Backlink SEO for 2016

The following is a guest post by Jeffrey Branover:

Backlinks for 2016

I want to go over Backlink SEO for 2016, because a lot has changed within SEO Services and Strategy. The time of simply putting your backlink on a social bookmarking website or general website directory is gone. It seemed to have worked, and has been a successful strategy in cultivating an effective SEO campaign to boost your web ranking, and keywords you were targeting. By including an anchor text, such as “SEO Services” to your hyperlink, it creates an opportunity to boost the desired keyword among search engines.

There has also been a few more genius SEO strategies utilizing the power of social media platforms such as tumblr where you would be able to create a tumblr account with a desired keyword and like pages with a high Google page rank (of 2 or higher) and get easy backlinks. Well, those days are over too (in my opinion). These days, reputable directory websites including social media platforms such as Yelp, Yahoo Local, Facebook business page, and Google Local (known as Google My Business), is the new wave of quality backlinks in the form of reviews and link sharing.

Backlinks for 2016 Regarding Reviews

Having a Facebook, Google Plus, and Yelp account became a normal thing to have (and use) for many individuals that know how to use the Internet. Facebook is fun, because you get to share pictures, thoughts, ideas, and connect with your friends and family. Google Plus is a newer social media platform that allows you to connect with friends, family, and associates. On Google Plus you can organize your connections via circles of different categories. Google Plus is connected with Google Local (aka Google My Business). Yelp is probably considered the leader in merchant businesses that submit their website to be featured on the Yelp directory. Many folks use Yelp to learn more about a business, as well as learn about other businesses that have great reviews (and also, avoiding businesses with negative reviews).

All of these platforms have integrated a 5 star review system for real people to write a review and essentially create a more open and transparent digital world. Real people, with their own devices (whether it’s their personal computer, smartphone, or tablet) are now able to write reviews and either support or complain about a service or a business due to personal experience. As a marketer, that’s a very powerful tool, because the search engines are able to process that data and deliver a more relevant user experience to consumers searching for that service, brand, or product.

Reviews are playing a bigger role than ever with regard to SEO Services. Reviews create the opportunity to increase Google traffic to your site from the Google local listings. A review in my opinion is a more substantial backlink, because it gives it more creditability than a random social bookmarking site or comment on a blog post. The incentive of getting more great backlinks is in providing great customer service and doing your job really well.

Backlinks for 2016 Regarding Link Sharing

We are now all social and love to share what we truly believe is great, funny, interesting, or important. Link sharing became a huge component to boosting your rankings on the web. By far, one of the best SEO metrics for understanding how much traffic your site generates can be easily understood by installing the Alexa tool extension (or you can go on their website). Alexa is a great resource and marketing tool in understanding how well you rank within your niche, on a global level, and on a national level. A lot of Public Relation firms (that represent clients) like to use Alexa to determine if one’s blog (or website) generates enough traffic to convert a web editorial to a sale for their client. 

Then there’s MOZ which is one my favorites. They provide a logarithmic evaluation from 0 – 100 to offer (and this is my personal opinion) how much link juice a webpage can provide. A website has domain authority and a webpage has page authority. If you're using a blogspot, then your DA (in my opinion) is not authoritative enough (even though your score is really high). I like to use PA as a resource to getting high quality backlinks. I believe having a PA of 30 or higher is great for quality backlinks.

Link sharing increases your visibility on the web, and algorithmically gets categorized so that it will be suggested to folks that may have shown interest in the topic that’s been shared. The more hits and visitors a webpage gets, the more relevant and important it becomes within its niche market.

There’s a lot more to discuss regarding SEO services and strategy for 2016. There will be more updates and changes among the search and social media platforms, and I look forward to learning about it and applying the most effective methods for SEO. Stay tuned for more to come on this SEO series. Thank you everyone who reads this blog, and enjoys the series. Comment below if you have any questions or suggestions.