generic template has a good chance of landing in the spam folder. You can tools like GlockApps to check the spam score of your email before sending it out.

• Be honest

Webmaster with high traffic blogs probably receive upwards of 500 emails a month asking for links. So, if you’re looking to build links within the blog or in the author bio, then you should be honest about your intentions. Most of these guys can spot a hustler from a mile away. So, if you are looking to build links, let them know up front.

• Follow up

Most blog owners are busy people. You might lose out on an opportunity to build links if you don’t follow up after your first email. Just because they didn’t reply doesn’t mean they’re not interested. Always follow up once or twice.

3. Understand different market verticals/niches

If you’re in the business of SEO and link building, you need to be knowledgeable about a number of market verticals; or at least the market niches of your clients.

Link building is different for different industries. What works for one market might not work in the other. For example, real estate SEO is a particularly difficult niche to rank in with a lot of high-value keywords. Hence, the strategies you use here will be significantly different than if you were trying to rank for let’s say, the “gardening” niche.

Additional Knowledge

The aforementioned tips should be more than enough to get you started in the link building game. However, there are some common industry practices that every link builder should be aware of:

• Google Algorithms
  Google periodically releases algorithms and updates that focus on improving the quality of search results. Link building strategies are always scrutinized heavily. Link builders should be aware of these updates.

• PBNs and Blackhat Link Building
  Private Blog networks offer links for money and their websites usually consist of promotional contents or paid links. Google is in the midst of a crackdown against such websites and links built here are very volatile. If you are building your clients’ backlinks on such websites, then you run the risk of losing their links or worse, getting their website blacklisted.

The post How To Be A Successful Link Builder appeared first on LinkBuilding HQ.

Prior to the Penguin update, many website and blog owners used “spammy” tactics such as using link farms (which are deceptive backlink placements) and used tools to rewrite (read: steal) online articles so they could produce their own blog posts without putting in any real effort. This had a serious impact on the quality of the websites that were ranking on top of search engine results pages (SERPs), as these sites were nothing more than poorly designed, poorly written, and poorly delivered marketing vehicles for the site owners.

Google was not pleased. After all, their search engine was supposed to deliver organic results that answered a user’s query, not serve as unwanted ads. The company decided to take action by developing and rolling out a new algorithm update for their search engine: Penguin.

Penguin hit spammy websites with the intensity of a dinosaur-killing meteor. The first rollout in April 2012 impacted 3.1% of English language search engine queries. Between 2012 and 2016, Penguin went through 10 updates, as it learned how to better address the black-hat practices plaguing the internet. In 2017, Penguin became a part of Google’s core algorithm.

Which Black Hat SEO Practices Did Penguin Address?

Link schemes: The outright purchase of backlinks from low-quality or unrelated websites, or by developing links in niches that are completely unrelated to yours.

Keyword stuffing: Inserting an unnaturally high number of keywords and their variations throughout your website. Keyword-stuffed content sounds forced or artificial, and is clearly aimed at gaming the search engines for higher rankings.

Is Penguin a Google Penalty?

You must have realized by now that Penguin, is in fact not a Google penalty. However, if you’re still confused, it helps by understanding what a Google penalty actually is. When your site gets a Google penalty, it either affects few of your pages (as is the case with manual penalties) or it affects your whole site (when you get hit by an algorithmic penalty).

In either case, your search engine results suffer. Your keywords do not get a search engine ranking causing your site to drop out of search results. You lose out on your target audience as a result of Google penalties. Google penalizes your site when it detects too many spam and bad links on your website or when the content is low quality. Mobile unfriendliness is another factor. Too many keywords or misplaced anchor text also can be the cause of a Google penalty. You can read this article to learn how to tell if your website’s been hit by a Google penalty.

How to Recover From Penguin

If your website has been affected by the Penguin update, all you have to do is fix the issues that Penguin’s on the lookout for and you’ll be on the road to recovery. Sounds fair, right?

Here’s what you can do to recover from Penguin:

• Clean up your backlink profile by removing all unnatural links, such as links from low-quality sites and irrelevant niches.
• If you can’t remove a link, at least disavow it.
• Review your content to see if it sounds natural. Are there places where your content sounds less like a person talking and more like a bot trying to repeat certain keywords? That’s keyword stuffing – get rid of it.

The post What Is Google Penguin? appeared first on LinkBuilding HQ.

Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Link building refers to the process of outreaching and manually securing backlinks from other websites to your page. If your website is already well-known for producing great content, or if your page is genuinely better than the competition, then you might earn backlinks from other sites without much outreaching.

Producing quality content is one of the first steps of every successful link building strategy. The better your content, the more likely that people will visit, stay and perform meaningful actions on your site. And this translates to better, and easier, link building opportunities. After all, other sites are more likely to link back to your page if they consider you to be an authoritative source of information. That’s why both content marketing and link building go hand in hand.

The post What’s The Difference between Content Marketing and Link Building? appeared first on LinkBuilding HQ.

• Knowledge panel
• Calculators
• Converters
• Definitions
• Maps
• Featured snippets

However, zero-click searches do not mean that there’s zero opportunity for your brand. According to Rand Fishkin, founder of Moz and SparkToro, “Rich information appearing in Google’s results may be, like billboard ads or press mentions, harder to track than website traffic, but still exposing your brand name to an audience, building familiarity, and sharing information … the brands that find ways to benefit from that type of SERP exposure, even without a click, will be the ones who win at this new form of on-SERP SEO.”

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