Link Building Recommendations from Google [TIPS]

Matt Cutts at SMX
Image credit: Daryl Quenet

Penguin and Panda disrupted the SEO industry and ruffled a few feathers.

Google’s primary aim from these updates: to discourage link buying and manipulative techniques aimed at gaming their algorithm.

If you’re a regular follower of Matt Cutts’ videos on YouTube, you would’ve picked up on a few hints and link building tips that work.

Matt’s also been very clear about which link building pratices you should avoid.

Here are my favourite Matt Cutts Videos on link building including recommendations and techniques that work:

On Link Buying

Matt’s always been crystal clear about his view on link buying; you can do it if you want, but don’t expect sympathy from Google if you get caught…

On Article Marketing

Matt’s not a big fan. He believes they generate duplicate low quality content across the web.

On Directories

Again, not a big fan. He argues most directories don’t exercise editorial discretion and therefore are largely treated as link buys (see 1 above).

On Blog Comments

An interesting view here and one I fully subscribe to. Blog commenting has historically been associated with spam.  Matt argues however that blog commenting works if it drives relevant traffic to your site.

On Link Baiting

This is by far my favourite Matt Cutts video.  As long as it’s well-intentioned, link baiting works and works well.  Creativity and relevance to your niche is key.

Link Building Techniques that work:

In a nutshell, add value to the community. There are various ways you can do that including:

• Answer questions
• Publish bespoke research
• Participate in Social Media
• Participate in Conferences
• Create Lists
• Blog
• Create how tos & tutorials
• Curate resources
• Develop extensions, plugins and widgets (open source)
• Produce videos

Now Over to You…

Do you find value in Matt Cutts’ videos? How do you build links? Share your views below…

You may also like -

3 Important Google SEO Alerts To Watch Out ForPenguin's Exact Match Anchor Text Massacre [TIPS]7 "NO BRAINERS" for Using Infographics In Your Content StrategyDouble Indexing: One SEO Goal