Manual Link Building is Here to Stay – Forever and For Better
Spamming and automation are malpractices that are increasingly getting weeded out by SEO filters. Meanwhile, authentic link acquisition continues to reinforce online relevance and will not be replaced by content marketing and associated link earning.
Despite being repeatedly revealed as a false forecast during the last few years – as a new year dawns upon us, once again – the notion of manual link building being replaced by other digital marketing practices has received a digital wave of support by novices and supposed experts alike, whether having a basic appreciation for brand development, or the all-encompassing marketing cycle, or not. This needs to stop. Please.
If there is a single goal that this article has in mind, it is this: to educate the public that the art (or science, whichever of the two you prefer to call it) of manual link acquisition is here to stay and both you and your business will accept and grow with that notion embedded within your behaviour, hand-in-hand, or you won’t and will instead face the consequences spawned from your naïve and complacent approach. The road will lengthen and your pace will shorten should you embody the latter attitude. It’s as simple as that. Yet, manual link building is an intricate and challenging discipline when properly executed and requires both creativity and persistent patience. Master this discipline and your piece of the pie in whatever field of business you operate in will be ample while having the potential to become even greater as the future unfolds.
…[W]ith the online world when it comes to relevance… Everyone wishes to achieve that disposition. It brings in sources of power.
The Power of Links
With the birth of the Internet came the need for many supplemental or foundational counterparts. A search engine certainly was one, for instance. Search engine aside, however, there was also an immediate demand for a way in which people could communicate or share with each other whichever bit of information or leaf of knowledge they obtained or happened to know. Enter: links. This noble camaraderie between web explorers was at the root of what was and still is beautiful when people decide to engage online.
The act of engaging within the Net allows an idea, event, program, story and or virtually anything else that could be thought of or experienced to be almost-instantaneously broadcast with neither space nor time being a factor – that is true power. The pen certainly is mightier than the sword, but eMessaging/eSharing is equivalent to writing on steroids while navigating with a jetpack. The following hypothetical scenario illustrates the power behind online communication. Meet Angela: an outgoing, young adult who is a free lance writer by profession and happened to come across a neat website that offers, among other things, an eBook titled, “The Dummy’s Guide on How to Become a Fitter You by Spring 2016”. Angela sends the link to her friend Robbie’s email or smartphone as he is looking to slim down in the coming months and has always had difficulty in maintaining a realistic diet and exercise regimen. Angela also has her own website, which serves the dual motive of displaying her blog and sharing her creative work portfolio (both often being one in the same). She writes up a thoughtful post on how she has benefitted from the changes that she’s made in her day-to-day eating habits and how she’s overcome a past performance plateau with her current variety of exercises. She gives credit where credit is due and shares a brief description of the abovementioned eBook along with the associated website link where people can download it in its entirety. Angela’s two deliberate actions represent basic link phenomena that can be categorized from the eBook-containing website author’s vantage point as being passive link earning or editorial (what some simply refer to as natural) links. Just like it is in the “real” or physical world, so it is the same with the online world when it comes to relevance or being relevant. Everyone wishes to achieve that disposition. It brings in sources of power. And the world, as we know it, is built off of balances of power.
The Magic Behind Manual Link Building
Manual link building, in another light, encompasses an entirely different ball game with its own set of rules. Organic search results from strategic manual link campaigns represent a vital component towards determining how effective a 21st century business is in being relevant within its competing region. The age of automation and spamming domination is thankfully coming to a halt with inventive algorithmic software being used by global Net giants, like Google or Bing, to combat these illegitimate practices that create black holes in the ever-expanding SEO and online marketing universe. Having said that, it remains an arms-race-of-sorts as the Black Hats are disingenuous geniuses with their calculative measures firing back after every premier update is conducted by Google’s Panda or Penguin, to name a couple.
The Necessary Tools to Back Manual Link Acquisition and the Resulting Benefits
Google and its accreditation of good links as a signal that significantly affects web ranking is something that ironically deterred many entrepreneurs attempting to make a name for themselves (and revenue) on the Net. Good links became more apparent and valuable, as the link integrity security measures that were and continue to be increasingly ramped up by Google and company would catch bad links. The very (,very!) good news is:
- If you’re link building the right way, then there is no need to fear whichever legitimate anti-spam algorithmic software springs into action online as it is designed for your benefit, not your downfall;
- Less and less hoodwinking, in addition to proper adjustments to online market shares with respect to SERPs and purchase orders, is the future that progress-oriented individuals envision as we jointly move forward in the Digital Age.
Practices and or skillsets that need to be paired with manual link building include extensive research on the target audience and current or future competitors; link and platform relevance-matching; creative energy and charm; personable approach in retaining influential relationships; thorough and practical understanding in marketing; promoting through the implementation of strategic and innovative methods.
Outside of the obvious SEO benefits that come with having a multitude of solid links, there also lie the perks of gaining referrals from various angles as you tap into new reader niches while creating and maintaining mutually-beneficial professional relationships. Furthermore, the power behind your brand will only strengthen as your authentic hard work will have you gaining the trust of others, spreading awareness for what exactly it is that you offer and achieving an amicable level of authority that allows you to have leverage for future scenarios. The future with online business is bright as manual link building continues to be relied on as a source of light.