This 2018, we can expect that SEO will continue to evolve but it shouldn’t discourage you from understanding its concept if you are a beginner. Search engines still use links to crawl and discover pages on the web, to help their algorithm decide which pages should rank in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) through indexing. Aside from your content, search engines identify the websites that are linking you, and their quality as well. If more reliable sites are linked to you, then these search engines will likely be in your favor.
What Changed?
In the early years of SEO, link building was vital, especially in Google. Until some people abused this advantage and Google started updating their algorithm for the better. Before, it was easy to submit a website to web directories and earn links in return. A technique was also used where people would send a cold link outreach (sending emails to website owners and asking to be featured in their page) to gain more links. But again, these approaches won’t be useful in 2018 anymore (or at least one of it.) This time, if a site still depends on overusing link-building, they will end up getting penalized – and that should be something everyone should avoid in order to have a reliable website in the eyes of Google’s Penguin update.
So, is it still beneficial in today’s SEO?
Yes, but proceed with caution. Link building should not be manipulated. To stay away from penalties, site owners are required to keep up with Google’s guidelines. Generate a plan with your team to carefully know which steps should be taken. To successfully use the link-building method, focus on your brand’s identity first. Instead of using the bygone tactics, strengthen your identity in the business by producing contents dedicated to escalating your brand’s quality. Attract your viewer’s attention by providing answers to their queries and build a site that webmasters will trust in the long run. Start building a strong foundation, and let the outside links come to you (don’t forget to discourage link spammers in the process.) It will take time, but the rewards will be gratifying because then, it will be easier to build relationships and authority.
Are There Other Factors to Consider?
Social metrics, keyword usage, traffic queries, content quality, response time, and content length to name a few. It isn’t just about link building alone. For small business owners, we suggest that you balance these factors before entering the second half of the year. Because in 2018, you will have to incorporate more SEO tasks to improve your number of organic searches.
In SEO, it’s important to earn as much traffic as we can by doubling our business efforts and understanding search engine standards. You might have noticed that Google is mentioned A LOT. Well, that is because Google is becoming a search engine giant that continuously develops changes in favor of the users’ advantage. Still, we can improve our sites by also considering Bing, Yahoo!, Baidu, Ask.com’s and other search engine’s standards.