Busting Backlink Myths: The Ultimate Guide for the SEO Expert

There link building has undergone significant changes over the past decade, improving significantly. However, it has fallen victim to a number of commonly accepted myths about the backlinking. In this article, I aim to dispel such myths, providing reliable guidance to all professional SEO Who might cross these misleading notions.

Number of Links Affects Positioning

This myth is widespread, but it is simply not true. Not all links are created equal-a high-quality link from a newspaper or trade publication may be worth much more than hundreds of low-quality links from comments on unrelated blogs.

Link building is not a numbers game; it is about earning quality links on a large scale. Certainly, there is a strong correlation between the number of high-quality links and higher rankings, but you should not fall into the link counting trap. This could result in SEO tactics that produce low-quality links, hurting, rather than helping, your rankings.

The Myth of Nofollow Links

This is a myth that is often taken out of context. Historically, nofollow links have not impacted your SEO performance. However, in September 2019, Google announced that it now considers nofollow to be a suggestion, not a rule.

Many SEO experts believe that, based on other signals, Google may choose to follow a link that has been assigned the nofollow attribute. Despite this, nofollow links continue to send traffic and increase your credibility.

So as long as the links are relevant and come from reputable sources, you should not reject a link just because it is nofollow.

The Purchase of Links: Good or Bad Practice?

You should never buy links or give products in exchange for a link. This practice directly violates Google's Webmaster Guidelines, and could lead to penalties or a significant drop in your search result rankings.

Is the Link Score an Indicator of Quality?

Another common myth is the one that sees link scoring, provided by various tools, as the only way to identify a quality link. This is incorrect. Google does not use these scores as a ranking factor. It is only a metric calculated by the various tools to indicate hypothetical link authority.

Penalties for Increasing Links

There is an old myth that suggests that gaining too many links in a short period of time can lead to a penalty for your site. This is not true. Suppose you launch a PR campaign that gets hundreds of editorial links from several publications in a few days. This is the normal course of content going viral and will not lead to a penalty. As long as you are earning high-quality links, you don't have to worry about earning "too many" links. This myth comes from unethical practices such as buying links.

Conclusions

There link building is a crucial component of theSEO which requires a thorough understanding to be taken full advantage of. Hopefully, this article has helped you dispel some of the common myths associated with backlinks. Don't forget that quality is always more important than quantity and that links should always be acquired ethically.

If you need more information or would like professional help to improve your link building strategy, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am available to help you navigate the complex world of SEO. Please write to me at the email address gianluca.gentile@gtechgroup.it. I am here to help you achieve the online success!