35 Link Building Tips for Penguin

by 73 replies
89
Since Penguin lots of people have been asking how to build links safely - this is what's working for me at the moment. Of course this is just my current ideas and is not a definitive list.
  1. Pick your battles wisely. A very competitive keyword requires great link building and may take years to see ROI.

  2. First focus on getting your onsite SEO as good as possible. This is about 20% of successful ranking and you will not be penalized for it so long as you don't over do it.

  3. Make sure you have a clear understanding of what a natural link profile looks like before starting any link building and try to mimic natural.

  4. Aim to limit anchor texts (money keywords) to about 15% of the overall backlink profile.

  5. Focus more on links that pass authority to your site rather than links with highly optimized anchor text.

  6. Stop counting links - more links does not always equal improved ranking.

  7. In the beginning try to build every link by hand - later you can speed things up.

  8. Be very careful of SEO services, especially cheap ones as most are junk.

  9. Build less links. I've been looking at how many links legitimate sites receive and most don't receive that many. Certainly not 1000's in a few months.

  10. Don't build a wall of dead end links i.e. 1000's of links pointing to your site that have no backlinks of their own.

  11. Build links to your links and go a few layers deep.

  12. Make most backlink anchor text to the root domain or brand.

  13. Aim for about 20% nofollow links.

  14. Build links that have traffic value and not just ranking value.

  15. Buffer dangerous links (i.e. Private Blog Network links) and don't point them directly to your site. Keep them a few tiers back and mix in other niche links.

  16. Stay away from spun content and if you do spin make sure it's by hand, at word & sentence level.

  17. When using content for links ask yourself - does this read like spam? if the answer is 'yes' then improve the content.

  18. Avoid tools like Senuke X, AMR, Scrapebox & Xrumer. These tools are designed to create mass links and that's just not natural.

  19. Avoid blasting links to tier 2 / 3 etc - they all lead back to one site in the end; better to avoid blasts of any kind.

  20. Future proof your link building. Shortcut methods that work today may be slapped down tomorrow.

  21. Blend your backlinks by weaving in links to other authority sites related to your niche.

  22. Sign up to SEO Majestic or similar and monitor your backlink profile to make sure it resembles natural.

  23. Get unique content for your posts. Either hand write it or use a service like iwriter.

  24. Don't ping your links - how low quality is a link if you need to ping it relentlessly to get Google to acknowledge it.

  25. Make your site/content useful and attract as many natural links as possible.

  26. Try to make your site as white hat as possible and approach any fabricated link building like watering down beer.

  27. Avoid Private Blog Networks that have a name.

  28. Avoid chasing the loophole - every loophole is closed down in the end and if you've made it your main SEO strategy you will find yourself back at square one.

  29. Make sure links are from numerous sources thus increasing link diversity and IP's.

  30. Don't over optimize keywords on site or off site.

  31. Make sure link velocity is varied - a steady link velocity just isn't natural.

  32. Maintain a balance between links to inner pages and the home page.

  33. Capture long tail traffic with plenty of hand written, well researched content.

  34. If most of your links are artificial don't use Google Analytics.

  35. Practice patience and think if IM and SEO in terms of years. Next year this will make decent money.
#search engine optimization #building #link #penguin #tips
  • Pretty Good Scott. If only your Mother hadn't messed up and named you Scott you might have gotten an invitation to the Mike SEO club. Don't be too hard on her everyone makes mistakes. If you need a good lawyer for a name change then let me know.
    • [1] reply
    • Lol.....one day i'll get in the Mike SEO club!
  • Only 15%? We are on the back foot. Google is in a strong position.
  • Nice list! It's a shame though that most people will continue using the same crap-hat techniques they always have... :p
    • [1] reply
  • Actually, most of these were not your ideas at all. They were taken from posts similar to this one (before Penguin). You did make some minor changes to a few of them.
    • [2] replies
    • Banned
      Oh well, even if so it's a usefull list anyway.
    • Lol that's my list posted a few months back. Yes I have updated it a bit to reflect Penguin. I'll take it as a compliment that people want to re-post my content on other forums.
      • [1] reply
  • Very much effective post. Probably the best and most important post after penguin update. You know, the website times are divided into two parts 1) Before Penguin and 2) after Penguin. Hope this post will work as a bridge between them.
  • Not using automated tools is a joke
    You keep building links by hand for one domain and I will rank multiple domains in the same time ok?

    Don't try to be "the know it all guy" when you aren't.
    Sure, the list looks nice, but missing some important things.

    Have fun!
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    • [1] reply
    • No where does it say don't use automated tools - it says in the beginning try to build links by hand.

      I'm not trying to be the know all guy as you put it, i'm trying to help.

      If the post is missing important things as you mentioned then why don't you include the 'important missing things' in the thread?
  • It's not about the tools but how you use it. You can always use tools if you have lots of sites to optimize but you just have to limit your submissions and prevent massive submissions.
  • Great tips you shared. learned some new ones.
  • A decent list, BUT....



    Some common sense, but also a few contradictory remarks and some fluff thrown in too. But overall it is a more sensible approach than most on the face of it.
    • [1] reply
    • ^^
      HOW DO YOU KNOW IT IS 20%?
      I don't know for sure it's 20% this is a good guess as nobody knows for sure.

      YOU TELL ME WHAT NATURAL IS PLEASE?
      Natural in this context refers to a site with backlinks that occurred naturally i.e. the site owner did not create them.

      WHY 15%? WHY NOT 25% or A LITTLE MORE?
      Because this is one of the main reasons so many sites are being slammed by Penguin.

      WHY BY HAND IF A TOOL LETS YOU DO IT QUICKER WITHOUT SPAMMING.
      I said try to build links by hand in the beginning.

      FROM WHERE? WEB 2.0 or OWN NETWORK?
      The authority of a link can't be pinned down to Web 2 or Private Network. Check out the Moz tools for measuring authority.
  • I agree with you in most points which you mentioned especially we should also focus on no follow links 20% along with do follow links. Also on page is the most important factor to bring the keywords in top rankings.
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    You listed some great points here Scott - well done!

    It becomes more important to build less links with your targeted money keywords.

    Through personal testing, reviewing, and research, I came to the conclusion that websites who had a neutral backlinking profile have better chances of ranking consistently in Google.

    In fact, if your website has more than 50-60% backlinks with your money anchor texts, odds are that you´ll face a penalty.

    Definitely stay below 50% (money anchor texts), and build your backlinks with different, non money anchor texts to at least 50%.
    • [1] reply
    • Great advice and good to see people are getting on top of Penguin - go Warriors!
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  • Great tips Scott.

    I just want to add that when it comes to automated tools just make sure you know how to use it correctly and when to stop using it.

    I also agree with what you said about building backlinks manually in the beginning and gradually increase it later on.
    • [1] reply
    • Yes tools can help but you need to know how to use them wisely, blasting out 1000's of links will only end in disaster for most people. I learned a lot by creating manual links, later if you can automate the process a little with tools then great. For example I use Scrapebox, not to blast links but to find high PR blogs in my niche with low OBL's, then I comment manually.

      Part of the problem is that many people like the idea of a tool that will magically make them rank which wont work bacause:
      Penguin does not tolerate lazy link builders.
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  • Nice Post .But simplify that one....
    If we create nofollow links about 20% then its Okey for my website.
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  • This is realy good list! thank for your sharing!
  • my question is one one is aiming for a particular keyword or my client needs a keyword placed on top. How can I exactly do that using natural link placement.

    I mean if there is no anchor text then how would Google know that I need a particular keyword promoted.

    Please help.

    I would also like to make sure that is this natural link building works. I have heard it from so many people now but I am not sure about that ?
    • [1] reply
    • You can still use anchor text in backlinks but not too many for one keyword unless it's your brand name.

      After you have your on page SEO looking good i.e. the keyword is in the Title, URL, H1 and in the Content then create about 15% of your links using the main keyword you're targeting but not all at once. What do you do after that? Just create links using varied anchors and aim for authority links that pass trust.

      If your keyword is 'Car Insurance' then spin it like this: 'best car insurance' 'vehicle insurance' 'where to get car insurance' 'cheap car insurance' etc etc Make sure none of your spun anchors exceed your main target anchor text; you have to make it clear to google what keyword your page should rank for without looking too artificial and without compromising your main keyword with over weighted spun anchors
  • Point 12 seems to contradict point 32.

    Anyway, you forgot #36 - Use common sense.
    • [1] reply
    • For the home page the main anchor text should be the brand name or root domain name.

      For inner pages the main anchor text should be the title of the page but really try to limit this to no more than 15% of overall link profile for that page. Include the page URL, spun keyword anchors and generic anchors like 'visit site' into the mix.

      If your on page SEO is sound then the keyword(s) will be in the URL of the page. You can create quite a few links using the URL as the anchor text without consequence.

      By balance, I mean it's not natural to have a 3000 links to the home page and no links to any inner pages.
  • There is no such thing as a "natural link profile." It is speculation from people imagining what "natural" looks like. But the fact is, top ranking sites have an infinite array of apparent profiles.

    If there was a natural link profile everyone would have it and everyone would be building contrary links to competitors to destroy their profile.

    .
    • [1] reply
    • I think we're completely misunderstanding each other on this point. When i say 'Natural Link Profile' I mean that the links pointing to the site developed naturally without any effort or link building activity on the site owners part. Believe it or not sites like this actually exist
  • It all starts with quality. The Penguin update translates to = quality. No more short cuts.
  • The one thing I'd probably dig deeper on is the following:

    First focus on getting your onsite SEO as good as possible. This is about 20% of successful ranking and you will not be penalized for it so long as you don't over do it.

    Pre-Penguin, that is correct. Post-Penguin, be careful. The goal isn't to overoptimize, as its a delicate balancing act between the two these days.

    The old days of 10%+ KWD are over. So is making sure that your title, H1/2/3 tags, are all perfectly optimized with your keyword. What's important post-Penguin is to make it look like you AREN'T optimizing for the keyword. Lower the KWD to less than 5%. Put the keyword once in the title, and then in one H tag. Use the other H tags for supplemental long-tail keywords.
    • [1] reply
    • Great advice! Keep it coming - Warriors need to overcome Penguin!

      Scott
  • Great Share Scott. Really a good list.
  • These are really good tips. I think just follow them and do SEO, it helps a lot.
    I am keep it. thanks.
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  • Thanks For Sharing Your valuable knowledge.........
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  • Really great tips to get rid of panda. Nice Post
  • Engaging content > backlinks
    • [1] reply
    • Hey John,

      While i hope that is statement is true, but didn't you mention here, on the Warrior Forum, that your websites (or at least some of them) have fantastic content but cannot be found anywhere on Google?

      This leads me to believe that great content isn't exactly something that will get you on top.
      • [1] reply
  • Great tips! Keep it up.
  • Why not reduce it to two rules?

    1. Build a long term business instead of just websites. (This actually inhibits rule number 2)
    2. Don't game google at all. Exception: If you absolutely have to (in case you're not sexy enough to attract backlinks a 100% naturally), game them in a way that even a human reviewer doesn't realise you gamed them. Hint: At least 99.99% of your super spammy BL's that the service providers in this very forum and in many other places call strong, secret sauce, panda-safe, 100% natural, etc. don't belong in the category of human-review-safe. (Unless the reviewer tends to be a complete dud that is)

    Don't follow the above rules and at a certain point (update from google, manual review) you will be left behind crying. Your (super helpful, intelligent, sophisticated and well-informed) reaction will then sound more or less like the following: "Google are such evil stupid peeersons. They destroyed my whole empire and income, bohooo!" It's perfectly o.k. for You to do that, go ahead and blame your "opponent" for your own inability. I mean after all it's them who did something not conform with the code of conduct, right?! But, and that's a big but(t) with two t's actually, don't ever come here to this very forum and whine about how bad google is and how you did everything right since I told you now. Thank you so much for that! *End of rant*

    P.S. If you find sarcasm or even irony in this post you are gently invited to keep a share of it, but the rest I'd like to have back because it's soo hard to create .

    ~ R. Shawner
  • thanks for sharing this
  • useful discussion thanks for list wise information , some of website rankings gone trying to get back my results i hope this information will help
  • this is panguin updates 1.0
    ..................................
    1. Pick your battles wisely. A very competitive keyword requires great link building and may take years to see ROI. 2. First focus on getting your onsite SEO as good as possible. This is about 20% of successful ranking and you will not be penalized for it so long as you don't over do it. 3. Make sure you have a clear understanding of what a natural link profile looks like before starting any link building and try to mimic natural. 4. Aim to limit anchor texts (money keywords) to about 15% of the overall backlink profile. 5. Focus more on links that pass authority to your site rather than links with highly optimized anchor text. 6. Stop counting links - more links does not always equal improved ranking. 7. In the beginning try to build every link by hand - later you can speed things up. 8. Be very careful of SEO services, especially cheap ones as most are junk. 9. Build less links. I've been looking at how many links legitimate sites receive and most don't receive that many. Certainly not 1000's in a few months. 10. Don't build a wall of dead end links i.e. 1000's of links pointing to your site that have no backlinks of their own. 11. Build links to your links and go a few layers deep. 12. Make most backlink anchor text to the root domain or brand. 13. Aim for about 20% nofollow links. 14. Build links that have traffic value and not just ranking value. 15. Buffer dangerous links (i.e. Private Blog Network links) and don't point them directly to your site. Keep them a few tiers back and mix in other niche links. 16. Stay away from spun content and if you do spin make sure it's by hand, at word & sentence level. 17. When using content for links ask yourself - does this read like spam? if the answer is 'yes' then improve the content. 18. Avoid tools like Senuke X, AMR, Scrapebox & Xrumer. These tools are designed to create mass links and that's just not natural. 19. Avoid blasting links to tier 2 / 3 etc - they all lead back to one site in the end; better to avoid blasts of any kind. 20. Future proof your link building. Shortcut methods that work today may be slapped down tomorrow. 21. Blend your backlinks by weaving in links to other authority sites related to your niche. 22. Sign up to SEO Majestic or similar and monitor your backlink profile to make sure it resembles natural. 23. Get unique content for your posts. Either hand write it or use a service like iwriter. 24. Don't ping your links - how low quality is a link if you need to ping it relentlessly to get Google to acknowledge it. 25. Make your site/content useful and attract as many natural links as possible. 26. Try to make your site as white hat as possible and approach any fabricated link building like watering down beer. 27. Avoid Private Blog Networks that have a name. 28. Avoid chasing the loophole - every loophole is closed down in the end and if you've made it your main SEO strategy you will find yourself back at square one. 29. Make sure links are from numerous sources thus increasing link diversity and IP's. 30. Don't over optimize keywords on site or off site. 31. Make sure link velocity is varied - a steady link velocity just isn't natural. 32. Maintain a balance between links to inner pages and the home page. 33. Capture long tail traffic with plenty of hand written, well researched content. 34. If most of your links are artificial don't use Google Analytics. 35. Practice patience and think if IM and SEO in terms of years. Next year this will make decent money.
  • Thanks for these tips. Also, make your links look more natural as possible.
  • this is really a great tip, but basically never automate anything ... it's going to get tough guys, but for the long term it's worth it.
  • Great tips mate, Thank you for sharing

    Vic Shinoda
  • Most of users said that don't do over anchor optimization but in this thread you are saying "Make most backlink anchor text to the root domain or brand."
    • [1] reply
    • #

      Exactly - most of your anchor text should be to the root domain / brand domain as this is natural. For all other anchor text stay below 15% of the overall anchor text profile (for any single anchor text) to be safe.

      For example, if your domain is bluewidgets.com then most of the anchor text should be to blue widgets. If you want to also target 'yellow widgets' then keep this keyword frequency below 15% of the overall anchor text ratio.

      Inner pages are a little different as the Title of the page can have a higher ratio - maybe 25% but this is just a guess to be honest. All other anchors for inner pages should be below 15%.

      To be honest the best method I can see so far is to keep the anchor ratio's low (very safe) and then build for trust using brand, URL and generic anchors i.e. once you've given google enough to understand clearly what the page is about (what it should rank for) then just built links for trust & diversity.

      The on page SEO factors will inform google what the page should rank for and a predominant anchor text ratio for the main keyword will reinforce this and that 's enough.
      • [1] reply
  • Thank you for sharing.
  • amazing post thanks for that!~
  • Thanks for your list very much effective post. Probably the best and most important post after penguin update.This content will work as a bridge between them.
    • [1] reply
    • Glad you found it useful. Penguin can be beaten, you just have to be careful and understand what Penguin is looking for.

      I think there are plenty of other warriors here with knowledge so chip in if you can add to the list
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  • Diversity and consistency is the name of the game nowadays.
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  • This was really helpful! Thanks a bunch
  • Thanks Scott for the tips you but I also agree with Shawner hahah he got some point.
    • [1] reply
    • Yes Shawner made a very good point. The most reliable route is developing a long lasting authority site.....but even this is not 100% reliable. A few authority sites with no dodgy link building strategies got tanked by Penguin.
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  • Most of them are great tips, thanks for posting...
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  • Such a great list! You put a lot of time and effort into this post. These are definitely great steps.
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  • your information is pretty good...because google slapped my couple of website...your information can help me a lot to recover my rank on google...
  • This information is very useful. Thank you
  • Thank you for sharing

    redzone
  • Really helpful Scott. Thanks for sharing
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  • Since some seemed to feel like you poo-poo'd on their link building tactics, I would like to thank you for a giving some common sense to those types. I also prefer your "better safe, than sorry" approach, even if it is harder.

    Thanks!
    • [1] reply
    • Most of the easy link building strategies that worked before penguin don't work now and it's now very difficult to game your way to the top and if you do how long will you stay there?

      I've almost stopped link building and put most of my time into establishing the cause of links.
      • [1] reply
  • Great tips! thank you.
  • "Avoid blasting links to tier 2 / 3 etc - they all lead back to one site in the end; better to avoid blasts of any kind."

    Does this mean-don't use UAW on 2nd tier sites at all?
  • If I were to summarize Scott's post, I would say that you have to do your link building smarter, in a way that it looks natural for Google.
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    35 Link Building Tips for Penguin

    Since Penguin lots of people have been asking how to build links safely - this is what's working for me at the moment. Of course this is just my current ideas and is not a definitive list. Pick your battles wisely. A very competitive keyword requires great link building and may take years to see ROI.